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If they’re back teaching at the school they used to attend, it doesn’t get much better.
That’s especially true for Marilyn Cannell. A 2016 graduate of LTU’s College of Architecture and Design with a BFA in Graphic Design, she now teaches at her alma mater, specifically, courses in UX/UI and Digital Product Design. But that’s just one component in the trajectory of her already impressive career.
Cannell’s “day job” is as a Visual Designer for General Motors, focusing on in-vehicle infotainment systems. Her faculty bio points out that, for GM, she “works across a multi-disciplinary team to design and implement digital clusters and touchscreens across the entire cockpit experience. She has a passion for user-centered problem solving and visually telling a brand story.” She also leads this visual design process for all of GM’s Chevy products.
But whereas many students understandably see being an alumna as the equivalent of having attended an educational institution for a given period of time, Cannell, due to her association with LTU, sees it as more of a beneficial continuum.
And a lot of it has to do with the educational philosophy espoused by most of the LTU faculty that reflects the University’s mission of “Theory and Practice.” In other words, it’s about minimizing the barriers between learning about one’s eventual profession and actively engaging in it.
It’s also what attracted Cannell to LTU.
“For me,” she explained, ”the initial advantage was that it was close to home” (home being Farmington Hills). However, she quickly saw the additional benefits of attending LTU. Smaller class sizes, interdisciplinary collaboration, curriculum flexibility, and hands-on experience were among the most important of these. Cannell had initially enrolled in the Architecture program, but soon switched to Graphic Design.
“I felt like at LTU, I got to choose my own path,” said Cannell. “Even though I was officially in the Graphic Design program, I felt like I got to choose what I wanted to focus on. I was really interested in doing digital work—websites and mobile apps—and I was able to focus in any of my classes on what I wanted to do long term.”
Cannell also finds it difficult to overestimate the importance of community at LTU, both in terms of her fellow students and the faculty and staff.
“The scale allows professors to devote much more time to reviewing individual projects and providing feedback,” she said.
Cannell also noted that she secured her first job through a friend in her sorority at LTU who knew of her interests and abilities in digital design.
In September, the 2024 Chevy Blazer EV, the first electric vehicle among the company’s most enduring models and one of Cannell’s first major projects at GM, will hit the market and the road. And while Cannell is delighted to have been part of the process that brought the Blazer EV to fruition, she has other goals in mind as well, one of which is keeping traditions alive.
“I hope,” she said, “that one day I will be able to hire one of my former students.”
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