Interest and areas of expertise
Primary research goal is to develop wind turbine and water well technology for increased energy and water access in underserved areas. Research and industry experience in low Reynolds number aerodynamics of wind turbines, transonic convective heat transfer in gas turbine engines, mechanical design of drilling and milling tools for the oil and gas industry, experimental measurements/methods, and design processes.
Education
B.S. Engineering with a Mechanical Concentration (LeTourneau University)
M.S. Mechanical Engineering (Baylor University)
Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering (Texas A&M University)
Classes I teach
ENGR 371 Thermodynamics
ENGR 377 Fluid Dynamics
ENGR 471 Heat Transfer
Profile
Dr. Burdett joined Messiah University in the Fall of 2023. In his doctoral research, he studied film cooling, a convective heat transfer technique used in gas turbine engines, using a novel measurement technique with binary pressure sensitive paint. During this time, he taught heat transfer at Texas A&M as the Walker Graduate Teaching Fellow. In his masters research, he designed and tested small-scale wind turbines operating in low speeds.
Dr. Burdett is a licensed professional engineer with multiple patents granted during his 8 years in the oil and gas industry, where he completed design work on multiple drilling and milling tools. He was primarily focused on developing activation mechanisms to enhance tool control and enlarge expansion ratios while minimizing erosion and fatigue risk. During this time, he taught programming for engineers at Lone Star College - Kingwood as an adjunct.
Dr. Burdett was attracted to Messiah because of its mission to invest in students' Christian maturity in addition to their competence. He hopes to accomplish this, in part, through the Collaboratory by developing wind turbine and water well technology for increased energy and water access in underserved areas.
Tim and his wife Kristi live near campus with their three children: Rose, Andrew, and Eliza. They enjoy going for walks, bike rides, and reading together. Tim also loves to serve the local church by discipling young adults and playing the drums with the worship team.