Prof. Greg Jackson joined the faculty as head of the Mechanical Engineering Department this January. Greg comes to CSM after spending 15 years at the University of Maryland (UMD) where he was the Associate Director of the campus-wide Energy Research Center and leader of the Thermal Fluids Energy Science Division in UMD’s Mechanical Engineering Department. Greg spent most of his childhood growing up in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, before the oil industry took his family overseas to Greece. He returned to Texas to attend Rice University for his B.S.M.E. and pay for school by working in the petrochemical industry. He then moved to the Northeast to attend graduate school at Cornell University where he received his M.S. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering studying liquid-fuel combustion. After graduate school, he spent four years working at Precision Combustion in Connecticut working on catalytic reactors for clean energy conversion and aircraft applications. This experience spawned a strong interest in heterogeneous surface processes and their role in energy and chemical transformations – so much so that he returned to academia to pursue his own research program. For the next 15 years, he worked at UMD teaching all levels of thermodynamics and leading a multi-faceted research program in catalytic reactors, low-emissions combustion, fuel cells, and most recently concentrated solar reactors. His work included a successful collaboration with Ballard Power Systems, which led to new group for Ballard located in Maryland developing hydrocarbon-fueled PEM fuel cell systems. Outside of work, Greg lives with his wife Karin and their two children, who are all happy to call Colorado their home due to their love of hiking and camping. Besides enjoying classes with University students, Greg has enjoyed many years of coaching soccer at a wide range of levels. In addition to his research interests, he also enjoys studying/reading about the intersections between science, technology, and religion.

CFCC Welcomes Dr. Greg Jackson