KINGSTON, R.I. – October 4, 2018 — The president of Delsys, a global leader of devices for muscle sensing and movement monitoring, will be at the University of Rhode Island on Oct. 9 to share his thoughts on what it takes to turn a small business into a highly competitive company.

Having been with the company since its humble beginnings, Gianluca De Luca has played a significant role in Delsys’ success as a research engineer, manager of product development, vice president and now as president.

De Luca’s presentation, which is part of the Anthony J. Risica Lecture Series on Innovation and Entrepreneurship, will be held in the Hope Room of the Robert J. Higgins Welcome Center from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. A question and answer session and refreshments will follow.

Initially, Delsys occupied a small rented room above the Boston University bookstore. Now, celebrating its 25th anniversary, Delsys owns and operates a 23,000 square foot medical research and manufacturing facility in Natick, Mass. and has a growth rate of 10 to 25 percent each year.

Delsys has hired three URI graduates and has continually sponsored capstone design projects worked on by seniors in the College of Engineering. The company has also sponsored the HealthHacks RI competition, which is a contest hosted by URI’s College of Engineering that challenges students from all disciplines to solve practical problems using human-centered design.

The Risica Lecture Series was established in 2003, thanks to a generous gift from Anthony Risica, a URI engineering alumnus. The series invites prominent leaders in engineering and business to share their knowledge with the campus community and public.