A team of App State industrial design students, led by Department of Applied Design faculty Jimena Vergara-Sanz and Dr. Garner Dewy, is taking a human-centered approach to innovation. Using 3D printing technology, the team is working to design and develop next-generation prosthetic hands that are both accessible and customizable for users.

A new, interdisciplinary partnership at App State is harmonizing health care. The Hayes School of Music and Beaver College of Health Sciences have launched a pilot program this spring that integrates music therapy into the university’s Preschool Language Classroom — using rhythm and song to help strengthen communication and social skills in young children.

Leveraging his renewable energy technology studies, App State graduate student Bradley Del Vecchio developed a solar-powered system to provide clean drinking water during natural disasters. Witnessing the devastation of Hurricane Helene inspired his award-winning design, which can produce up to 100 gallons of drinking water per day.

Specialized pediatric care is now closer to home for High Country families thanks to App State’s Growing Well High Country Developmental Clinic, which provides expert diagnosis and treatment for children with developmental delays. With $2 million in funding support from Vaya Health, the clinic will expand its operations this spring, including at App State’s Hickory campus.

App State alum Morgan Gulisano ’18 serves as operations lead for a creative team behind hospitality spaces at the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Learn how App State’s commercial photography program fostered her creative lens, which she uses to lead an international design team.

App State has been awarded $500,000 in Golden LEAF Foundation funding, which will equip a nursing simulation and clinical learning lab at the App State Hickory campus. The new space will support App State’s nursing program — including the Doctor of Nursing Practice program, launching this fall — and serve as a hub for interprofessional health care education.

App State research led by Dr. Caroline Smith, in collaboration with NC State, aims to advance firefighter safety by testing whether new moisture barriers in personal protective gear prevent overheating — a key factor in reducing firefighters’ risk of heat stroke and cardiac events. The work is supported by a $1.5 million FEMA grant.

App State professor Jewel Davis read over 800 picture books to lead the selection of this year’s Caldecott Medal winner — an opportunity to elevate stories that spark a love of reading in a new generation. At App State, Davis brings her expertise directly to students, guiding future educators, librarians and storytellers.

To address child care staffing shortages in the region, App State and the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services are partnering to offer three Child Care Academies in Western NC this spring and summer. Each academy will provide intensive child care training and certification at no cost to participants.