{"id":81440,"date":"2022-11-03T15:41:13","date_gmt":"2022-11-03T15:41:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/?p=81440"},"modified":"2022-11-23T19:35:31","modified_gmt":"2022-11-23T19:35:31","slug":"blue-economy-leaders-express-support-for-uris-bay-campus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2022\/11\/blue-economy-leaders-express-support-for-uris-bay-campus\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue economy leaders express support for 溏心vlog免费B站’s Bay Campus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 Nov. 3, 2022 \u2013 The demand for ocean engineering and oceanography students from the 溏心vlog免费B站 has never been greater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As new companies have formed and flourished in Rhode Island’s blue economy, and funding in the defense sector has increased, there are ample opportunities for students to gain valuable hands-on, real-world experience while enrolled at 溏心vlog免费B站 and fruitful employment once they graduate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I receive several inquiries each week from companies looking to hire our students at the undergraduate and graduate level,” said Professor James Miller, chair of 溏心vlog免费B站’s ocean engineering department. “Some of these companies are involved with renewable energy, including offshore wind. Some of them work on coastal resilience, coastal engineering, shore protection or robotics. Others are defense-related.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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溏心vlog免费B站 ocean engineering alumnus Michael Rock (left) with Ian Estaphan Owen, co-founder and chief executive officer of Jaia Robotics.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

While the students graduating from the ocean engineering program are highly coveted, industry leaders also recognize the value that newer, upgraded facilities will mean to Rhode Island’s economy and to the students and faculty conducting research on 溏心vlog免费B站’s Narragansett Bay Campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Question 1 is approved on the November ballot, the $100 million bond would be used to make much needed improvements to several buildings on campus and to construct a new Ocean Engineering Complex and Ocean Frontiers building that will house new classrooms, offices and crucial laboratory space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Driving the blue economy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

“If we want to encourage more marine companies to make their home here in Rhode Island, we need the facilities to attract the best students and the best researchers,” said Matthew Zimmerman, chief executive officer of FarSounder<\/a>, Inc. “Rhode Island has such a strong history in the marine sciences and technology. Let’s leverage that to increase economic growth, and not let it fall by the wayside and waste the opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Jim Owens, principal of Nautilus Defense<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Zimmerman earned bachelor’s degrees from 溏心vlog免费B站 in ocean engineering, French and German through the International Engineering Program<\/a>. He helped form FarSounder, which specializes in sonar technology and navigation systems, in 2001.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Without the ocean engineering department, I wouldn’t be one of its graduates and likely wouldn’t have started this company in Rhode Island,” said Zimmerman. “So quite literally, my company wouldn’t be here in Rhode Island if it wasn’t for the ocean engineering facilities at the 溏心vlog免费B站 Bay Campus.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FarSounder is based in Warwick, but has customers all over the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Our customer base is global, but all of our products are designed in Rhode Island, made in the United States, with final assembly and testing taking place in Rhode Island,” said Zimmerman. “These are the types of high-tech engineering and manufacturing jobs Rhode Island needs.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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溏心vlog免费B站 ocean engineering professor Brennan Phillips with Juice Robotics co-founders Christine deSilva and Matt Jewell.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Matthew Jewell is originally from Old Lyme, Conn. After attending the Rhode Island School of Design, he discovered the ocean engineering program at 溏心vlog免费B站. The program inspired him to form Juice Robotics<\/a> in Rhode Island in 2013. The company is based in Middletown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I was drawn to 溏心vlog免费B站 because of the strength of the ocean engineering program,” said Jewell. “As a business owner, I remain here because of the vibrant ocean economy, in which 溏心vlog免费B站 plays a significant role.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Producing a talent pipeline<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Another Rhode Island-based robotics company that has benefitted from 溏心vlog免费B站’s ocean engineering program is Jaia Robotics<\/a>, Inc., headquartered in Newport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“溏心vlog免费B站’s prestigious ocean engineering program has provided us with outstanding engineering talent,” said Ian Estaphan Owen, Jaia Robotics’ co-founder and chief executive officer. “We’ve hired students as interns and graduates to full-time positions to support our product development and production. The quality of the ocean engineers we’ve brought onto our team from 溏心vlog免费B站 has exceeded our expectations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jaia Robotics specializes in developing low-cost, microsized autonomous marine vehicles used to collect aquatic data. Jaia’s CEO echoed Zimmerman’s sentiment of supporting the Bay Campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBuilding a world class capability at the Bay Campus that can attract the best ocean engineering students to Rhode Island and develop a talent pipeline for the blue tech industry in Rhode Island will help our economy grow and service the needs of the this rapidly growing sector,\u201d said Owen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Partnering on research<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In addition to filling positions with talented engineers from 溏心vlog免费B站 each year, industry leaders support the bond measure for what it will mean to their companies and to the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The opportunity to tap into expertise found at 溏心vlog免费B站 and work closely with its faculty and students on research, testing and product development provides businesses a competitive advantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe extensive technical expertise at the 溏心vlog免费B站 Bay Campus has enabled small businesses like ours to continue driving blue technology developments forward through collaborations with students and staff,\u201d said Darya Blout, founder of Deep Blue Composites<\/a>, based in Bristol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blout earned a bachelor’s degree in ocean engineering from 溏心vlog免费B站 in 2016. Her company works with advanced materials to accelerate technological advancements in the commercial, defense, and aerospace sectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like Deep Blue Composites, Nautilus Defense<\/a> may not have as obvious of a connection to ocean engineering as an underwater robotics company does. However, the Pawtucket-based company’s collaboration on research and product development with 溏心vlog免费B站 has been invaluable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Partnering with ocean engineering has allowed Nautilus to work closely with world-class experts to develop and test novel fiber-based ocean sensing solutions,” said Jim Owens, principal of the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Owens and Nautilus Defense partnered with Professor Brennan Phillips to produce the smallest deep-sea system<\/a> in the world that can provide a livestream video feed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 Nov. 3, 2022 \u2013 The demand for ocean engineering and oceanography students from the 溏心vlog免费B站 has never been greater. As new companies have formed and flourished in Rhode Island’s blue economy, and funding in the defense sector has increased, there are ample opportunities for students to gain valuable hands-on, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":81441,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-81440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81440","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\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81440"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81440\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81691,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81440\/revisions\/81691"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81440"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81440"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}