Dylan Kershner, Ph.D.,
Thin Film Research Scientist

Dr. Kershner joined ITN in 2011 as a research scientist. He has experience in thin film technology research ranging from fundamental studies of monolayer films to producing several micron thick metal films used as membranes for hydrogen separations. At ITN he has worked on the development of thin film solid state electrochromic devices and environmental barrier coatings. Before joining ITN, Dr. Kershner was a Colorado Center for Biofuels and Biorefining (C2B2) Postdoctoral Fellow in the Chemical Engineering Department at the Colorado School of Mines (CSM) where he worked on developing new palladium alloys for use as hydrogen separation membranes -- specifically, alloys that could be used to remove hydrogen from gasified biomass. Membranes produced during his time at CSM were tested in gasifiers at NREL and the University of Saskatchewan. Dr. Kershner received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder where he studied thin films as a means to build experimental and computational models of metal–insulator interfaces, providing information important to the catalysis and semiconductor communities. Dr. Kershner received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Pennsylvania State University.