Rodney G. Handy, MBA, PhD, CIH

Rod Handy, MBA, PhD, CIH joined the RMCOEH faculty in the Department of Family & Preventive Medicine at the University of Utah on July 1, 2015, bringing with him over twenty-five years of experience in environmental and occupational health and safety. Dr. Handy is currently a Professor in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, teaching courses in industrial hygiene and environmental and occupational health and safety. Dr. Handy received his AAS and BS degrees from Purdue University (1981/1983), an MBA from Ball State University (1989), and a PhD in Environmental Engineering Sciences from the University of Florida (1995). He has been certified in the comprehensive practice of industrial hygiene (CIH) since 1999. Rod’s past industrial experiences have included five years as an engineer with Ford Motor Company and two years as an electromechanical technician with a small, computer floppy diskette firm. His past teaching experiences have most recently included eight years at Western Kentucky University, eight years at Purdue University, and three years in the University of North Carolina system. He was initially tenured at Western Kentucky in 2000 and promoted to full professor at Purdue University in 2010. In his career, Rod has taught a myriad of environmental health and safety (EH&S) engineering courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, including offerings such as industrial hygiene sampling and monitoring, environmental toxicology, green manufacturing, and indoor air quality. His current research interests are in thermal stress assessment, real-time contaminant measurement and characterization, and EH&S engineering.

Research Statement

My current and past research has primarily involved systems and techniques that integrate and automate the characterization of environmental stressors in the field. My research efforts has involved the use of automated sampling/monitoring techniques to improve the effectiveness and time efficiencies involved during the assessment of environmental contamination and human workplace exposures to biological, physical, and chemical stressors. I have also made scholarly contributions in research and engagement in sustainable manufacturing and industrial ecology. The recent projects of which I have been significantly involved with as principal investigator, investigator, or collaborator include NIOSH's Targeted Research Training (TRT) initiative, DOL's Susan Harwood training grant, U.S. Department of Energy/Y-12 materials characterization grant, a U.S. Department Labor WIRED grant for green workforce training, several regional industrial projects in the area of environmental health and safety, and the development of a sustainable manufacturing portal at Alcoa, Inc. Thus, due primarily to these successes, I anticipate that my future research agenda would continue to be focused on applied research in the field of sustainable manufacturing, industrial environmental management, and integrated environmental and occupational sampling/monitoring techniques.