DAAP student embraces innovation to create a better world for all

Sophia Lammi, DAAP ’27, calls her decision the best of two worlds. The University of Cincinnati student is double-majoring in Fashion Design in the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning and French in the College of Arts and Sciences.

But one might argue that her double major has opened up more worlds than two. As a NEXT Innovation Scholar and winner of a Neil Armstrong Moonshot Award for Commercial Innovation, Lammi is being exposed to opportunities she never knew existed.

“In the NIS program, we do projects in innovation, design thinking, strategic foresight,” Lammi says. “It’s a lot more exposure to the professional world than I thought I would have. NIS is what I will remember most about college. I’ve been able to travel, to present to billion-dollar companies.”

With the Armstrong Moonshot Award, she adds, she explored topics she never would have otherwise, including generative AI in marketing. “Before I started college, I thought innovation was building spaceships and finding cures for diseases,” she says. “Since coming to UC, my definition of innovation has changed drastically. Innovation is working with new ideas to create a better world for all, regardless of your discipline or field.”

Her immersive UC experience has changed the course of what she hopes to accomplish after college. Along with her degree, she will graduate with certificates in Business French, French/English Translation Studies, and Innovation and Design Thinking. Looking ahead, she hopes to earn a master’s degree in design anthropology or design strategy and then pursue a career that blends foresight, design and teaching, either in the United States or abroad.

Lammi, who is from Columbus, Ohio, grew up loving to sew and draw. “I’ve been drawing ever since I could hold a pencil,” she says. “But I didn’t realize that fashion was an industry you could be part of until I was in middle school. My mom got me this big book that listed every college major offered in the United States, and as I was flipping through it, I saw fashion included in the art and design section. I said, ‘Oh, that’s what I’m doing.’ I never looked back.”

A budding polymath, Lammi also fell in love with the French language, and she wanted to attend a university that allowed her to pursue a livelihood in art without losing the progress she had made in French. UC offered that unique space.

“DAAP is such a rigorous and intense program,” she says. “We spend a lot of time in the studio working on projects. I’ve made some really good friends through that, and being in college with other students who love art is really inspiring. We’re always pushing each other to be better.”

At the same time, she says, “I get another kind of experience in A&S. It’s kind of the best of both worlds, getting to jump between both colleges.”

Lammi is grateful for scholarship support that has allowed her to pursue two passions. “My Fashion Design major has a strict curriculum, due to the structure of the co-op program, so I often take more than 18 credit hours a semester to keep up with my French courses,” she says. “Going above the 18-credit-hour cap can get very expensive, and my scholarships allow me to offset the cost of additional courses.”

Featured image at top: Sophia Lommi is currently a student in UC's College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning. Photo/UC Alumni Association