Mychal Berlinski '25
Energy engineering technology and engineering science major
Mychal Berlinski ’25 of Allegany, N.Y., won’t graduate until spring with his energy engineering technology degree, but he already has a good idea of what life as a working engineer is like. Last spring and summer, he gained hands-on experience through an internship and a research project.
Berlinski will be the first Pitt-Bradford student to graduate with this new degree, which began two years ago. The program is similar to Pitt-Bradford’s mechanical engineering technology degree but focuses more on energy efficiency and renewable energy. Berlinski transferred into the program and soon became a familiar face in the George B. Duke Engineering and Information Technologies Building.
Last summer, Berlinski interned with the reliability team at the American Refining Group Inc. refinery in Bradford. One of the opportunities he had was working with a team that was replacing a heat exchanger, which cools down hot liquids while pre-heating cooler liquids before they enter the refinery’s distillation tower.
“You talk about things like this in class, but in drawings, the exchanger is just a circle. I didn’t know what one actually looked like,” he said. He found out when he got to help in the uninstalling and installing of a new exchanger.
“I really found it fascinating to see the real world of what engineers do,” he said. “It was eye-opening. I loved the moment when I got to the ‘a-ha’ and realized, ‘I know what’s going on here.’”
Before his internship, Berlinski worked on a research project under the supervision of Dr. Behnaz Rezaie, assistant professor of mechanical engineering technology. The project studied how Artificial Intelligence can be used to manage cooling systems and energy use in smart data centers. Berlinski helped review 110 studies about how AI could improve cooling systems, design better server rooms and reduce energy use. Rezaie presented their findings at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ Energy and Sustainability 2024 Conference.
Now in his senior year, Berlinski is using what he learned during his internship and research to get even more out of his classes. He’s looking forward to starting his career as an engineer after graduation.