Recent grad Joan Watson captured a major award at the National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA) Student Design Competition in Hackettstown, New Jersey. The 52-year-old Appleton native who double-majored in Interior Design and Interior Design - Kitchen and Bath Design placed second out of nearly 300 entries from around the country. She also earned a $2,500 scholarship as a result of her runner-up honor.

This year’s NKBA event was set up to leverage the skills of students toward projects for Habitat for Humanity in Warren County, New Jersey. Overall, more than 100 schools participated in NKBA’s Affiliated Schools program, which attracts student designers for competitions like this. FVTC offers the only kitchen and bath associate degree program among the state’s technical colleges. The field of kitchen and bath is a thriving, $147 billion industry.

The NKBA is the world’s leading trade association for the kitchen and bath industry, providing tools, research, certification, and events to thousands of professionals. Established in 1963 as a network of kitchen dealers, the NKBA today is comprised of 14,000 companies representing tens of thousands of industry professionals.

One of Joan Watson’s winning design concepts: