Outstanding Instructor

Joe Tritschler

Fun, crazy and intelligent are three words that summarize Joe Tritschler, Ph.D., as an engineering professor and rock ’n’ roll musician who has traveled the world under the name of “Crazy Joe.”

Tritschler is an instructor in Biomedical, Industrial and Human Factors Engineering (BIE) who incorporates his fun personality and Hawaiian button-down shirts into complex engineering classes.

Tritschler “has a rapport with our students that is second to none” said Nathan W. Klingbeil, Ph.D., dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science (CECS). “Tritschler has the rare ability to meet students exactly where they are­—to make even the least prepared students feel like they belong in the classroom.”

Off campus, he’s a music producer and studio musician. He likes to play 1950s rock ’n’ roll and retro R&B. Although he has retired from touring full-time, he still plays a few concerts a year, including last month’s Atomic Festival in England, and has released five albums, including 2013’s “The Doctor Is IN!”

He joined the department of BIE three years ago after gaining a reputation as an outstanding graduate teaching assistant and adjunct instructor in the Department of Electrical Engineering.

His students recognized him with the CECS Excellence in Teaching Award for Faculty in the 2013 – 2014 school year.

“Tritschler was an excellent instructor who seamlessly incorporated subject information, real-world examples and humor into all his lectures,” said one of his previous students in a student evaluation.

He has consistently worked hard and produced results. When Tritschler was a senior at Wright State, his senior design project resulted in a published and manufactured high-end audio product. As a graduate student, he developed and taught a course on high-fidelity audio circuits and acoustics.

And now as an instructor, he shows no sign of slowing down.

He has authored multiple new undergraduate BIE courses, including courses on biomechanics and is introducing recitation sessions and help-room activities to give students more opportunities to get questions answered. He serves as chair of the CECS Scholarship Committee among others.

“He instinctively knows when students aren’t ‘getting it’ and takes every measure to ensure that they do, all the while keeping the big picture intact,” said Marian K. Kazimierczuk, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering. “Only a natural-born teacher knows how to do this. Joe is a natural-born teacher.”