Sam McSpadden, a native east Tennessean, received his Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Tennessee, Knoxville. While at UT he participated in the engineering co-op program, where he worked at Robertshaw Controls Fulton Sylphon Division in Knoxville. Upon graduation, he continued to work there as an automotive engineer.

In 1974 he joined the Fabrication Engineering Department at Y-12, where he gained valuable experience working with machinists and technicians throughout the plant. He later transferred to the Y-12 Development Division’s Fabrication Systems Department, and eventually became a group leader specializing in machining and inspection technology. One of his group’s achievements was developing inspection technology that was used by the Metal Prep Division to greatly reduce “failure-to-clean-up” issues on machined metal weapons components.

In the early 1990’s Y-12 produced prototype propulsion system components for the U.S. Navy’s Seawolf SSN-21 submarine, which was a major work-for-others project. While working on the Seawolf project, Sam developed software that was used to “translate” dimensional certification results from Y-12 coordinate measuring machines into to a specific format required by the Navy. He also managed a Navy ManTech-funded inspection project at Y-12, and participated in ManTech surveys of the Y-12 Plant and other facilities of interest to the Navy.

From 1995 through 2003, he was the leader of the Machining, Inspection, and Tribology User Center (MITUC) at ORNL’s High Temperature Materials Laboratory (HTML). The HTML User Program fostered collaboration between ORNL, university, and industrial researchers. The MITUC comprised a mix of Y-12 and ORNL employees. After UT Battelle became the operating contractor for ORNL, Sam became an ORNL employee and continued to lead the MITUC. At the end of 2003, he applied for and was granted a voluntary reduction of force.

Sam currently spends his leisure time tinkering with computers, attempting to play golf, and playing jazz music on his digital keyboard for his own entertainment.