Amanda Halston ('12) and Lucy Ledue ('12) added a unique UNT experience to their resumes when they started looking for jobs as interior designers.

As seniors, both attended the Group for International Design Education conference in February at the University of Dundee in Scotland. They were selected through an application process and their expenses were paid through the Charn Uswachoke International Development Fund. Last year, Uswachoke ('73 M.B.A.) pledged another $22 million gift — the largest in UNT's history — to further support UNT programs, faculty and students.

Cynthia Mohr, associate professor and chair of UNT's Department of Design, accompanied the students on the trip. She says the conference gives students an opportunity to promote international goodwill and participate in scholarly exchange, and it identifies UNT as an institution of excellence.

UNT's participation also led to the creation of the project Border Crossings by UNT, Dundee and the Academy of Design in Slovenia. Students developed cultural pavilions for one of the other countries through a website last spring.

During the trip, Halston and Ledue teamed up with students and faculty from seven European universities and created projects for buildings in Dundee. Halston, a space planner at Regus, an Addison-based company, worked on a team that connected buildings for the Dundee Rep Theatre.

"This experience magnified my ability to collaborate and exchange ideas with other designers," she says.

Ledue, a designer for Fourth Dimension Designs in Dallas, worked with a group on a garden structure for an artist residency and cultural center.

"I saw perspectives from art and design programs from different countries," she says. "It took my brainstorming and communication skills to a heightened level."