Graduate of UNCW’s new engineering program prepares next step in life

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY)– Thousands of students graduated from UNCW yesterday, happy to be done with that chapter of their lives. As the rest of graduates rest, one already knows what they are going to do.

After years of studying, working and researching, Charlie Caputo is packing up his home on College Acre Road after graduating from UNC Wilmington.

“It’s bittersweet. I like the Wilmington area, I like this house — it’s in a great spot — but I’m ready to start the next chapter in my life,” Caputo said.

On Saturday, Caputo walked the stage and received his bachelor’s degree in UNCW’s first-ever Intelligent Systems Engineering program.

“It’s been a very interesting experience, and I’ve loved it. It’s been awesome,” he said.

Despite a challenging job market and the growing presence of artificial intelligence in the workforce, Caputo says he is not worried about what comes next. He says his degree was designed to prepare students for the future by combining robotics, AI and software engineering.

“A lot of us learned control systems, stuff for autonomy, stuff for creating our own AI, so it’s a little bit of everything,” Caputo said.

His next step will not be entering the workforce just yet. Instead, Caputo plans to pursue his Ph.D. at the University of Kentucky, where he hopes to focus his research on medical robotics.

“I just know that I want to use my engineering to help people,” he said.

Caputo says the journey to graduation was not easy. He worked a variety of summer jobs and received help from his father, Charlie Caputo Sr., to pay for tuition at UNCW.

Caputo Sr. says watching his son grow throughout the program has been emotional.

“Once he got into this program, the spark was lit, and he was motivated and excited about it the whole time,” he said.

After four years, Caputo says the experience was about more than earning a degree.

“It’s taught me how to be more confident,” he said. “I definitely wouldn’t have had the confidence to do this kind of thing when I came into college.”