Thomas Keller
Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Kate Gleason College of Engineering
Office Location
Thomas Keller
Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Kate Gleason College of Engineering
Bio
Thomas Keller received his B.S. in Applied Physics from Tufts University in 2018 and his Ph.D. in Engineering Sciences in 2023 from Dartmouth College. He then completed a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at Northeastern University before joining the Mechanical Engineering Department at RIT as an Assistant Professor in the Fall of 2026.
Currently Teaching
MECE-110
Thermodynamics I
3 Credits
A basic course introducing the classical theory of thermodynamics. Applications of the first law of thermodynamics are used to introduce the student to thermodynamic processes for closed and open systems. The Clausius and Kelvin-Planck statements of the second law are then correlated with the concept of entropy and enthalpy to investigate both real and reversible processes and the thermodynamic properties of pure substances. These techniques are then used to evaluate thermodynamic cycles for a variety of applications in power generation and refrigeration. Students are then introduced to techniques to improve thermal efficiency of these cycles such as reheat, regeneration, and co-generation.