Dr. Tony Kerzmann

Tony Kerzmann will join the program as a Co-Faculty leader.
His educational background began with the attainment of a Bachelor of Arts in Physics from Duquesne University, as well as a Bachelor’s, Master’s, and PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh.
The energy sector is an area where Tony has focused his efforts, and enhanced his expertise.  Tony’s graduate thesis and dissertation were based on research in linear concentrating solar energy. He developed an energy simulation model to improve solar cell electrical efficiency in a concentrating photovoltaic system and conducted a comparative life-cycle assessment on the system.
During his research at the University of Pittsburgh, Tony collaborated on numerous projects and research groups related to energy and sustainability. The NSF IGERT grant that Tony received in graduate school, brought him to Campinas, Brazil for 5 months to conduct Fresnel lens research. During Tony’s time at the University of Pittsburgh, we was fortunate enough to advise a motivated group of undergraduate students in fabricating and testing a solar water distillation system.
After graduation, Tony became a Mechanical Engineering Professor at Robert Morris University which afforded him the opportunity to research, teach, and advise. One of Tony’s major research projects while at RMU was his work with a research group to develop alternative fueling station optimization simulations that led to numerous publications. He advised student groups that won regional and international awards, the most recent of which won the Utility of Tomorrow competition, outperforming 55 international teams. Additionally, Tony developed and taught thirteen different courses, most of which were in the areas of energy, sustainability, thermodynamics, and heat transfer. He always made an effort to incorporate experiential learning into the classroom through the use of demonstrations, guest speakers, student projects and site visits. Tony is a firm believer that all students learn in their own unique way. In an effort to reach all students, he included a host of teaching strategies into his classes, including labs, videos, example problems, quizzes, demonstrations, and group work.
Tony served as the mechanical coordinator for the Engineering Department for 6 years, and was the Director of Outreach for the Research and Outreach Center in the School of Engineering, Mathematics and Science. Throughout Tony’s academic career, he taught over 70 course sections and advised over 65 student projects.