Chad Spreadbury knew that he wanted to pursue a degree in environmental engineering when he started at St. Petersburg College in Pinellas County, Florida. After receiving his Associate in Arts, he transferred to the University of Florida to complete his bachelor’s degree. Now, he is one of the six new Ph.D. students incoming this fall who have received the Iva and Norman Tuckett UFTI Fellowship, sponsored by the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs.
Spreadbury study focus will be a blend of transportation and environmental engineering. He will be investigating how combined waste-to-energy ash can be used in roadway materials such as asphalt, concrete, cement, and road base aggregate with minimal environmental impact.
“The courses I took as an undergraduate made one concept increasingly clear: to solve the problems of today and tomorrow more research is needed and better methods both in scientific approach and real-world application are required,” Spreadbury said. “That’s how I decided that I needed to pursue a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering Sciences.”
To make sure environmental engineering was what he wanted to do, Spreadbury got involved in the University Scholars Program at UF his last year of undergraduate studies under Dr. David Mazyck, whose focus is in adsorbents (particularly activated carbon). Spreadbury investigated whether or not two test methods used to analyze surface functional groups on activated carbon could be correlated. This work had the potential to lead to one quick, straightforward approach that could be adopted by industry to develop custom activated carbons for specific contaminant removal.
“My results indicated that no correlation could be found between the two methods without modifying the procedures to account for the unique physical and chemical characteristics of activated carbon itself,” Spreadbury explained. “Still, this experience in academic research cemented my interest in going to graduate school and pursuing my Ph.D. while granting me extensive background on how to conduct scholarly research.”
Spreadbury’s advisor will be Dr. Timothy Townsend, a professor in Environmental Engineering Sciences, who focuses on solid and hazardous waste management. His first project will be trying to reuse ash generated from municipal solid waste waste-to-energy plants in construction materials such as asphalt, concrete, cement, and road base materials. Testing will help determine if ash-derived aggregates can withstand physical and environmental factors and guarantee a safe, functional product that does not contaminate the environment.
“I felt very privileged and honored to receive the UFTI fellowship,” Spreadbury said. “It will allow me to spend more time on research and being heavily involved on campus instead of worrying about how I am going to make ends meet by affording food, rent, and other necessities.”