Dan Olsen

Dr. Olsen has been a member of the Department of Mechanical Engineering faculty since August 2006. He manages the industrial engine research program at the Powerhouse Energy Campus and has been instrumental in expanding the capabilities to comprise eight instrumented engines, including a 1 MW Caterpillar G3516J natural gas compression engine and a single cylinder engine test cell to develop new combustion strategies and explore alternative fuels such as dimethyl ether, a renewable fuel. Dr. Olsen has also established the capability to test industrial engines on hydrogen and hydrogen/natural gas blends and has managed several projects aimed at evaluating renewable hydrogen as an engine fuel.

He worked as a Research Scientist at the CSU Engines and Energy Conversion Laboratory for six years, from 2000-2006, carrying out research and development primarily on large bore natural gas engines used for natural gas compression.  Olsen worked in industry as a design engineer where he developed cryocoolers for space applications and designed centrifugal pumps. Dr. Olsen’s research group carries out projects that are primarily experimental (“hands-on”), where students often get a chance to perform all aspects of mechanical engineering from design and analysis to assembly and test.