BRADFORD, Pa. – Dr. Matt Kropf, associate professor of engineering technology at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, was honored during the University of Pittsburgh’s Sustainability Awards April 24 on the Pittsburgh campus.

Kropf, who is also the director of the ARG/Harry R. Halloran Jr. Energy Institute and chair of the Division of Physical and Computational Sciences, will be one of three faculty Regional Campus Awardees.

Kropf has been a member of the university-wide Chancellor’s Advisory Council on Sustainability since its beginning, contributing to the original 2018 Sustainability Plan. As chair of the Pitt-Bradford Sustainability Committee and director of the Energy Institute, he has worked to center student voices in the campus’s sustainability efforts, including its nearly complete Sustainability Plan.

Kropf has been a key driver of Pitt-Bradford’s solar expansion, using existing and future installations as living laboratory operations and ensuring every building is considered for rooftop solar.

Samantha Chan, assistant director of sustainability at Pitt, nominated Kropf for the award. “Dr. Kropf is known for bringing people into sustainability work and making them feel heard,” she said.

Additionally, Kropf developed the energy science and technology and energy engineering technology academic programs at Pitt-Bradford. He collaborated with architects and engineers designing the programs’ home, the George B. Duke Engineering and Information Technologies Building, and served on hiring committees for the required faculty and staff.

He has also worked with students to map out trails on Pitt-Bradford’s Quintuple Mountain property, opening it up for public use. He holds patents for a process that uses microwaves and ultrasound to refine biodiesel and others to sequester carbon dioxide underground.

The Pitt Sustainability Awards recognize students, faculty, staff and groups making meaningful contributions to campus sustainability as defined by the Pitt Sustainability Plan. This is the first year the university has dedicated awards for its regional campuses, of which Pitt-Bradford is one.