McKenna Martin: Senior Exhibition 2025

This is one in a series of online interviews with MIAD seniors, who share their thoughts about their 2025 Senior Exhibition project and their MIAD education.

McKenna Martin ’25 (Product Design), “Hyacinth.” McKenna received first place for her design for the 2023 Delta design project/competition at MIAD, is on the Dean’s List and is from Fond du Lac, Wis. Her senior exhibition project received a 2025 Alumni Senior Thesis Award.

What is your “elevator pitch” for your senior exhibition project?

Hyacinth is a sound and vibration therapy system designed to ease pain and promote relaxation for pregnant women during water birth, specifically at-home water birth. Hyacinth uses advanced sound technology to enhance the birthing experience by delivering soothing vibrations to the birthing tub. It features a battery, and specialized passive radiator, and can float freely or be attached for stability, based on the mother’s preference.

What has the senior exhibition experience been like for you?

The senior exhibition has been intense but very rewarding. I have learned so much about researching for product development and have had an amazing time creating prototypes where I get to see my sketches and CAD models come to life. I have connected with many professionals during this process (doctors, midwives, sound engineers and mothers – the users of this future product) to gather information to create the best solutions for this problem and make sure it is possible to actually work. Prototyping consisted of lathing quick models and then 3D printing models for accurate forms.

What will you take away from this project as you transition into the professional world or your next endeavor?

I am definitely going to take away the research steps. I learned how to dissect the different sections of a new product: user wants/needs/experience, form development and how will the form interact with the situation (in this case it’s human interaction and how will it float in the water), how will the internals function in this product, how will this product be charged, transported, stored, etc. I enjoyed the research of this project very much and hope I can continue applying these skills to projects in my career.

Anything else you’d like to share about yourself or MIAD?

I am currently participating in an internship with Delta Faucet designing faucets and other plumbing fixtures. I have an internship with Haas Factory Team Racing over the summer in Kannapolis, N.C., helping design drivers’ fire suits and team track shirts.

My college career didn’t start at MIAD. I originally went to UW-Oshkosh for accounting. I decided accounting wasn’t for me and started looking into product design. Product design at MIAD has shown me the intellectual side of design: working with engineers, user research and manufacturing techniques while also giving me the freedom to apply creativity to my designs and the types of products I work on. Overall, the best part of my MIAD experience was getting to know my professors and having their insight into projects.

Apply to MIAD and plan your visit to MIAD’s Senior Exhibition!