Recent graphic design alumni, Austin DiLorenzo, was 1 of 15 Fellowship recipients from the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. Austin was awarded a one-year scholarship to study at the Communication University of China—located in Beijing—the top animation program in Asia. He will study Chinese language, Chinese Culture, and Animation simultaneously with full tuition, housing and living stipend from Sept 2019 to July 2020.

 

Back in Spring 2018, Austin and graphic design student Brock Fahringer with direction from Professor Qian Li, Department of Art & Design, created a short animation, Today, Tomorrow and Forever. This film was produced to help raise awareness about Autism which they in turned received the Best Charity Award at the International Students Ocean Short Film Exhibition.

 

That summer, Professor Li, along with Austin and Brock, went to China. There, Austin had 48 hours to produce a short animation with his team on life in a Chinese village. His team won Best Original Screenplay Award at the Guiyang International Comic and Animation Festival.

 

In Fall 2018, Austin received the Bonnie and Peter Raquet Create High Impact Learning Fund scholarship from Cleveland State—due to last year's excellent performance—to attend the 3rd Annual Wonderful World International Student Media Art Exhibition (WWI).

 

During Spring 2019, Austin teamed up with Alejandro Meza and created an animation about animal protection. In May, Professor Li, Austin, and Alejandro traveled to China to participate in the 3rd Annual WWI. This exhibition was held in Shanghai, China, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where over 30 Universities and from 13 countries participated in this competition.

 

After they presented their animal protection video, they were teamed up with students from other countries to make a video in 72 hours about Shanghai and Melaka. Austin's team won the Best Short Documentary Award and Alejandro's team won the Best Music Video Award.