Home Commentary Rhode Island’s future is standing inside the URI Engineering Building

Rhode Island’s future is standing inside the URI Engineering Building

By

Karl Wadensten

-

05/12/2026

oVRmtaw5-TgQDXYyy-wadensten0306 — Karl Wadensten

Last week, I saw something the state needs to pay much closer attention to when I arrived at the University of Rhode Island College of Engineering Capstone Showcase. The future was standing in the room. This was not just an end-of-year college event; it was a preview of Rhode Island’s next generation of talent. Young engineers, business thinkers, problem-solvers, makers, international students, young women engineers, faculty mentors and industry partners. Students

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Last week, I saw something the state needs to pay much closer attention to when I arrived at the University of Rhode Island College of Engineering Capstone Showcase. The future was standing in the room. This was not just an end-of-year college event; it was a preview of Rhode Island’s next generation of talent. Young engineers, business thinkers, problem-solvers, makers, international students, young women engineers, faculty mentors and industry partners. Students dressed, prepared, nervous, proud and ready to show the world what they had built. Honestly, more of us should have been there. I teach Lean Six Sigma at URI’s College of Business. This year, two groups of students from my class invited me to come see their engineering capstone projects. Like any busy company president, my first thought was familiar: Friday is full; the plate is already overflowing. Then I heard the voice of a very smart person, my wife. When you are really passionate about something, stop, reflect and ask yourself what matters. So I said yes. I am so glad I went. Those students were not asking just to be polite; they were asking because they were proud. They wanted someone to see the thinking, the work, the problem-solving, the late nights, the learning and the possibility packed into their projects. There was something else there, too. They wanted me to see that they had been listening. They had taken the words, tools, and real-life examples from our Lean Six Sigma class and woven them into their work. They were connecting classroom language to engineering decisions. They were connecting process thinking to technology. They were connecting inventory accuracy, error-proofing, flow, visibility, and waste reduction to a project that could actually matter in a real business. I also think they wanted affirmation. Not empty praise, but the kind of affirmation that says, “Yes, I see it - this is how learning becomes useful.” This is exactly the kind of thinking Rhode Island companies need. The students were on cloud nine. They were dressed, prepped, ready, and waiting for people to ask questions. You could feel the energy in the hallway. There were classmates, professors, mentors, host companies, and students standing beside their work with that nervous, proud look that says, “Ask me about this. Let me show you what I built and what I learned.” Before the crowd filled in, I started asking questions and the students lit up. How does this work? Where does the data go? What problem does it solve? How would this scale? Where would this fail? How would a company actually use it? That is the part I will not forget. When young people realize you are not just being polite but actually listening, their whole posture changes. They stand taller, explain more deeply and start connecting classroom work to the real world right in front of you. I was especially proud to see the number of young women engineers in the room. Years ago at VIBCO Inc., we had two of the three engineering roles filled by women, and our whole organization was proud to let people know. Seeing that energy growing at URI was exciting. I was also ecstatic to see international students in the room, bringing different perspectives, different experiences and different ways of seeing problems. Rhode Island needs more of that energy. URI should be proud that students from around the world are choosing to learn, build, and contribute here. That kind of diversity is fuel, not window dressing. Fuel for better questions, better design, better business, and better problem-solving. One project that pulled me in hard was the RFID [Radio-Frequency Identification]-Based Inventory Database, developed by Christian Gemma, Austin Kilduff and Samantha Murphy. Their project develops an RFID-enabled inventory tracking system that automates item identification and location updates. They are integrating read-write RFID stations with a centralized database, building better information flows, and focusing on error-proofing and process optimization. That is not classroom theory sitting on a poster board; that is real-world manufacturing. That is a Rhode Island business opportunity staring us right in the face. As I listened, asked questions, took pictures, and watched these students explain their work, I could see applications everywhere. All companies, including VIBCO, are trying to manage inventory, reduce errors, find parts, track tools, improve flow, and stop wasting time looking for things that should never be lost in the first place. I thought about Rob Farro from Jerry’s Hardware in Narragansett. Rob has already been working with my Lean students on the possibility of RFID and better inventory visibility. Here I was, standing there, looking at students from my class and engineering students showcasing exactly that kind of thinking. That is the magic. That is the cross-pollination that URI should be paying attention to. My Lean Six Sigma class in the College of Business is now touching engineering, manufacturing, small business and even the College of Pharmacy. That matters because the real world does not operate in clean little academic boxes. Manufacturing does not live only in engineering. Problem-solving does not live only in business. Innovation does not live only in research labs. Healthcare improvement does not live only in the pharmacy. Inventory accuracy does not live only in a spreadsheet. The magic happens when students bump into each other’s worlds, borrow each other’s tools, challenge each other’s assumptions, and start seeing problems through more than one lens. That is where lean thinking comes alive and becomes useful. That is where a student stops saying, “This is my assignment,” and starts saying, “This could actually help someone.” For those of us who came through URI years ago, this was also a reminder that the world that trained us is now in the rearview mirror. The values still matter: discipline, curiosity, work ethic, problem-solving, humility, teamwork. However, the tools, speed expectations, problems have all changed. That is exactly why Rhode Island business leaders need to show up. We cannot lead tomorrow’s workforce from yesterday’s assumptions. As I was leaving, I could not stop thinking about all the people who should have been there. Company presidents, manufacturing leaders, workforce leaders, economic development people, small business owners, high school students, college students, my own young engineers, my factory team and my leadership team. They should have been saying to these students, “There is a place for this thinking in our companies.” Because that is what young talent needs. They need witnesses, encouragement and business leaders to show up and make the connection between their work and the world. They need someone to say, “I see what you are building.” “I see how hard you worked. I see how this could matter and Rhode Island needs you.” I will never again look at the end of the URI academic year as “just the last day.” Not after that. The end of the year at URI should be a rally point for Rhode Island. It should be a place where business leaders come to see what the next generation is thinking, where manufacturers find ideas, and where students find confidence, where companies find future employees and where faculty see their work spilling into the real economy. Where Rhode Island sees its own future being built right in front of us. Next year, I plan to be one of the loudest cheerleaders, getting Rhode Island business leaders into that building. Karl Wadensten is a member of the R.I. Commerce Corp. board and president of VIBCO Inc., a manufacturing company based in Richmond. He has spent more than 25 years helping build and retain jobs in Rhode Island’s small and midsized business sector. He also teaches a BUS 410 level Lean Six Sigma Green Belt course at the University of Rhode Island.