Rate My Professor Todd Bandhauer

Todd Bandhauer is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Colorado State University. He earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Iowa State University in 1999, an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Iowa State University in 2002, and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2011. His professional career includes roles as a Thermal Fluids Engineer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory from 2012 to 2013, Senior Research Engineer and Product Development Engineer at Modine Manufacturing Company from 2002 to 2006, and various research assistant positions during his graduate studies. Since joining Colorado State University in 2013, he advanced from Assistant Research Professor and Assistant Professor (2013-2019) to Associate Professor (2019-2024) and Professor (2024-present). He served as Associate Department Head for Graduate Studies from 2019 to 2022. Bandhauer is Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of AtmosZero since 2022, developing heat pump technology for zero-emission industrial steam production, and Co-founder, Chairman, and Chief Scientific Officer of Impact Cooling LLC since 2022.

Bandhauer's research focuses on thermal energy systems innovation, including steam generating heat pumps, thermally activated cooling, thermal energy storage, carbon capture, solid oxide fuel cells, and technology commercialization. He has directed the REACH CoLab at the Powerhouse Energy Campus, securing over $20 million in funding from ARPA-E, DOE, DOD, the state of Colorado, and industry partners. He has published more than 80 refereed journal and conference papers, with key recent publications including “Thermodynamic and Turbomachinery Analysis of a Hybrid Electric Organic Rankine Vapor Compression System” (Applied Energy, 2025), “Data center sustainability: The role of flexible fuel CCHP in mitigating grid emissions and power constraints” (Energy Conversion and Management, 2025), “Operational Conditions for an Internal Combustion Engine in a SOFC-ICE Hybrid Power Generation System” (Energies, 2025), and “Thermal Management of Discretized Heaters using CuW Microchannel Heat Sinks and FC3283” (IEEE Transactions on Components, Packaging and Manufacturing Technology, 2024). Bandhauer holds 25 issued patents and 40 pending. His awards include the TIME100 Climate 2025 recognition, George T. Abell Award for Outstanding Economic Development Contributions (2024, 2017), Nelson Family Faculty Excellence Award (2022), and Outstanding Technology Development Award from the Federal Laboratory Consortium (2016).