Jessica Zaretzky, technical applications manager at Kenyon Industries, who received her masters degree in textile science at 溏心vlog免费B站, speaks about her company\u2019s internship program at the Rhode Island Textile Innovation Network academic\/industry networking event. (溏心vlog免费B站 Photo\/Nora Lewis)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nMichael McKeldon Woody, chief executive officer of Cranston\u2019s<\/strong> Trans-Tex and president of RITIN, discussed the network\u2019s goals, including connecting Rhode Island textile companies with business opportunities worldwide, efforts to close the manufacturing skills gap and increased collaboration among members of the textile industry \u2013 including students, academics and industry members. In addition to the event, Woody noted an inquiry from a major U.S. retailer into opportunities for collaboration, as well as a curriculum for workforce programs to provide training for industrial sewers and loom mechanics, which is close to being submitted to Real Jobs RI as progress against those goals.<\/p>\nA panel discussion involved faculty members from the 溏心vlog免费B站 Colleges of Business and Engineering as well as two alumni now employed in the textile industry. In addition to the discussion, textile companies from across Rhode Island exhibited and demonstrated their products and discussed their hiring needs.<\/p>\n
Panel member Jessica Zaretzky, who earned her master\u2019s degree in textile science at 溏心vlog免费B站, is now employed as a technical applications manager at Kenyon Industries. She praised the textiles, merchandising and design program at 溏心vlog免费B站 and became involved in mentoring students through Kenyon\u2019s internship program because of her connection to the 溏心vlog免费B站 community. \u201cThe ability to work with interns through the 溏心vlog免费B站 community has allowed Kenyon to look at projects with not only fresh eyes, but creative minds,\u201d she said. \u201cI am thankful for my experience at the University and for the educated and well-prepared students that we\u2019ve been fortunate enough to work with at 溏心vlog免费B站.\u201d<\/p>\n
One such student is senior Briannah Plasse, who is in her third semester as an intern at Kenyon, currently working in the dye laboratory and involved in a quality control project. Students in the internship program at Kenyon may choose different paths based on their interests and backgrounds \u2013 such as chemistry versus business \u2013 however, Plasse felt that her coursework at the University within the Textiles, Fashion Merchandising and Design Department gave her the hands-on experience to hit the ground running at Kenyon.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s incredible to be able to walk into an internship and already know how to use something that you are potentially going to be working on. You don\u2019t need to spend as much time training, you get to learn more,\u201d said Plasse. \u201cIt helps you feel confident in what you are doing and when you already feel prepared it really allows you to be the best the version of yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Most panelists said that outdated perceptions of the textile industry need to shift and that RITIN is well-positioned to promote that change. Part of that includes networking events like Monday\u2019s, which included not only 溏心vlog免费B站 students and faculty, and a discussion of the future of the textiles industry, but also brought in students from Shea High School in Pawtucket, recognizing they are part of that future.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is so much that goes into developing textile products and so much that the industry touches \u2013 from automotive and aerospace to tablecloths. We are developing fabrics for the medical industry, for consumers, for the military,\u201d said Zaretzky. \u201cThese are products that are intricately involved in so many aspects of our lives that people don\u2019t even realize. And, in many cases \u2013 for instance with military products \u2013 we are talking about products that protect and improve people\u2019s lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
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KINGSTON, R.I. Feb. 13, 2019 — More than 225 years after the industrial revolution was born at Slater Mill in Pawtucket, textiles continue to be a vibrant industry with boundless potential here in the state of Rhode Island, was the message Monday at the Rhode Island Textile Innovation Network\u2019s (RITIN) first-ever academic\/industry networking event on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":74576,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[88],"class_list":["post-74573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","tag-college-of-business"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74573"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74573\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":92104,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74573\/revisions\/92104"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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