In March, NTCA State Ambassador Dan Hecox of Hecox Construction, Inc. of York, Neb., gave a class on how to avoid tile failures to 28 second-year interior design students at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. Interior Design Professor Stacy Spale, IIDA, LEED AP, EDAC, NCIDQ Certificate No. 28851, asked Hecox to present to the IDES 200 Programs, Standards, and Codes class “so our students could better identify standards of installation,” she said. “These stu- dents will enter various professions within the design industry, and they should be able to feel comfortable on a job site, or managing a project, and at least having a base knowl- edge of trade vocabulary.” Spale believes that it’s a vital skill for interior designers to learn to collaborate with trade contrac- tors. “Early in my career, I drew casework sections the way I’d been taught and never really thought much about it,” she explained. “Then I spent some time learning about custom casework and real- ized that had I called a fabricator before I drew my custom projects, I could have saved time, money, materials, etc. “The jobs where I could col- laborate and communicate my design intent – and work alongside the people doing the work always turned out better,” she added. “This seems like generic advice, so I like to show students with real stories so the learning is more applicable.” QUALIFIED LABOR –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Dan Hecox presents to A&D students at University of Nebraska – Lincoln NTCA Nebraska State Ambassador schools interior design students on tile failures By Lesley Goddin 50 TileLetter | July 2018