George Kerner has always been interested in how things work.
It’s a curiosity he comes by naturally. His father Rich and his brother Louis are electricians, while his brother Tom is a mechanic.
“My whole family has gone into the trades,” the Andover High School graduate said. “It was my brother who got me into cars when I was younger and I was hooked. Working on them, finding ways to modify them … that kind of stuff seemed to resonate with me more than anything else.”
Which is what made the physics major a natural fit for the Saint John’s University senior.
Though he said it took a bit for him to recognize that.
“I’ve always wanted to do something around engineering because problem solving and science were my two strongest areas,” he said. “Originally, I thought I might go into chemical engineering, so I started off as a chemistry major. But it ended up not being where my interest lay.
“Then I got into physics, and I really enjoyed the professors and labs. The experiments were more fun for me. You’re doing something constantly instead of sitting around waiting for results. I remember one experiment where I used a ballistic pendulum to measure how high a ball swung after getting hit which helped me figure out the force of the shot and predict how far it would travel. Then I placed a dinosaur target at that distance to see if I got it right.
“That was the kind of stuff I wanted to be doing.”
Kerner has had plenty of opportunities to work in that space during his time at SJU. In addition to the classroom, he’s also been a student employee in the Makerspace Lab, located in CSB’s Clemens Library, for the past year.
It’s a space in which members of the CSB and SJU communities are “encouraged to experiment, invent, explore ideas and innovate whether for a class, for fun or to explore entrepreneurial opportunities.”
“I mainly help students with Fusion 360, or just 3D printing in general,” Kerner said. “But I’ve also gotten to help with some laser cutting stuff. There was one student who came in and wanted to make a Connect Four board with the laser cutter and chips with a 3D printer. I helped put that together. I helped another group make their own sweatshirts.
“I think it’s been helpful. It’s definitely contributed to learning a lot of new skills. I have a lot more stuff I can put on a resume that will stand out to potential employers.”
Kerner – who worked in a machine shop in St. Louis Park in the summer of 2023 – has also been hard at work on his senior engineering design project, investigating how different mechanical and aerodynamic considerations impact the performance of a radio-controlled car.
“Although many students are unsure of what to do for projects, George came to me with an idea of increasing the performance of a small radio-controlled car through various modifications,” said Greg Taft, an associate professor in the physics department. “His project is an ideal example of a capstone engineering project in which a student uses knowledge gained during college to investigate something in which they have an interest.
“He started by testing the performance of a standard car, then proceeded to test the effects of various modifications. He utilized his CAD and 3D printing expertise to make the modifications. As an engineer, he was very methodical and consistent in his testing procedures.
“If he had stopped there, I would have considered it a successful project,” Taft continued. “However, he took the project to another level by doing computational fluid dynamics testing. Essentially, he used CAD models and computer simulations to test the aerodynamics of his car and the effects of various modifications. He also performed crude wind tunnel testing on the car using a force sensor and leaf blower.
“I am blown away – no pun intended – by his work on this project.”
Kerner is one of eight siblings and will be the first in his family to graduate college when he takes part in commencement next month. One of his sisters, Grace Kerner, attended CSB for a time, and her husband Jack Pinamonti is a 2020 SJU graduate. His other sister’s husband, Zach Gutzman, is a 2020 SJU alum as well.
“This place wasn’t really on my radar, but (Jack) took me on a tour and I liked it a lot,” Kerner said. “Then I got my financial aid package and saw it was really affordable. As someone who’s paying their own way through college, that was very important.”
Indeed, Kerner receives an academic achievement scholarship, the Bennet and Sharon Morgan Imperative Scholarship, the Gary Kordosky Family Scholarship, the Joe and Eileen Rev Potter Scholarship and the Robert Conzemius Scholarship.
“I’m so grateful to everyone who’s made those scholarships possible,” he said. “I wouldn’t have been able to come here without them, and I would have missed out on getting such a great education.
“I love the professors here. You can go to them with any questions you have. I’ve been able to talk for hours with Greg about my capstone, and I don’t think I’d get that in a lot of other places. But beyond that, I’ve made so many great friends. It’s just a place where I feel very comfortable.”
Kerner already has a mechanical engineering job lined up at Delta ModTech, a manufacturing firm in Ramsey (Minnesota) that engineers custom automation equipment for industries such as medical devices and consumer goods. He will start there after graduation.
He’ll also be pursuing a master’s degree in mechanical engineering through Purdue University remotely.
“There is so much competition for positions that you have to be able to put yourself in a good spot,” he said. “I think a lot of the hands-on experience I’ve been able to get here – in the classroom and in places like the Makerspace Lab – has really helped me stand out.”
