Stephan Grilli

Stephan Grilli

Stephan Grilli holds a joint appointment as Distinguished Professor of Ocean Engineering and Professor of Oceanography in the Graduate School of Oceanography, at the University of Rhode Island. He was Chair of the Ocean Engineering Department from 2002-2008 and has been Chair since 2017. He has been a member of the URI faculty since 1991. Dr. Grilli received a MS degree in Civil engineering, a MS degree in Oceanography, and a Ph.D. from the University of Liège (Belgium). He is a registered professional engineer in Belgium since 1985. He has been a visiting professor in France, Germany, Spain, Morroco and has lectured in many other countries, including, China, Japan and Korea. He is the recipient of 7 international awards, including the 2008 C.H. Kim Award of the International Society of Offshore and Polar Engineers (ISOPE) “in recognition of outstanding technical achievements in and exceptional contribution to floating-body hydrodynamics.” From 2006 to 2010, Dr. Grilli served as a member on the National Research Council Marine Board.

Dr. Grilli’s has broad research expertise in computational wave and fluid dynamics, naval hydrodynamics, coastal and surf-zone modeling, wave-structure interaction, coastal hazard modeling for storms and tsunamis, and renewable wave energy systems. His research has been supported in the US by the NSF, ONR, DOD, USCG, NOAA, DOI/MMS, Seagrant and many other sources. He teaches courses to ocean engineering students at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Research in ORE:

  • Ocean Wave Energy utilization (U.S. Wave Energy Inc., 2001, PI)
  • Siting of proposed Energetech wave power plant off of Point Judith Harbor of Refuge (State of RI Renewable Energy Office, 2003-04, co-PI)
  • Design and Evaluation of Wave Energy Conversion Devices to Power Ocean Surveillance Systems (DARPA, 2005-2007, co-PI)
  • URI Partnership for Energy (URI, 2007-2010, co-PI)
  • Ocean Energy Extraction for Sensor Applications (ONR, STTR Phase I, 2008-2009; STTR Phase II, 2009-2012; PI)
  • Development of a Low Loss, Direct Drive Wave Energy Conversion Device to Power Coastal Surveillance Systems (RI-STAC Alliance Program, 2009-2010, PI)
  • Wave/Wind Engineering studies in support of Ocean
  • Special Area Management Plan (SAMP) (State of RI Office of Energy Resources, 2008-2010, co-PI)
  • High Resolution Modeling of Meteorological, Hydrodynamic, Wave and Sediment processes in SAMP study area (State of RI Office of Energy Resources,
    2009-2010, PI)

Research