Expanding what we can detect in the world

Advancing technology in sensors and instrumentation is work that keeps people safe and informed about the world around us. We rely on sensors to measure the health of physical materials, the status of environmental conditions, the composition of biological matter, or the density of traffic along a highway.

Otto Gregory developed a bomb-‘sniffing’ sensor capable of detecting explosives at airports or subways. He also leads a team designing sensors to measure the temperature, pressure, and strain inside jet engines. Work is underway at the University to design smart sensors that monitor fuel cells or detect chemical leaks or terrorist attacks. Civil engineers are spearheading sensors to better monitor traffic conditions and electrical engineers are finding ways to turn fiber optic cables into millions of tiny sensors.

As an engineer, you don’t want to work on something that is not going to benefit mankind.

Professor Otto Gregory

Research here will also keep us healthy. We are building tiny fluorescent spectrometry sensors to detect biomarkers in blood–the first step toward diagnosing disease. Researchers are developing sensors to detect electrical signals in the body to better understand conditions such as sleep apnea and cardiac disease. Kunal Mankodiya’s Wearable Biosensing Lab is creating wearable systems that can track important patient metrics such as heart rate vital signs, physical activity, falling, walking, or other movement difficulties in their daily life.

Department of Energy Awards URI Team Funding for Carbon Capture Analysis - Story by Krysta Murray University of Rhode Island (URI) received funding from the U.S. Department of Energy in partnership with the University of Kentucky to develop an ocean-faring electrochemical direct ocean capture system for carbon. This technology would be using renewable energy to drive a device that removes carbon dioxide (CO2) from ocean water. Climate […]
Technology for NASA’s Next-Generation Telescope - University of Rhode Island Professor Sungho Kim is developing technology that could be part of NASA’s next-generation telescope that will allow the space agency to observe and study phenomena that occurred 13.7 billion years ago.

Engineering Professors, Business Receive $75,000 Grant from RI Commerce Corp. - KINGSTON, R.I. – URI Engineering professors Richard Vaccaro and Musa Jouneh received a $75,000 innovation grant from RI Commerce Corporation for engineering development work with a startup company, Kinesia. The grant, which runs from January to August 2024, will pay for the creation of a prototype for an aid to human rehabilitation from orthopedic and […]
Cross-Disciplinary URI Team Forms Neuro-Learning Center - A URI team featuring Engineering Professor Kunal Mankodiya will establish a Neuro-Learning Center that will include cutting-edge equipment to study the relationship between brain activity and behavior, brain mapping, and neuroplasticity.