Interior Design Success Story: Aubrey Miles ’22
Converse University’s Interior Design program provides students with the knowledge and contemporary skill sets for the workplace. The program emphasizes proficiency in design software and adopts new industry standard programs to support students in applying a sophisticated level of thinking and research to designing and developing the spaces in which people live, work, play, eat, learn and heal.
Interior Design students recently began using Enscape software and have had incredible results. This cutting-edge visualization tool provides photorealistic imagery and real-time rendering workflow. The rendering and virtual reality software has been adopted into the advanced studio classes and used for senior capstone projects.
Recent alumna Aubrey Miles ’22 introduced Enscape in her workplace and is now the go-to person at her company for all things Enscape.
Aubrey became proficient in Enscape, integrated with Revit, a building information modeling software, while she was a student at Converse and used the program in multiple projects.
Before Aubrey’s senior year ended, she found employment with Professional Business Interiors (PBI) in Asheville, NC, and started working shortly after graduation from Converse.
PBI uses Revit as part of other CAD design tools, but it was Aubrey who introduced Enscape to her workplace. Soon after, PBI purchased an Enscape subscription as part of their rendering tool for Revit. Additionally, the company has asked Aubrey to teach the software to other designers in the office.
Daren Pinkerton, the CEO of PBI, knew from the moment they interviewed Aubrey she had a strong drive and passion for design.
“[Aubrey] immediately jumped in as a valuable member and started learning and also teaching. Her knowledge and skill level is an excellent foundation to build from and develop within commercial design.”
“Aubrey brought the latest elements of design and CAD/Rendering experience to our design team.”
Daren Pinkerton – CEO of PBI
Pinkerton was impressed with the skills Aubrey acquired from her Converse experience. “Aubrey brought the latest elements of design and CAD/Rendering experience to our design team,” Pinkerton said. “Aubrey’s knowledge has prepared her well to be a leader in the field of design.”
Converse’s Interior Design program continuously searches for tools to provide students with readiness and professionalism for the workplace. Converse students develop both manual and digital expertise in graphic visualization and presentation and utilize design professionals’ current products and practices.
Aubrey’s outstanding success as a recent graduate indicates how our students bring design software skills they learned at Converse to their work experience in the industry.
Pinkerton said Aubrey’s skill set acquired at Converse resulted in a smooth transition to the PBI design team. “Her knowledge and education provided her with an immediate opportunity to work on some large/advanced design projects”, Pinkerton said. “She has had a very smooth transition onto our team and has become a valuable asset to PBI within her first few months after graduation. Thank you for investing in her and providing the necessary skillset to comfortably transition into a commercial design position!”
Accredited by the Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA), Converse’s BFA in Interior Design explores design innovation, functionality and safety in various forms of architecture, environmental design, graphic design, and industrial design.