Gregory Kremer, Ph.D.
- Robe Professor and Chair, Mechanical Engineering
Areas of Expertise
- Appropriate Technology
- Automotive Systems
- Energy
- Energy Conservation
- Energy Production
- Engineering Education
- Mechanical Engineering Design
- New Product Development
- Professional Formation of Engineers
- Renewable Energy
Expert Bio
Dr. Kremer’s passions and focus of his work are in human development and care for creation. He teaches an award-winning capstone design course, “Designing to Make a Difference,” which engages engineering students in designing one-of-a-kind prototype solutions for small-scale farmers, individuals with disabilities, local entrepreneurs and businesses, and small communities in the Appalachian region and developing countries. For example, Kremer and his students have made four trips to the central plateau of Haiti to support the local infrastructure and job development.
Dr. Kremer does engineering education research in areas such as student success, professional development, and maximizing the impact of experiential learning. He also led the college effort to develop a new Energy Engineering undergraduate degree program. An environmental conservationist, Kremer teaches his students that becoming an engineer requires service to society. In 2010, Kremer and a group of senior design students traveled to Ghana to install a solar-powered water pumping system the students designed for the Maase-Offinso village. The group completed a 10-panel, 1.75-kilowatt array that is now powering a pump to transfer water at a rate of more than 5,000 gallons per day. The system also provides income to Masse-Offinso from selling the water to neighboring villages.
Additionally, Kremer is personally dedicated to energy conservation, and not only in his teaching – he lives it. Kremer, who rides his bicycle to work each day, has a low enough energy use at his home that his 1-kilowatt solar array and 1-kilowatt wind turbine together produce almost all of the electrical supply, making the house near net-zero with respect to electricity. He and other Russ College faculty members also use the system as a teaching model. He has experience with design, simulation and construction of electric and hybrid vehicles. He established automotive engineering courses upon his arrival at 51 and was a long-time advisor to the student Electric Bobcat Racing team and the student chapter of the Society of Automotive Engineers.