Water for the World

Around the world, more than three times the population of the United States lack access to safe drinking water and more than 2 million people–most of them children–die every year from water-borne illnesses. Tsunamis are both unpredictable and deadly.

At the University of Rhode Island, researchers are seeking better ways to provide potable water and stop pollution from contaminating water supplies.

Associate Professor Vinka Oyanedel-Craver is helping communities in remote villages in the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, India, Jordan, and Kenya manufacture inexpensive ceramic water filters. Her students have developed a small, portable solar water treatment system for the rural city in the Dominican Republic.

Assistant Professor Ali Akanda and his expertise in computer modeling of water supplies, floods and droughts. He combines the models with research in water security, climate change and global health to create early warning systems to benefit public health.

Tsunamis are both unpredictable and deadly. 100,000 souls were lost during the Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami in 2004. Distinguished Engineering Professor Stephan Grilli is studying Tsunamis, and is considered one of the world experts on the topic.


  • COE Welcomes New Faculty - Mehrshad Amini, Assistant Professor, CVE/OCE Dr. Mehrshad Amini will join the University of Rhode Island in Fall 2023 as an Assistant Professor with a joint appointment in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Department of Ocean Engineering. He completed his Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Pennsylvania State University in 2021. […]
  • Fulbright Award Winner to Make Clean Water Access a Priority - By Hugh Markey Professor Joseph Goodwill of the College of Engineering will soon be bringing his teaching and researching skills to the University of Trento in Italy now that he has become a Fulbright scholar. Goodwill studies and teaches the application of physics and chemical principles to improve water quality, with the objective to improve […]
  • Block-Island-wind-turbine sized Save the whales- but from what? - By Hugh Markey When ten whales washed up on the New Jersey shoreline over the course a few months in 2023, people were understandably concerned. What happened here? How did these beautiful animals meet such ignominious deaths? Might the cause have something to do with wind turbines? URI Ocean Engineering Prof. James Miller says the […]
  • Offshore wind turbines not cause of whale strandings, deaths, says URI ocean engineering professor - James Miller, University of Rhode Island professor of ocean engineering and department chair, answered several questions recently about whether wind turbines have an effect on whale safety and health.
Engineering isn’t about doing research for the sake of doing research. It should be useful and make an impact in people's lives
Associate Professor, Vinka Oyanedel-Craver

Faculty

Professor and Department Chair

Ocean Engineering

401.874.6540
miller@uri.edu

Associate Professor and Department Chair

Civil and Environmental Engineering

401.874.2693
lt@uri.edu

Associate Professor and Graduate Director

Civil and Environmental Engineering

401.874.7050
akanda@uri.edu

Professor

Ocean Engineering and Oceanography

401.874.6480
rballard@uri.edu

Professor (Courtesy Appointment)

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Geosciences

401.874.7053
tboving@uri.edu

Professor

Civil & Environmental Engineering

401.874.2680
abrads@uri.edu

Associate Professor

Ocean Engineering

401.874.6122
jmdahl@uri.edu

Associate Professor

Civil and Environmental Engineering

401.874.2889
goodwill@uri.edu

Professor Research

Ocean Engineering

401.874.6029
annette_grilli@uri.edu

Associate Professor

Ocean Engineering

401.874.6217
reza_hashemi@uri.edu

Associate Professor and Graduate Director

Ocean Engineering

401.874.6028
slicht@uri.edu

Professor & Associate Dean of Research

Civil and Environmental Engineering

401.874.2784
craver@uri.edu

Associate Professor

Ocean Engineering

401.874.6035
brennanphillips@uri.edu

Professor Research

Ocean Engineering

401.874.6591
gpotty@uri.edu

Professor

Ocean Engineering (limited) and Oceanography

401.874.6115
croman2@uri.edu

Associate Professor

Ocean Engineering

401.874.6879
loravu@uri.edu