The University of Rhode Island has been awarded a U.S. Navy contract to create a collaborative undersea technology center to develop cutting-edge marine and defense technologies with both military and civilian potential.

The Center of Excellence in Undersea Technology, which will be housed in an office on URI’s Narragansett Bay campus, will act as an umbrella organization for researchers from the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport, URI and other universities, and the marine industry to develop technologies that address critical naval and homeland security issues.

Among the organizations joining URI and NUWC: the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, General Dynamics Electric Boat, Raytheon IDS, Ocean Server, Rite Solutions, Applied Science Associates, SubChem Systems, WetLab and United Technology Research Center.

Creation of the center also is good news for the Rhode Island economy, because it will help the state build a highly trained work force for both NUWC and the local defense industry, said Saul Kaplan, executive director of the R.I. Economic Development Corporation .

Rhode Island’s marine trades and defense technology sector is amongst the highest-paid sectors in the state’s economy, paying wages on average of $55,800, Kaplan said.