The College of Engineering is home to more than 75 faculty whose research tackles today’s most pressing local and global challenges. From coastal resiliency and offshore wind energy to robotics, nanotechnology, and water reuse, our faculty lead nationally and internationally recognized work that blends interdisciplinary discovery with user-driven, applied solutions to real-world problems.
Over the past two decades, the College of Engineering at the University of Rhode Island has received multiple CAREER Awards from the National Science Foundation. Faculty have also earned prestigious Young Investigator Awards from the Office of Naval Research and Young Faculty Awards from DARPA. These national honors reflect both the exceptional talent of our early-career faculty and the growing recognition of URI Engineering’s leadership in key research areas, including resilient infrastructure, advanced materials, AI and cybersecurity, robotics, biomedical technologies, and naval and marine engineering.
This momentum is backed by a dramatic rise in research activity. Since 2017, external research funding has had an eight time increase, driven by interdisciplinary collaboration with government, industry, and academic partners at the state, national, and global levels.
Research News
The Ripple Effect of Research Funding for Better Outcomes - Daniel Roxbury, associate professor of chemical, biomolecular, and materials engineering, is the principal investigator of SIMCoast (Socio-ecological Impact of Microplastics in Coastal Ecosystems), a $7 million, four-year grant building Rhode Island’s research capabilities to measure and study the impacts of nano- and microplastics (NMPs) throughout the Narragansett Bay watershed.- Engaging Students in Real World Research - The URI Plastics: Land to Sea research initiative links students with professors in engineering, oceanography, fisheries, pharmacy, textiles, and natural resources, to explore and develop methods to manage locally generated plastic waste, focusing on reducing its impact on coastal communities.
Engineering professor awarded NSF CAREER Award to research biofilms - KINGSTON, R.I – May 06, 2026 – Assistant professor of chemical, biomolecular, and materials engineering Irene Andreu has been awarded a 2026 National Science Foundation CAREER Award, one of the most prestigious awards available to early career faculty. The award provides selected faculty with five years of funding to support their research and to lead […]