The College of Engineering has over 70 tenured / tenure-track faculty performing research focusing on solving the most pressing local and global challenges. Their nationally and internationally recognized research expertise encompasses areas such as coastal resiliency, materials for extreme environments, nanotechnology, robotics, underwater exploration, offshore wind energy, and water reuse, among others, using an interdisciplinary and user-oriented approach to integrate the discovery of fundamental knowledge and applied research to solve societal issues.
The College of Engineering hosts three research centers funded by federal, state, and private sources and two research core facilities with more than $10M on state-of-the-art characterization and analytical capabilities.
Over the past 5 years, the College of Engineering has received 6 NSF CAREER Awards (60% of all URI NSF CAREER) and 4 ONR Young Investigator Awards. Our faculty’s research activity thrives thanks to the extensive collaboration across engineering disciplines, the university at large, government, academia, and industry worldwide.
This has resulted in a doubling of external research funding from 2016 to 2022, from $6M to $18M. A $150M investment in the Fascitelli Center for Advanced Engineering (opened in 2019) and the recent approval of state bond to build the new Ocean Engineering building at the Bay Campus is giving URI Engineering some of the best engineering facilities in the country.
Take a look at the construction of the new Ocean Robotics Laboratory.
News in Research
URI and Rhode Island Energy, a PPL company, partnering to propel research on renewable energy, energy alternatives, sustainability - University of Rhode Island President Marc Parlange and Greg Cornett, president of Rhode Island Energy, Friday announced a strategic partnership that will propel important research in renewable energy, energy alternatives, and sustainability.
Office of Naval Research awards $4.7M for cyber-physical security and resilience - Four University of Rhode Island engineering professors have been awarded a $4.7 million grant from the Office of Naval Research to advance the security and resilience of AI-enabled power grids, promote workforce development, and secure manufacturing environments. The three-year project, “Advancing Research on Cyber-Physical Security and Resilience: A Multifaceted Approach,” will be led by principal […]
Weiwei Jia Receives NSF CRII Award - University of Rhode Island (URI) computer engineering assistant professor Weiwei Jia was selected for a National Science Foundation (NSF) Computer and Information Science and Engineering Research Initiation Initiative (CRII) Award for his groundbreaking proposal, “A Novel Address Translation Architecture for Virtualized Clouds.” This award supports early-career scientists in computer and information science engineering, enabling them […]
Department of Energy Awards URI Team Funding for Carbon Capture Analysis - 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 change is driven by […]