University Of Rhode Island News

Source: NOAA

New AUV Helps Document Critical Minerals

small-footprint AUV is advancing understanding of some of the planet’s least explored regions at water depths up to 11,000 meters (6.8 miles).Operationalizing the technology for the first time was part of a mission led by the Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute (OECI), based at the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography, with support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).As part of a larger expedition to expand knowledge of the seafloor, the OECI partnered

URI’s Brennan Phillips prepares the rotary actuated dodecahedron sampling system before the final dive of the Designing the Future cruise in 2021. (Photos: Jovelle Tamayo/Schmidt Ocean Institute). © URI

URI Research Seeks to Learn About Deep Sea Organisms

Building upon previous research, University of Rhode Island Professor of Ocean Engineering and Oceanography Brennan Phillips and a multidisciplinary team of scientists will use cutting-edge technology to learn new information about fragile deep-sea organisms and possibly discover new species.The team will receive $2.2 million over three years from the Ocean Shot Research Grant Program, an initiative to encourage bold research in ocean discovery and technology through the Sasakawa Peace Foundation’s Ocean Policy Research Institute, supported by The Nippon Foundation.In addition to Phillips

© NUWC

NUWC Division Newport-Sponsored Robotics Team Finishes Among Top Alliances at World Competition

deployed vision-based alignment and automated scoring routines, empowering the drive team with a full arsenal of advanced control tools.Prior to qualifying for the World Championship, AIR STRIKE competed in several competitions including a FRC New England regional event held March 13-15 at the University of Rhode Island. Founded in 1996, AIR STRIKE is organized through Aquidneck Island Robotics (AIR), a nonprofit, volunteer-run organization with more than 60 student members and 30 volunteer mentors. Aquidneck Island Robotics is open to all students in Rhode Island and Southeast Massachusetts from

Source: NUWC

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

Source: SeaTrac

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

© Richard Carey / Adobe Stock

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 SeapiX-R on DriX USV (Credit: Exail)

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

(Photo: NUWC Division Newport)

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

© ead72 / Adobe Stock

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

In this edition MTR explores the drivers for subsea exploration in 2025 and beyond
Read the Magazine Sponsored by

Editorial

Marine Technology Magazine Cover May 2025 -

Marine Technology Reporter is the world's largest audited subsea industry publication serving the offshore energy, subsea defense and scientific communities.

Subscribe
Marine Technology ENews subscription

Marine Technology ENews is the subsea industry's largest circulation and most authoritative ENews Service, delivered to your Email three times per week

Subscribe for MTR E-news