Brian Pene

Director of Emerging Technology

Autodesk

"It’s not often you find someone with a strong balance of creative technical skills, a quality prose, and a passion for solving tough challenges. Ethan is a proactive and tireless multidisciplinary collaborator and experience designer whose contributions would be a great addition to any team. Throughout his internship at Autodesk, he went above and beyond expectations, delivering projects on time and leading the team in developing new/novel 3D interface designs for industry specific VR/AR applications. No matter the challenge or difficulty, he always offered solid plans with new approaches based on customer value and feedback. Ethan can easily work with engineers, designers, product managers and customers. He also exhibited leadership qualities based on the way he engaged others around a common vision and goals and pushed the team to go beyond what was thought possible while delivering projects on time. I would highly recommend Ethan for any experience design position."

Glen Coben

President

Glen & Co. Architecture   

I had the pleasure of having Ethan as an intern for my firm . Using the word “intern” is not quite accurate, since Ethan essentially jumped right into our studio and became a vital member of several projects, contributing his considerable design talents and adding an extra set of hands to the development and documentation of two restaurant projects.

Prior to starting his summer with us, Ethan prepared a list of goals that he wanted to accomplish that summer. By the end of the 8 weeks, Ethan had surpassed every goal, not just checking things off a box, but showing how he had addressed each and every topic with either newly acquired skills or how he approached each “task.”

Beyond the professional commitment and skills that Ethan brought to my firm, we will miss his spirit. He was adored by our team and wasn’t shy when it came to asking questions or seeking out help and support from our staff.

I highly recommend Ethan to any firm looking for a bright, enthusiastic and highly skilled designer.

Sandra Tripp

Director of Design

Equinox

As the Director of Design for Equinox, I had the distinct pleasure of working with and overseeing Ethan on the space analysis/club comps project .

Ethan was a last minute find for us, as we did not get approval for an intern until well past June – fortunately, Ethan was open to doing a part time internship – working for us the days that had available after securing another job for the summer. His flexibility did not end there – once we got him set up with his assignment, he worked extra nights and weekends to make sure that his portion of our project was delivered .

Ethan is unique in that he not only has a great organizational sense and the technical know-how to contribute on this particular assignment, but he also learned quickly how to integrate these ideas with our larger organizational objectives and this made it easy for us to trust him with confidential information. Additionally, Ethan demonstrated professionalism and respect by timely submitting his status reports and communicating clearly in meetings with the variety of staff members that he was exposed to. Our team was impressed by how he quickly acclimated to the task at hand and took ownership of the process and procedures setting forth a great template for how we can manage this information moving forward.

I therefore strongly recommend Ethan for his future educational and professional endeavors. I am confident he will be a strong asset to your program, and bring the same get it done attitude and professionalism that he brought to us.

Kathleen Gibson

Professor

Cornell University

"Ethan is a strategic thinker. He dissects design problems and explores relevant issues from multiple angles in order to develop mature and inspiring solutions. Evidence of his design acumen is well documented in his portfolio. Moreover, Ethan is excellent in a group. He is an effective listener, contributes without controlling, is willing to share and mentor others, and works tirelessly to produce the highest quality output. As my teaching assistant, Ethan was a knowledgeable resource and taught one module with outstanding results. While at Cornell, Ethan has earned the respect of his peers, faculty members, and administrators. Last year, he was recognized by the department as an Outstanding Senior. He is one of our best alumni and I believe that during his career he will make substantial contributions to society and the field of design."

Madeline Winer

Design Student

Cornell University 

"I took a UX Design Studio with Ethan as the Teaching Assistant. Ethan was a great TA, he has a very unique design perspective and was always able to provide me with helpful pieces of information and thoughtful advice."