Helge B. Olsen
Lecturer (SOE)
Teaching Award:
“The Magner Ronning Teaching Excellence Award”.
Administrative Experience:
Chair Designate and Department Chair – Dept. of Environmental Design. Principal investigator, CAES – Agricultural Experiment Station Projects. Adviser, master adviser, and adviser re: Education Abroad (Scandinavia).
Research and Creative Work:
Associate Designer, Experiment Station appointment, CAES. Furniture for the aging population; Design for people with physical disabilities. Play environments for blind and visually impaired children. Play environments for pre-school and school age children. Alternative class room design – college level: “The Soft Class Room” Furniture and interior design drawings, scale-and full size models have been exhibited in design galleries and museums in the Scandinavian Countries, and the United States. The projects have been published in design books, catalogs and magazines.
Grants:
UC Regents’ Faculty Fellowship in the Creative Arts for the study of: Wood bending and wood-lamination techniques in Finland. Additional CAES funding for above listed research projects.
Professional experience:
Creative Director and Principal for Design offices in Sweden and the United States. Re: Residential & commercial furniture and interior architecture. Design Delineator for building engineer’s office in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Service Awards:
Distinguished Service Award: “Environmental Design” by the Yolo County Mental Health Association. Two “Outstanding Volunteer Service Awards” by the “Lighthouse for the Blind”- San Francisco, Ca.
Education:
Diploma in Furniture and Interior Architecture from: “The School of Interior Design” (known as Architect Finn Juhl’s School or Denmark’s Design School) in Copenhagen, Denmark. Military Officers’ School in Ringsted, Denmark: Courses in instructional strategies. Various courses in Color theory and drawing techniques, Art school in Malmø, Sweden. Internship at: Monsieur Rienold, Paris, France, Furniture maker.