MUNCIE, Ind. -- Ball State University theater student Jason Kaminsky was a finalist in a recent national competition with his lighting design for the play "The Adding Machine."

The senior from Highland, Ind., was selected to compete with seven graduate student lighting designers from around the country at the Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival in Washington, D.C., the weekend of May 2-3.

He was the second design student from Ball State's Department of Theatre and Dance to advance to the national festival in the past three years, and the fourth in 10 years.

"We now have a design program that consistently sends students to the nationals," said faculty designer David C. "Kip" Shawger Jr., a member of the ACTF region's executive committee. "It shows we can compete nationally with bigger design programs."

Ball State's success arises from the practical experience students gain, Shawger said. "We give students the opportunity to go from the classroom to live stage production," he noted.

Kaminsky's work was exhibited at the Kennedy Center the week before the judging and was critiqued by Stan Pressner, who designs lighting for New York's Metropolitan Opera and teaches at Yale University and UCLA.

The Kennedy Center/ACTF awards are sponsored in part by the National Committee for the Performing Arts and by Barbizon, a large manufacturer of stage materials and lighting equipment.

Kaminsky earned the trip to Washington by winning the ACTF Region 3 competition in January. The five-state region includes Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin.

Students Brian Miller of Fort Wayne, Ind., and Mariah Weaver of Warsaw, Ind., received honorable mention at the regional level for their lighting work on "H.M.S. Pinafore" in 1997.

On "The Adding Machine," Kaminsky worked closely with the production's director and scenic and costume designers to create an expressionistic feel for Ball State's multimedia production of the Elmer Rice play last November in University Theatre.

After studying expressionistic artwork and film from the 1920s, he designed the lighting for the stage and video portions of the show and helped sculpt the set.

The scholarship student graduates this spring with a bachelor's degree in technical theater. He also was scenic designer and technical director for Ball State's production of George Bernard Shaw's "Saint Joan" in April, and he worked in Ball State's scene and costume shops for a year and a half.

Kaminsky also has built props and a studio for WIPB-TV, and he was the technical director for the award-winning children's TV show "Elmer and Friends."

This summer Kaminsky will work as the technical director at Maine State Music Theatre in Brunswick, Maine, and last winter he designed lighting for "Annie Warbucks" at Wagon Wheel Theatre in Warsaw, Ind. He has also worked on theme park shows.

He hopes to be hired as project manager for Sun Belt Scenic Studios in Tempe, Ariz., a firm that designs scenery for theater, television, theme park and other shows.

Kaminsky is a graduate of Highland High School and the son of Lawrence and Janet Kaminsky, 3516 Duluth Place.