What’s grad school like? Experiences of a PhD student studying gas turbine heat transfer at Penn State

Brian Knisely

Hopeman 224

Considering a Master’s or PhD? Deciding whether to continue your education can be a tough decision by itself; deciding on a university, an advisor, and a research topic may seem impossible. Thankfully, you’re not the first person to make all of those decisions! Hear from a graduate student about his experiences through two years of graduate school. The talk will cover both non-technical aspects of being a graduate student and technical details of turbine blade heat transfer.

Brian Knisely (BS ME ’16) is a 3rd year PhD student studying mechanical engineering at Penn State. He is a student in the Steady Thermal Aero Research Turbine (START) Laboratory headed by Dr. Karen Thole. The focus of the START Lab is on increasing gas turbine efficiency through improved seals that reduce leakage between components and through improved blade cooling technologies. Brian’s research focuses on studying turbine blade heat transfer using thermal imaging to capture spatially-resolved thermal images while the blades are rotating at 10,000 rpm under steady conditions.