Dr. Malcolm Spaulding - Professor of Ocean Engineering, University of Rhode Island and Founder, Applied Sciences Associates Inc.

Malcolm is Professor of Ocean Engineering at the University of Rhode Island. He received his BS and PhD degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics from URI in 1969 and 1972, respectively, and was awarded an MS degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1970. In 1973 Malcolm joined the faculty in Ocean Engineering at URI and was appointed Associate Professor (with tenure) in 1977 and Professor in 1983; he teaches courses in ocean engineering mechanics, basic coastal measurements, estuarine and coastal modeling, and ocean systems design. Malcolm is an internationally recognized expert in marine environmental modeling with a primary focus in the areas of hydrodynamics, pollutant transport and fate, oil spill transport and fate, and the development of integrated model systems. He has led the development of several widely used oil spill transport and fate and hydrodynamic and water quality models.  Malcolm is published extensively in the field of marine environmental modeling.

Malcolm was awarded a Fulbright Hayes Fellowship at the Leningrad Shipbuilding Institute in St Petersburg, Russia. He was a senior visiting scientist at the Continental Shelf Institute in Trondheim, Norway, at the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory in Merseyside, England, and at CEDRE (the French oil spill response organization) in Brest, France. Malcolm has delivered lectures throughout the world; he has lectured at major institutions worldwide including: Delft Hydraulics Laboratory (Netherlands), University of Hamburg (Germany), University of  Cantabria (Spain), Indian National Institute of Ocean Technology/ Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) at Madras (India), Chinese Academy of Environmental Sciences (China), Prince Songkla University (Thailand), Australian Institute of Marine Science (Australia), and Korean Research Institute for Shipbuilding and Ocean Engineering (Korea).

Malcolm founded Applied Science Associates Inc. (ASA) in 1979 with several colleagues from the URI College of Engineering. ASA specializes in marine and freshwater environmental problems with a focus on the application of numerical modeling tools. ASA headquarters are located on URI’s Narragansett Bay Campus, with additional offices in Brazil, France, Australia, and Singapore. ASA employs 42 worldwide and 26 in its US office. In recognition of its business development, growth, and commitment to excellence ASA was awarded the 1992 Entrepreneurial Success Award for Rhode Island and New England by the Small Business Administration.  ASA has annual sales of $3.5 M (US office) and has contributed over $33 M to the state economy in its 23 years of operation. In 2001 the company was given a citation by Governor L. Almond in recognition of its contribution to marine environmental research and assessment. Based on an independent audit by Zwieg White & Associates, Inc., a leading management advisor for architecture, engineering, planning, and environmental consulting firms in the US, ASA was ranked in the top 20% of all firms surveyed throughout the US for its overall performance and profitability based on an exhaustive and in depth review of its last five years of operation.

In recognition of his contributions to business development and industrial achievement, Malcolm was selected to present the 4th Newcomen Lecture at the US Coast Guard Academy.  He has been recognized with numerous awards including: the RI Governor’s Science and Technology Award (1993); the Edmund and Dorothy Marshall Faculty Excellence Award in Engineering (1997); certificate of appreciation for outstanding service as a member of the NRC, Transportation Research Board (TRB) and Marine Board (1996-2001); and the Royal Wales Award (2003).