IYRS School of Technology & Trades has announced that its 26th annual Graduation & Launch Day will occur on Saturday, June 1, 2024, at 10 a.m. in Restoration Hall at IYRS, 449 Thames Street, Newport, R.I.
“I’m thrilled with the variety of employment opportunities this cohort has secured,” said Jen Iacovelli, Director of Student Services at IYRS. “IYRS has a long history within the marine industry and we are excited that our students are applying their IYRS education and transferable skills to additional industries such as motorsports, aerospace, product development, and advanced manufacturing.
IYRS School of Technology & Trades has confirmed that U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse will be on the campus to congratulate the graduates.
The school is projected to graduate more than 70 students and launch five Beetle Cat sailboats, which will bring IYRS’s total of restored Beetle Cats to 170 restored since 1996. In addition, second-year Boatbuilding students restored a Buzzards Bay 14 “Wild Duck,” a 17 ft. sailboat designed by L.Francis Herreshoff in 1940 as well as a Race Point Surf Rescue Boat replica, a 25 ft. open rowing rescue boat built for the Buzzards Bay Coalition for the Horseneck Point Lifesaving Station Museum in Westport, MA.
Boatbuilding and Marine Systems students are off to employers as close as Bristol’s Flux Marine and as far as Shearwater Marine in Stuart, Florida.
Some Composites Technology students have stayed right in Rhode Island at companies like Aquidneck Custom Composites and Moore Brothers in Bristol. One student is working at Fibreworks Composites in Mooresville, NC which designs, engineers, and manufactures solutions for industries including motorsport, aerospace, and defense.
Another Composites Technology graduate, Declan Lawlor, opened a custom Pickleball Paddle company, Declan’s Paddles.
Digital Modeling & Fabrication students will be working in a variety of industries as well, including one student working at a Los Angeles based design and fabrication studio specializing in designer toys, fine art fabrication, and public art. One is working at Somerset-based Concentric Fabrication, a custom architectural and sculpture metal firm. Another is working for PacMar Technologies which provides research and development for government agencies like NASA.
Nearly 80 percent of IYRS students receive financial assistance. Those interested in learning more about scholarship opportunities can visit iyrs.edu/admissions/financial-aid-scholarships-grants.
More information about the graduation ceremony can be found at iyrs.edu/events/graduation.
