“I once went to the Rocky Mountains by train from Chicago,” he said. “I thought, ‘It’s fantastic and I don’t want to miss this experience,’ but it does not compare to train rides in Europe.”

The assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering returned to the classroom after working at Germany’s largest refrigeration and HVAC research center, Institut für Luft und Kältetechnik GmbH (ILK) Dresden, for more than five years.

Müller spent three years simultaneously working at the research center and pursuing his doctorate, but eventually left the center to complete his degree. In 1999, he completed his doctorate from Technische Universität Dresden in Germany.

Following his graduation, Müller prepared to travel overseas to attend Columbia University in New York as part an exchange fellowship. The fellowship later turned into a job for Müller.

“I said, ‘I really like it here,’ so I applied and they employed me,” he said.

John Barrie sought out Müller for his expertise on turbine engines and energy efficiency in 2000 and he’s been helping to secure funding and promote Müller’s compression design using water as a refrigerant for almost as long.

Barrie, owner of the technology development firm The Stratos Company LLC, said he recognized Müller’s passion for energy efficiency.

“I thought I had run into a very brilliant guy who really got it, energy efficiency is something that needs to be applied to everything we do,” Barrie said.

Müller became an adjunct assistant professor for turbomachinery and a research scientist at Columbia University before he joined MSU’s Department of Mechanical Engineering faculty in 2002.

“University is an unique place (to teach students) because you’re allowed to and should freely teach students,” Müller said. “It’s important for our economy because when we do such things, we transmit skills, tools and knowledge to the younger generation so they can still do what we have done and hopefully even better.”