He teaches a wide variety of introductory and upper-division laboratory and lecture courses, and helped create a first-year experience course on critical thinking.
After twenty years as part of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) collaboration, Ugolini's research now focuses on making cutting-edge research equipment accessible to undergraduates. This program centers on the Arduino, an open-source electronics platform that replaces the complexity of filter and feedback circuits with software. Current projects include an inexpensive device to measure laser wavelength to 0.1 nanometer precision, and a system for controlling the length of an optical cavity.