What a great class with a great professor. I highly recommend him for any thermo class. He really makes sure you understand the material and some of his lectures will blow your mind. The only downside is he grades kinda tough, but don't let that discourage you from signing up for his class.Rate My Professors ↗
Current instructor
John Pfotenhauer
What students say
Original student reviews · all captured dates
Quality 5/5Difficulty 4/5
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
He is a good professor and he explained the materials in an easy way to understand. HW is a lot but that is just how this course is constructed. The amount of HW is the same if you pick different lecturers. Accessible during office hour and reply emails pretty quickly if you have any questions about materials.Rate My Professors ↗
Quality 3/5Difficulty 4/5
He's very competent, but often comes to class semi-prepared. So his lectures can be derailed by math errors in his notes that are very hard to locate. But he's available outside class and will take the time to make sure you get it. His homework grading is often frustrating as he docks points for insignificant things, but his exam grading is lenientRate My Professors ↗
Quality 3/5Difficulty 3/5
Prof. P really knows his stuff, but I think he is one of those guys who is so smart that he has trouble communicating his point sometimes. I really relied on the video lectures to supplement some mistakes and confusing points in lecture. The textbook was a must. Lots of homework, very nice professor. I learned a lot but it was a lot of work.Rate My Professors ↗
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
John was a great professor for Thermo. I have a lot of respect for him and he is a great teacher.Rate My Professors ↗
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
He is one awesome instructor. What I love about John is that he is extremely humble, yet very knowledgable. He is super polite to everyone and just one lovely person in general and in my opinion!Rate My Professors ↗
Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.
Classes with John Pfotenhauer
ME 489
Honors in Research II
3 creditsHonors in Research II involves independent mechanical engineering research and thesis preparation under faculty guidance.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history
ME 491
Mechanical Engineering Projects I
1–3 creditsMechanical Engineering Projects I involves individual lab projects under staff supervision.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2022: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=2 letter grades).
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2024–Spring 2026 · limited sampleRecorded teaching history
Distinct courses recorded per term
Explore courses taught by this instructor →Browse recorded courses
Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.
Instructor identity & provenance
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