{"id":5678,"date":"2020-07-27T10:45:53","date_gmt":"2020-07-27T14:45:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/offshore-renewable-energy\/?p=5678"},"modified":"2020-08-31T12:06:40","modified_gmt":"2020-08-31T16:06:40","slug":"meet-the-experts-aaron-bradshaw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/offshore-renewable-energy\/features\/meet-the-experts-aaron-bradshaw\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the Experts \u2014 Aaron Bradshaw"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aaron Bradshaw currently serves in both the Civil and Environmental Engineering and Ocean Engineering departments at the University of Rhode Island, and his research interests lie in marine geotechnics. Here, he describes his passion for ocean engineering, and encourages students of the ocean environment, be their focus offshore renewable energy or other areas, to both learn the basics and \u201cfollow their bliss.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Put on the spot to provide his best advice to students preparing for their futures, Aaron Bradshaw<\/a>, a civil engineering academic within two University of Rhode Island (URI) departments \u2013 Civil and Environmental Engineering (C&EE) and Ocean Engineering (OE) \u2013 deliberates only a moment before sharing straightforward guidance: \u201cLearn the fundamentals,\u201d he says. \u201cDoing so has served me well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bradshaw, who often counsels students in his role as C&EE Undergraduate Director, learned that lesson as a student himself, from a professor of a statics course he undertook as an undergraduate pursuing a civil engineering degree from Tufts University, in his home state of Massachusetts. Although he hadn\u2019t initially thought of moving further into the academic realm, he ultimately embarked on graduate school at URI. Studying ocean and civil engineering, he continued to learn the fundamentals, immersing himself in research efforts that included work in the Gulf of Mexico.<\/p>\n

That effort, in great part, solidified his passion for exploring the nexus of human-made structures within and alongside the marine environment. \u201cIt was an absolutely life-changing experience,\u201d says Bradshaw, thinking back. \u201cFrom the field work to the hands-on laboratory experiences, it was there that I found out that this was what really suited me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Port and harbor development intrigued him, and, increasingly, the arena of offshore renewable energy, with its challenges and opportunities focused on provided clean and reliable electricity to coastal communities and beyond. \u201cThis is where my happy place is,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Since coming to work at URI, Bradshaw has focused on marine geotechnics \u2013 for example, the degree to which certain kinds of soils in the marine environment are able to support manmade structures \u2013 and he has enjoyed teaching courses in soil mechanics, foundations, marine geotechnics, and geotechnical earthquake engineering.<\/p>\n

He says ocean engineering, including its context with offshore renewable energy, is a rapidly changing and growing field, with much to offer the world in terms of improving people\u2019s lives and the integrity of the marine environment. \u201cThere\u2019s still so much we\u2019re learning, so much more to do,\u201d he says. \u201cWe need the next generation to be a part of this.\u201d<\/p>\n

And he engages with students, encouraging them to, just as he did, master the basics \u2013 those fundamentals \u2013 of their areas of study, but also to pay attention to what stirs their blood. \u201cFollow your bliss, find your passion,\u201d he says. \u201cThe ocean environment, whether it\u2019s offshore renewable energy or another field or aspect, has so much to offer students, and you\u2019re very much needed.\u201d<\/p>\nView Expert Profile<\/a>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aaron Bradshaw currently serves in both the Civil and Environmental Engineering and Ocean Engineering departments at the University of Rhode Island, and his research interests lie in marine geotechnics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":5681,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[126,154],"tags":[129],"class_list":["post-5678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-meet-the-experts","tag-aaron-bradshaw"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/offshore-renewable-energy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/offshore-renewable-energy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/offshore-renewable-energy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/offshore-renewable-energy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5678"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/offshore-renewable-energy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5678\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5708,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/offshore-renewable-energy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5678\/revisions\/5708"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/offshore-renewable-energy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/offshore-renewable-energy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/offshore-renewable-energy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/offshore-renewable-energy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}