Alumus Wins White House Ornament Design Contest

Winter Snowflakes

The White House, in partnership with the Smithsonian Institution, invited innovators, artists, engineers and students from around the country to design winter holiday-inspired ornaments in its first-ever 3D Printed Ornament Design Challenge.

Montclair State alumnus Gil Rivera's winning entry "Winter Snowflakes" was chosen from the more than 300 entries and 20 finalists.

The 2005 graduate was one of five grand-prize winners whose ornaments were displayed in the White House. Rivera's ornament, a simple frosted globe, which featured intricate and interconnected snowflakes, adorned a tree in the White House's East Room, where an estimated 65,000 tourists visit each year to view holiday decorations.

"I wanted a design that's reminiscent of a vintage tree ornament but still appealing to the technological process of 3D printing," says Rivera, who has pursued a career as a graphic designer since receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. "It was such an honor to be recognized by the White House."

The 3D Printed Ornament Design Challenge supports White House initiatives in promoting innovation and creativity in STEM-related disciplines. Once prohibitively expensive, 3D printing today offers innovative and inexpensive solutions in everything from fashion to health care to engineering – and design.

Rivera's ornament will also join a small collection of White House ornaments in the political history division of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.