Last Friday, February 2, students from UR and RIT teamed up for the NextGen Challenge, a full-day competition held to address real issues faced by a local company. The company for this challenge was Rochester-based Craft Cannery, a rapidly growing startup specializing in contract food manufacturing for sauces, dressings, marinades, teas, soups, meals-in-jars, and more. The company is looking to double their existing 5,000 square foot production facility to meet increasing consumer demand, while maintaining required safety standards and ensuring timely delivery.

Craft Cannery CEO Paul Guglielmo kicked the day off with a rundown of Craft Cannery as a company, the issues they are facing, and a layout of the current facility. Students were then split into four teams and tasked with developing updated floor plans, taking into consideration the extra square footage, safety measures, cost effectiveness, and optimizing Craft Cannery’s process flow.

After a day of brainstorming, the teams presented their ideas to the judges –– Craft Cannery Production Manager Dan Nichols, and Simon Business School professors Roberto Colangelo and Mark Wilson. 

In first place came Ujval Madhu (RIT), Bohan Cui (E5 ’24), Meina Liu (EdD ’24), and Dylan Horton ’27. In second place came Javlonbek Khamzaev ’27, Paul DeSouza ’25, Tan Phan (MS ’24), Jaimin Shah (MS ’24), Katie Lee (RIT), and Marcel Shaffer (RIT). Congratulations to both teams, and a big thank you to RIT, the judges, and everyone who participated!

From left to right: Ujval Madhu (RIT), Bohan Cui (E5 ’24), Meina Liu (EdD ’24), and Dylan Horton ’27.

From left to right: Javlonbek Khamzaev ’27, Paul DeSouza ’25, Tan Phan (MS ’24), Jaimin Shah (MS ’24), Katie Lee (RIT), and Marcel Shaffer (RIT).