UW-Stout: Industry-standard equipment, applied learning through internships prepare UW-Stout graduates for careers

Menomonie, Wis. – Among the class of 849 undergraduate students who crossed the commencement stage at University of Wisconsin-Stout’s most recent ceremony on May 16, seven College of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics & Management students were recognized by faculty and staff as inspiring graduates whose stories represent what it is to be Stout Proud. 

These graduates shared their university experiences, setbacks and successes in UW-Stout’s Inspiring Graduate Q&A series: 
– Rosella Wille, B.S. Business Administration, Cannon Falls, Minnesota
– Thomas Shamla, B.S. Mechanical Engineering, South Range
– Mia Schmoll, B.S. Biology, Pine Island, Minnesota
– Austin Pratt, B.S. Packaging, Lakeville, Minnesota
– Cassie Santelman, B.S. Plastics Engineering, Savage, Minnesota
– Makenna Lowell, B.S. Packaging, Frederick, Maryland
– Adam Rath, B.S. Computer Science, Savanna, Illinois

Of this year’s UW-Stout graduates, 77.4% were hired prior to graduation, while 99% of recent graduates were employed or furthering their education within six months of graduation.

Inspiring Graduate: Rosella Wille, B.S. Business Administration

Wille was inspired to attend UW-Stout by successful alumni who spoke highly of their experiences at Wisconsin’s Polytechnic University. Now, after her own noteworthy academic and athletic career, Wille herself is poised to become one of those outstanding alums.

As an incoming student, Wille said, “I saw the opportunity to gain a quality, hands-on education through internships and real-world projects that would help me build my skills and prepare for my career.”

In addition to earning a B.S. in business administration, minors in investment & finance and economics, and completing three internships, Wille played forward on the women’s basketball team, reaching the NCAA Division III Final Four in 2025 and earning Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference All-Sportsmanship Team honors this spring. Wille also served as student assistant coach for the Blue Devils women’s flag football team, which won the inaugural Midwest College Women’s Flag Football League Championship in 2025. 

“Being part of a competitive team taught me strong time management as I balanced practices, travel and academics,” Wille said. “It also strengthened my teamwork, accountability and ability to stay focused on shared goals under pressure. Those skills have made a big impact on my overall college experience that I will carry into my career.” 

After graduation, Wille will begin her career as a tax associate at Redpath and Company and make a fast break toward her next goal: studying for and completing the CPA exam. 

“I hope to make an impact in my field by building strong relationships with individuals and providing trustworthy guidance to help them feel more confident about their finances,” she said. “Taxes and accounting can be stressful or confusing for many people, so I want to be someone clients can rely on to explain things clearly and support their financial goals.”

Thomas Shamla, B.S. Mechanical Engineering

Shamla can point to specific engineering course work that helped him excel at an industrial internship – an internship that led to a job offer. The connection between learning technical drawing and design software skills in class and then applying those skills to create 3D models for an employer is a prime example of the advantages of a degree at Wisconsin’s Polytechnic University. 

“UW-Stout has prepared me to work in my field by offering extensive exposure to the same equipment and processes used in industry,” said Shamla, who will soon begin as a mechanical engineer at Absolut Manufacturing, a maker of paper converting equipment in Iron River. 

Even classes outside his major that he was initially skeptical of – such as those in speech and writing – had application in his career, Shamla found.

“I was asked to give two presentations to the senior engineers at the company where I had my internship, and I remember using some of the feedback I received in my speech class years earlier to create a clear, concise presentation,” he said. 

With the knowledge and experience he acquired at UW-Stout, Shamla looks forward to giving back to his community and his chosen profession.

“I hope to contribute to my field by bringing my knowledge to the manufacturing industry of northern Wisconsin and by using my acquired skills to offer unique and innovative solutions to problems,” he said. 

Mia Schmoll, B.S. Biology

The strong sense of community – exemplified by both students and faculty – on display during a campus visit inspired Schmoll to enroll at UW-Stout, and over the past four years she has cultivated her own campus community in classrooms, labs and athletic fields.

Schmoll said UW-Stout’s polytechnic approach, which complements her own learning style, helped clinch her decision to become a Blue Devil. In addition to being a member of both the soccer and flag football teams, Schmoll interned as an assistant athletic trainer, allowing her to apply the skills she learned in the classroom and lab to her fellow competitors’ needs. And those skills will be front and center when she attends the Mayo Clinic School of Health Sciences to complete her doctorate in physical therapy.

“I am very excited to be able to work directly with patients as a physical therapist and help to improve their quality of life through rehabilitation,” Schmoll said.

Schmoll praised UW-Stout’s small class sizes for helping her connect deeply with both classmates and professors.

“The professors at Stout really stood out and made my experience here so much more valuable,” she said. “They really work to get to know their students personally and care about what is going on in their lives. I have always felt like I had a great support system in the faculty here that I could turn to when I needed help with coursework.”

Austin Pratt, B.S. Packaging

UW-Stout provided the right package of industry oriented-education, athletic dedication and family connection for Pratt, who followed his siblings’ footsteps to earn a B.S. packaging degree.  After five seasons playing junior hockey in Canada, Pratt came to UW-Stout, where he completed three professional internships – with Imagine Printing Solutions, DDL Inc. and Menasha Packaging – the latter of which provided the opportunity to collaborate on a project with his sister, Ashley, to create retail displays for Hormel Foods products in Costco stores. Pratt was also a member of the football team for two years and was a student coach for the Blue Devils hockey team, which reached the Frozen Four during their most recent season. 

“Football taught me how to persevere through challenging times while coaching taught me how to be a leader,” he explained.

Before graduation, Pratt accepted a job at Smurfit Westrock as a packaging sales representative, and he credits UW-Stout’s applied learning environment with preparing him for his career. 

“UW-Stout has given me, and a lot of other students, a place where we can really be ourselves,” he said. “One thing I like most is how flexible it is – you can be as involved in whatever you want. If you’re into clubs, sports, or campus activities, there are tons of opportunities. Overall, it’s a welcoming environment where you can shape your own college experience, with support from both professors and other students along the way.” 

Cassie Santelman, B.S. Plastics Engineering

Santelman was attracted to UW-Stout by the institution’s polytechnic promise: learn by doing, on real equipment, in real conditions. The B.S. plastics engineering program at Wisconsin’s Polytechnic University delivered, giving her lab experiences that included designing an injection mold in her molding class and then creating that mold in her machining class. This end-to-end experience in UW-Stout’s labs honed talents that Santelman applied in two internships, one of which led to a full-time job as a project engineer for Nolato, a plastics manufacturer in Baldwin.

“These internships helped me to understand the whole process that goes into manufacturing parts by seeing all sides of the process and documentation,” she said.

Santelman was also a two-sport athlete, playing on the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference conference-winning women’s golf team and as well as the women’s flag football team, which won the inaugural Midwest College Women’s Flag Football League Championship in 2025.  Now as she begins her professional career, Santelman hopes she can bring new insights into the industry and advance her chosen field thanks to the personal and professional skills she developed at UW-Stout. 

“I am most proud of graduating with my degree as a scholar athlete and conference champion, proving that academics and athletics can go hand in hand without hindering one another,” she said. Makenna Lowell, B.S. Packaging

When it came to choosing a path after high school, Lowell knew exactly what degree she wanted to get and where she wanted to get it. As a student fascinated by both engineering and art, “Packaging felt like the perfect blend of those two passions,” Lowell said. 

After learning about the packaging field during her older brother’s college search, Lowell was drawn to the packaging program at UW-Stout, one of the few U.S. universities to offer such a major. Lowell appreciated the fact that UW-Stout’s packaging program was part of the Robert F. Cervenka School of Engineering, which gave her an opportunity to take engineering-focused prerequisites.  

Furthermore, UW-Stout’s status as Wisconsin’s Polytechnic University meant that Lowell could work with industry-standard equipment in on-campus labs while also pursuing off-campus cooperative opportunities within industry. Lowell applied her knowledge during co-ops at Kimberly-Clark and Ocean Spray Cranberries, in the latter instance completing a project that saved the company a projected $200,000. 

Lowell will soon begin her career as a structural designer at Midwest Packaging and Container in Rockford, Illinois. She hopes to make an impact on the sustainability of her chosen field.

“I only wanted to enter the packaging industry if I could help make it more sustainable, and I hope to continue pushing the field toward environmentally responsible solutions,” Lowell said.

Adam Rath, B.S. Computer Science

Over the course of three years at UW-Stout, Rath went from being an undecided community college transfer student to a computer science degree-holder eager to step into the professional world with the skills to build large applications and meet industry standards. 

“What I am most proud of as I finish my degree is how far I have come,” Rath said. “If you had asked me what linear algebra was before, I would have said I didn’t know.” 

Rath credits his transformation to the applied learning that is part of UW-Stout’s identity as Wisconsin’s Polytechnic University. The polytechnic model gave his coursework real-world weight, culminating in a post-graduation internship at DigiKey, a Minnesota-based distributor of electronic components. He also lauds professors – both inside and outside his major – for their dedication to their students.

“Whether they genuinely care about helping students succeed and learn or are passionate about the subjects they teach, it has a strong impact — not only on student engagement but also on preparing students for industry standards,” Rath said.

UW-Stout, a member of the Universities of Wisconsin, is Wisconsin’s Polytechnic University, with a focus on applied learning, collaboration with business and industry, and career outcomes. Learn more via the FOCUS2030 strategic plan.