Academics Studies:

• 2005, Ph.D. ‘summa cum laude’ from the Saarland University, Saarbruecken, Germany Ph.D. Thesis: Stiffness scaling of thin films by Laser Interference Metallurgy (ISBN 3-8322-4034-9)
• 2002, M.S. in Materials Science from the Saarland University, Germany
• 2002, M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from the Lorraine National Polytechnic Institute, France
• 1999 – 2001, Studies of Materials Science and Engineering at the European School of Materials Engineering, Nancy, France a Joint-School of Lorraine National Polytechnic Institute (France), Saarland University (Germany), Technical University Barcelone (Spain), and Technical University of Lulea (Sweden)
• 1997 – 1999, Studies of Materials Science at the Saarland University, Saarbruecken Germany

Professional experiences:

• 2005 – present, Research Staff with the Materials Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
• 2002 – 2005, Research associate, teaching assistant, and laboratory manager with the Chair of Functional Materials (Prof. Frank Mücklich) at the Saarland University
• 2000 – present, Joint founder and operator of the internet site www.New-Materials-Online.com
• 2002 – 2005, Deputy scientific head of the internet platform www.Materialography.net
• 1998 – 2002, Coworker with the internet platform www.Materialography.net – Customer service and support, scientific support

Scientific awards and honors:

• 2006, Dr. Edard Martin Prize from the Saarland University
• 2005 – 2007, Eugene P. Wigner Fellowship from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory
• 2003, Carl-Eduard-Schulte-Prize from the Verband Deutscher Ingenieure (German Engineering Society)
• 2002, DGM-Award for Young Professionals from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Materialkunde (German Materials Research Society)
• 2002 – present, Member in the expert committee “Materialography in Internet” from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Materialkunde
• 1999, Foreign exchange scholarship ERASMUS from the European Union
• 1997 – 2000, Scholarship from the Rheinstahl-Foundation of ThyssenKrupp, Germany

Societies’ Membership:

• Deutsche Gesellschaft für Materialkunde e.V. (DGM), Materials Research Society (MRS), European Materials Research Society (E-MRS)