Serving in the U.S. Marines gave Arnold “Bill” Bangel III the focus he needed to pursue a PhD in industrial and systems engineering. Learning how to navigate a devastating loss gave him life perspective.
By day, Arnold “Bill” Bangel III guides undergraduate students through lab assignments at the University of Iowa College of Engineering. In his own campus lab, he is busy completing his doctoral studies in industrial and systems engineering and conducting research for the
U.S. Department of Energy.
By evening, Bangel is 48 miles south of the Iowa City campus — and in a different world. On an acreage he rents in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, he is simply “Dad,” caring for his two school-aged kids, Maximus and Scarlet. Often he is engaging them in recreational activities such as zooming around on dirt bikes with the family’s yellow Labrador retriever trotting faithfully behind. He calls this his “throttle therapy,” which allows him to decompress and have fun.
Bangel, who will defend his PhD dissertation in the summer of 2025, was a nontraditional student by many measures.
After high school, the Indiana native dropped out of college and joined the U.S. Marines, serving nine years at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina while also getting married and starting a family. Using the GI Bill to fund his tuition, he eventually went back to school and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering technology at Western Illinois University. A year after beginning a doctoral program at Iowa, his wife, Tiffany, passed away suddenly, and he was thrust into single parenthood.
Navigating this unexpected loss, Bangel considered leaving the Iowa program. But the desire to provide a stable life for his children, coupled with support from his engineering colleagues, who stepped in to lead his classes, helped him stay the course.
“After my wife’s death, I took a step back and thought about everything. I realized that as long as I was able to finish my PhD, the jobs would bring more financial stability and more time off to be with my kids,” he said. “I just want to make sure I can be there to take care of my kids and support them.”
Finding a niche in engineering
When Bangel began searching for a PhD program, Iowa rose to the top with a friend from his undergraduate college enrolled and a good fit as a graduate research assistant in the Additive Manufacturing-Integrated Product Realization Laboratory. The lab investigates how to make additive manufacturing processes more sustainable and energy efficient.
“I was working with composites and fibers at my last university, and a lot of what I do now is composites and thermal plastics,” he said. “For the Department of Energy study, I am using recycled paper — midterms and finals and homework — to make feedstock for 3D printing.”
Using recycled paper in this way has huge implications, Bangel explained. It reduces the amount of nylon powder needed as a binding agent to create 3D prints, making the process cheaper. And it’s better for the environment.
Xuan Song, associate professor of industrial and systems engineering, is Bangel’s advisor. He said Bangel’s experience and expertise will set him apart in the job market.
“Bill is highly skillful and knowledgeable in manufacturing and is always able to connect his practical experience to research and teaching,” he said.
Bangel has proven to be an effective teacher, being named the Outstanding Teaching Assistant in 2024.
Diego Robles, a junior industrial and systems engineering major from Puerto Rico, works with Bangel in the classroom and the lab. He said Bangel has been a wonderful mentor.
“Working with Bill is an amazing combination of being able to learn and being hands-on with the projects,” Robles said. “He knows what’s important for us to learn and is very approachable whenever we need help.”
As he approaches graduation, Bangel said he welcomes the next chapter, possibly working in a government research lab.
“I am a 37-year-old PhD student, and I am ready to be an ‘adult’ again — to start over in a new place and raise my kids to be the best that they can be,” he said.