As part of his experience, Dr. Schaad has: designed waste water treatment systems to address industrial and domestic waste streams; developed designs of storm water control structures and strategies to address water quality and quantity; designed fluid transport systems to replace water supplies impacted by anthropogenic sources; designed fuel transport and delivery systems; developed designs for commercial and residential development; prepared land use plans; developed designs to protect against potential flood hazards; designed and developed plans and specifications for fluid handling systems, waste mitigation alternatives and remedial actions for RCRA and CERCLA sites including active industrial facilities and inactive disposal sites (including NPL sites); conducted feasibility studies by evaluating and analyzing the economic and engineering considerations of multiple design alternatives; obtained extensive experience with innovative remedial techniques (including groundwater extraction and treatment, air sparging, soil vapor extraction, and bioventing).Current research focuses on sustainable engineering, community development, water and wastewater treatment design, stormwater retention/detention and treatment design, hazardous waste remediation, urban hydrology, constructed wetland and stream restoration design, ecological stabilization, sustainable engineering in land development, water resources, water and wastewater treatment.He is also the faculty advisor for Duke Engineers for International Development and has led DukeEngage experiences every year since the inception of the program. He has facilitated and/or led trips to Indonesia, Uganda, Kenya, Honduras, El Salvador, Bolivia, and Peru. Representative projects he has worked on include: building a 4800sf Infant and Maternal Health Clinic, constructing a 100ft long vehicular bridge
A Grand Challenge-based Framework for Contextual Learning in Engineering: Impact on Student Outcomes and MotivationExposure to meaningful, societally relevant applications can increase student motivation and improve learning outcomes. Here, we describe assessment results that evaluate a pedagogical framework based on the NAE Grand Challenges, in which specific engineering concepts are embedded in a societal problem (e.g., "reverse-engineering the brain") that requires students to define problems and apply course content to those problems. Assessment data were acquired from 981 undergraduate engineering students, including students participating in the intervention in an introductory class (N = 576) and advanced classes (N = 59) and control students in introductory (N = 281) and advanced classes (N = 65). Using a multivariate analysis of variance, we tested the hypothesis that the Engineering Grand Challenge Framework (EGCF) influenced students' self-assessments of specific student outcomes (ABET Criterion 3), particularly those related to understanding engineering in a societal/contemporary context. We also evaluated student motivation using well-validated scales drawn from t...
