Eckhard Groll

2018 Co-op Hall of Fame Inductee

Eckhard Groll image

Education 

Diploma ’89, Mechanical Engineering, University of Ruhr
Doctorate ’94, Mechanical Engineering, University of Hannover

Professional Career 

Dr. Eckhard A. Groll is the Reilly Professor of Mechanical Engineering and also serves as the Associate Dean for Undergraduate and Graduate Education in the College of Engineering at Purdue University. He joined Purdue University as an Assistant Professor in 1994 and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2000, to Full Professor in 2005, and to the Reilly Professorship in 2013 teaching Thermodynamics. Since joining Purdue, he has advised more than a 100 graduate students and more than 150 undergraduate project students, visiting scholars, and visiting research associates. He holds 4 patents, has given 88 invited lectures and seminars, and 13 conference keynote lectures. He has received numerous awards for his research and teaching excellence including most recently by receiving the 2018 J&E Hall International Gold Medal in Refrigeration by the Institute of Refrigeration and the 2017 Peter Ritter von Rittinger International Heat Pump Award by the IEA Heat Pump Centre. In addition, he was inducted into Purdue’s Book of Great Teachers in 2008.

Co-op Impact

Eckhard Groll served as the Interim Director of Purdue’s Office of Professional Practice (OPP) in 2007, and as the Director of OPP in 2008 until January 2018. He was responsible for growing the 3-session co-op program to the largest co-op program on campus. He also introduced the MS co-op program and facilitated the move of the Interns-for-Indiana program to OPP. During his tenure as the OPP Director, student participation in the various programs offered by OPP grew from approximately 650 students during the Academic Year 2006-2007 to close to 1300 students during the academic year 2017-2018.