She’s well on her way. This year, Sanborn earned the overall grand award in the annual Michigan Industrial and Technology Education Society Competition (MITES). She took first place in her category, then first place in the division and finally first place overall against the roughly 300 architectural projects judged from around the state.
It’s the first time a TK student has earned this impressive honor and something Sanborn said she never expected. “I admit I didn’t even know how to process it when Mr. Meyers called me to tell me.”
She brought home a Top 10 honor in architecture a year ago and knew she wanted to do better and try to earn a first-place award. “I worked on this project all year. Probably 80-100 hours at least,” she said.
Her lakefront home architectural design has already drawn interest from family and friends who have asked for blueprints to build the home that features a wall of windows overlooking the lake.
It’s the details within the architectural model that stand out. She used a composite acrylic to design the details in the shingles and a Dremel hand tool to create a realistic looking lake and beach.. Everything on the board display is handmade with the exception of the trees. All furniture / appliances and such were designed by and created by Emilia using Autodesk Inventor, then resin 3D printed and hand-painted.
“It’s the first house I’ve ever designed on my own,” she said. “The best part is how proud Mr. Meyers is about it. I owe everything to him and the classes he taught. I’m proud to be able to be the first student to bring this honor to TK and hopefully inspire more students to achieve it as well.”
Emilia will be attending the University of Detroit Mercy to earn a master’s degree in architecture. “I’m excited about it. This is what I want to do. I want to be my own boss. I want to design things, and I want to see them built,” she said.
The year one “Introduction to Mechanical Drafting” was a class Sanborn admits she didn’t know much about before she started it. The class was an alternative for her instead of taking a second year of another class she knew wasn’t a good fit for her. “I’m so glad I made this choice.”
Her advice to students is to not be afraid to try a class even if they are unsure it’s something they’ll like. For students in the architecture class, she specifically gives this advice; “Always listen to Mr. Meyers. He has good ideas even if they come at the last second. They really make the project better.”
“I really do owe all this success to Mr. Meyers and his classes,” she said.
Meyers said “She’s been working on and had the vision for this project for a long time and I’m super proud of her and all her hard work. All of her success is due to her drive, determination and exceptional talent. I am so happy that a person like Emilia is the first to take a grand award for TKHS at the state competition. She has set the bar very high."