The University of Rhode Island’s “MOMENTUM Magazine” this term featured a program managed by Polaris MEP with funding from the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation, RI MADE, and one of the first participants in the program, manufacturer Jaia Robotics.

Writer Michael Blanding reports:

‘[T]he Ocean State has spawned hundreds of companies contributing to our nation’s naval and military superiority. However, it’s not always easy for small businesses to break into the industry and manufacture products at scale and with the proper security.

To fill those gaps, the URI Research Foundation has helped launch a new program, RIMADE (Rhode Island Manufacturing to Accelerate the Defense Ecosystem), which provides funding and expertise of URI faculty and students to advise on what they need to succeed.

“The whole goal of the program is to strengthen and expand Rhode Island’s defense industrial base,” says Taylor Greene, program manager with Polaris MEP (Manufacturing Extension Partnership), a nonprofit business unit of the URI Research Foundation that administers the program. “We do that by modernizing the local supply chain.”’

Innovative Bristol, RI manufacturer Jaia Robotics is featured in the article.

Co-founder and CEO Ian Estaphan Owen shared his thoughts on RI MADE and the support it provides through cybersecurity, risk and supply chain assessments.

“As we get more embedded in DoD work, we need to improve our security systems,” he says. “So, having a baseline of where we are now and a roadmap of what we need to do to create a more secure environment is so important.”

Read the MOMENTUM article online. 

Want to get involved in RI MADE, either as a student consultant or a defense supply chain manufacturer? Click here to learn more about RI MADE.