Research, Outreach & Creative Activities
The College of Art and Architecture is a leader in art and design research. From sustainable ecological design to innovative sculpting techniques to virtual worlds created for scientific communities, opportunities abound for students to conduct impactful research.
In the Classroom
We consider teaching and research to be complementary activities that reinforce each other. Faculty members who are nationally and internationally recognized for their expertise bring their research into the classroom and involve both undergraduate and graduate students.
Students have outstanding opportunities to partake in research addressing some of the most pressing issues facing communities today. These opportunities often take the form of hands-on studios.
Featured Projects
Virtual Lab for High School Students
Undergraduate students in our Virtual Technology and Design Program are helping spark interest in the sciences through a virtual lab they created for high school students, using Unreal Engine, a visualization tool. Within the lab, students can interact with proteins, which are responsible for the structure, function and regulation of the body’s tissues and organs. The goal is to predict how mutations influence the way proteins fold and bind to other molecules, and how certain pathogens might then evade drug therapy like antibiotics.
NSF grant award OIA-1736253 - RII Track-2 FEC: Using Biophysical Protein Models to Map Genetic Variation to Phenotypes
Helping the Magic Valley Remain Resilient
Students and faculty in our Landscape Architecture Program and Center for Resilient Communities developed models of alternative future scenarios, like drought caused by climate change, for communities in Idaho’s Magic Valley — the epicenter of the state’s agricultural industry — so they can proactively adapt to a different time.
Design-Build Connects Students with Real Clients
Architecture students designed and built a snowmobile warming hut for people in the remote North Idaho wilderness. The project was a collaboration with the Sandpoint Ranger District, the National Forest Foundation, Idaho Forest Group, Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation, and the Winter Riders Snowmobile Club.