Professor Mertens joined the Department of Engineering in the Fall of 1990 following the completion of a Ph.D. from the Thermal Sciences Division of Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University.  He has continued his research in the areas of air pollution, combustion, chemical kinetics, non-equilibrium processes, and optical diagnostics, primarily using shock tube experiments.  He teaches a wide variety of mechanical engineering courses, including Heat Transfer, Mechanics of Materials, Thermodynamics, and Senior Design. Professor Mertens also teaches a number of courses for non-science majors, and contributes to courses in Public Policy and Environmental Science. He is a member of the Trinity College Environmental Science Coordinating Committee.

• Mathieu, O., Giri, B., Agard, A. R., Adams, T. N., Mertens, J. D., and Petersen, E.L. “Nitromethane Ignition Behind Reflected Shock Waves: Experimental and Numerical Study.” Fuel, 182, 597 (2016).
• Mertens, J. D., Agard, A. R., Adams, T. N., Mathieu, O., and Petersen, E.L. “A Shock Tube Study of HCO + M ? H + CO + M Using Nitromethane Ignition.” Presented at the 34th Regional Meeting on Kinetics and Dynamics, Brown University, Providence, RI (2016).
• Mathieu, O., Giri, B., Mertens, J. D., and Petersen, E.L. “Nitromethane Ignition Behind Reflected Shock Waves.” Proceedings of the 25th International Colloquium on the Dynamics of Explosions and Reactive Systems (2015).
• Giri, B., Mertens, J. D., Mathieu, O., and Petersen, E.L. “Study of Nitromethane Combustion using a Shock Tube.” Presented at the 33rd Regional Meeting on Kinetics and Dynamics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA (2015).
• Giri, B., Firsching, C.T., and Mertens, J. D .  “Outdoor Testing of a Double-Diaphragm Shock Tube.” Presented at the 32nd Regional Meeting on Kinetics and Dynamics, Trinity College, Hartford, CT (2014).
• Mertens, J. D . and Firsching, C.T. “A Double-Diaphragm Shock Tube for Ignition Studies of Non-Premixed Supersonic Hydrocarbon Jets.” Presented at the 31st Regional Meeting on Kinetics and Dynamics, Northeastern University, Boston, MA (2013) .
• Mertens, J. D . “A Computational Study of the NNH-NO_x Mechanism in High Hydrogen Content Fuels.” Presented at the 30th Regional Meeting on Kinetics and Dynamics, University at Albany, SUNY, Albany, NY (2012) .
• Aul, C. J., Petersen, E. L., Crofton, M. W., and Mertens, J. D. “Measurement of H₂O₂ Broadening Parameters Near 7.8 m m Using a Shock Tube.” Proceedings of the 28th International Symposium on Shock Waves (2011).
• Aul, C. J., Crofton, M. W., Mertens, J. D., and Petersen, E. L. “A Diagnostic for Measuring H₂O₂ Concentration in a Shock Tube Using Tunable Laser Absorption near 7.8 m m.” Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, 33, 709 (2011).
• Aul, C. J., Petersen, E. L., Crofton, M. W., and Mertens, J. D. “Measuring H₂O₂ Concentration in a Shock Tube Using Infrared Tunable Laser Absorption.” Proceedings of the 2010 Meeting of the Central States Section of the Combustion Institute.
• Aul, C. J., Crofton, M. W., Mertens, J. D., and Petersen, E. L. “The Development of an H₂O₂ Laser Diagnostic for Shock Tube Kinetics Studies of Syngas Ignition.” Presented at the 28th Regional Meeting on Kinetics and Dynamics, Trinity College, Hartford, CT (2010).
• Mertens, J. D., Kalitan, D. M., and Petersen, E. L. “Determination of the Rate of H + O₂ + M ? HO2 + M (M = N₂, Ar, H₂O) from Ignition of Syngas at Practical Conditions.” Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, 32, 295 (2009).

• Connecticut STEM Achievement Award at the Connecticut Science Center, 2019
  
• Visiting Scholar, The Aerospace Corporation (an FFRDC), 2006 and 2009.
• Visiting Scholar, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University, 2004.
• CT NASA Summer Fellowship, 2001.