NUWC Supports Robotics Competition at University of Rhode Island
Team 78 AIR STRIKE, sponsored by the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Newport and mentored by its scientists and engineers, reached the final round of the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) New England regional event held March 13-15 at the University of Rhode Island (URI).FRC is a large-scale terrestrial robotics competition in which high school students, assisted by STEM professionals, build wire and program custom robots within an eight-week period, then pilot them in head-to-head competitive matches.“FIRST robotics provides a unique opportunity to challenge high school students to
SeaTrac USV Completes GoM Data Harvesting Project
, hurricane research, monitoring marine life and more. However, collecting such data at sea via traditional manned vessels brings risk to on-board crews and generates high operational costs, while also emitting harmful greenhouse gases.Representing the first of four project phases for the University of Rhode Island (URI), funded by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, this initial mission demonstrated the feasibility and benefits of using SeaTrac’s USV equipped with Sonardyne’s advanced acoustic technology in lieu of manned vessels to collect data from offshore seabed sensors.SeaTrac&rsquo
Funding Awarded for Five Projects that Study Ocean Systems in a Changing Climate
decrease, at times to extremely low values, how those shifts affect marine life and the coastal communities that rely on fishing, and what the consequences are regionally and globally.Ocean Margins Initiative (OMI). Led by: Amala Mahadevan (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute), Melissa Omand (University of Rhode Island), and Edem Mahu (University of Ghana)Ocean margins—the nexus between land and ocean —are biologically productive regions but poorly represented in climate and carbon cycle models. To improve global carbon cycle projections, OMI is building an observation and modeling system
Exail's DriX USV Concludes Marine Survey on US Wind Farm Areas
mode, the DriX USV covered over 5,000 km of navigation lines, safely operating within 20 meters from the windfarm monopiles, detecting and avoiding ships, fishing nets and buoys.During the mission, the USV transmitted its data in real-time to a Remote Operation Center (ROC) set up at the University of Rhode Island's Inner Space Center in Rhode Island, as well as to Exail's Maritime Autonomy hub in France."We would like to thank NOAA Fisheries Northeast Fisheries Research Science Center for the trust they have placed in Exail's USV and sensors. We are proud to have contributed to
New Partnership Strengthens US-Australia Subsea Tech Research
in September 2021 and the partnership is intended to strengthen each government’s security and defense interests through deeper information and technology sharing and greater integration of security and defense-related science, technology, industrial bases, and supply chains.In May, the University of Rhode Island also formalized a research and education partnership with Australia’s Flinders University
US Awards $6.7 Million for Sea Level Rise and Coastal Resilience Research
designs under future climate scenarios to inform restoration efforts in the Chesapeake Bay region.University of Texas at Arlington and University of Arkansas received nearly $500,000 to evaluate how different shoreline adaptation actions perform with sea level rise and storms in California.University of Rhode Island and Penn State University received over $360,000 to assess how nature-based solutions reduce coastal vulnerability to sea level rise while preserving ecosystem services in Rhode Island.(IRA-funded) U.S. Geological Survey and University of California Santa Cruz received over $324,000 to
New Hydrothermal Vent Found Near Galápagos
Ocean off the Western Galápagos Islands consists of five geyser-like chimneys and three hot springs. The hottest water temperature recorded was 288 degrees Celsius (550 degrees Fhrenheit).The American and Ecuadorian research team on R/V Falkor (too), led by Dr. Roxanne Beinart of the University of Rhode Island and Dr. Jill McDermott from Lehigh University, detected chemical signatures of the 9,178 square meter (98,791 square foot) vent field while surveying the region with Schmidt Ocean Institute’s underwater robot, ROV SuBastian. They found the vents and explored the area for over 43 hours
Bollinger Launches OSU's New Oceanographic Research Vessel
offshore, was chosen to recognize Oregon’s Indigenous peoples and continues a university tradition of tying names of research vessels to regional Tribes and languages.The second vessel, the R/V Narragansett Dawn, will be operated by the East Coast Oceanographic Consortium led by the University of Rhode Island. The third vessel, the R/V Gilbert R. Mason, will be based in the Gulf of Mexico. It will be managed by the Gulf-Caribbean Oceanographic Consortium, led by the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium and the University of Southern Mississippi.The 200-foot ships are unique, with new technologies
US Navy to Name Oceanographic Survey Ship USNS Robert Ballard
, oceanographers and distinguished marine surveyors. Widely known as a discoverer of the final resting place of the R.M.S. Titanic, Dr. Robert Ballard is a retired U.S. Navy Commander, former director of the Center for Ocean Exploration, and a tenured professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography.“Dr. Ballard’s career, explorations, research and focus on teaching the next generation of oceanographers is remarkable, and I am pleased to name T-AGS 67 in his honor,” Del Toro said. “One of my enduring priorities is building
February 2025
