Spencer Bandi, a BYU Ph.D. candidate in chemical engineering, studies biomass energy generation and works on building its combustion reactor with undergraduate students to achieve net-negative carbon emission.
Bandi’s experience with power outages in Zimbabwe and the desire to improve global living conditions through the quality of clean energy generation led him and his family to come to the United States to study biomass combustion.
Aiming for net-negative carbon emission
Bandi said his current research project aims to achieve beyond carbon neutral from burning biomass, “carbon negative emission.”
Bandi said burning biomass is carbon neutral from burning carbons which were captured from the air by plants through photosynthesis. Instead of returning it to the air, he said capturing carbon from burning biomass and sending it underground leads to reducing carbon in the atmosphere.
Bandi said he is currently working on building a biomass combustion reactor at the engineering research laboratory building under Andrew Fry, an associate professor teaching chemical engineering unit operation laboratory and thermodynamics.
Instead of releasing carbon from burning biomass, Fry said the project aims to build a carbon-capturing system attached to an energy reactor which Bandi is currently working on.
The goal of adding the capturing system is to inject captured carbon underground, resulting in a carbon-negative effect, Fry said.
Bandi gained his bachelor's degree in chemical and process systems engineering at Harare Institute of Technology from his home country, Zimbabwe, and he said he is planning on graduating from BYU in April 2026.
Growing up with power outages
He said his desire to study energy generation grew from living in an environment where power outages were very common.
“While preparing for term or final exam, there were two to three days of no power. So, you have to study using a torch or a candle,” Bandi said, explaining his time as a student back home in Zimbabwe.
He said this experience led him to be interested in how power is generated and what he could do to contribute to the energy industry to serve the community.
Enter to learn go forth to serve
Bandi said he wants to establish a global energy consultancy firm by creating a great network and having a team of sponsors.
“That’s a big one, right? Because one thing that I’ve learned is every country in the world has its own energy-related issues,” Bandi said.
He said these issues vary in lack of raw materials or equipment to reach the demand.
Some countries can meet all the demands, but they have issues related to clean energy generation, Bandi said.
“Will I be able to achieve it? I don’t know, but I have faith that we are able to help,” Bandi said.
He said his end goal is to improve people’s living conditions through good quality clean energy.
Bandi said BYU has been a great supporter of his academic journey in the United States.
"BYU is a very competitive and tough environment in terms of learning which students could relate to,” he said, but he also said he was provided with many temporal and spiritual resources to expand and succeed in his knowledge by the university.
He said he receives help from undergraduate students by working and mentoring them, and BYU weekly devotionals help him to remember who he is during times when he feels stress from focusing on school.
“I'm facing the future with enthusiasm because of the support that I've got,” Bandi said.
Prior working experience before coming to BYU
The joy of doing research and learning critical thinking skills while working full-time at National Food Limited Zimbabwe in his senior year in college inspired Bandi to pursue higher education at BYU, he said.
Fry said Bandi came from a very different background than most graduate students, and one thing that stands out to him is his previous experience with supervising and working with people.
“He knows how to look out for his research assistants, he knows how to manage them and to get them to be productive,” Fry said.
Curtis Covington, a junior in chemical engineering from Sunnyvale, California, said he worked and spent a lot of time with Bandi on various projects during the past year and a half.
“Spencer, he is an energetic guy who loves what he does. He wants to get things done and help the people around him as well,” Covington said.
Family support towards his education
Bandi is a husband to Moleen and a father to his five-year-old daughter, Anita, and two-year-old son, Sean.
“Spencer is excellent and he is a family man,” Fry said.
He said Bandi spends time with his family, and he betters himself for his family.
Bandi said his wife, Moleen, takes care of the children and does everything at home so that he can be on campus to do research.
He said his wife’s sacrifice and support are what makes it possible for him to study at BYU.
Bandi said he brought his family, including his 10-month-old first born, to the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic to study for his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at BYU.
“It was a scary time to travel, but it was probably one of the cool times of traveling because the airports and the planes were not packed at all,” Bandi said.
He said his family had three seats individually that helped them sleep well on the plane throughout the 38 hours of travel to Provo.
Bandi said he would like to acknowledge the College of Engineering, anonymous donors and generous friends who are supporting he and his academic journey here at BYU.
