Education and Professional Experience:

  • 1966-1970: Studying Physics at the University of Stuttgart
  • 1970-1971: Diploma work at the Max-Planck-Institut für Metallforschung/University of Stuttgart (Title: Electrochemical studies of oxygen solid solutions in high melting metals)
  • 1971-1973: PhD degree at the Max-Planck-Institut für Metallforschung/University of Stuttgart (Title: Thermo- and electrotransport of oxygen and nitrogen in Va metals)
  • 1979: post-doc at Rice University, Houston, Texas
  • 1983: visiting professor at the University of Illinois
  • 1988: Habilitation in the subject of metallurgy in the faculty of chemistry at the University of Stuttgart (Title: Measurements and modelling of hydrogen solubility and diffusivity in disordered metal lattices)
  • 1993: visiting professor at the Ohio State University
  • 1998: visiting professor at the Neutron Research Center, NIST, Gaithersburg



Research Areas and Interests:
Hydrogen in metals, Thermodynamics of alloys, Interstital solution and diffusion in glasses (metals, oxides, polymers and semiconductors),
Solute-atom segregation at and diffusion in internal interfaces, Mechanical properties and glass transition of polymers, Passivity of metals, Electromigration in metals.


Membership:

  • German Physical Society (Chairman of the Metal Physics Committee, 1994-1998),
  • German Society for Materials Research (Member of the Education Committee)
  • Elected Member of the Academy of Science Göttingen (1998)
  • Elected Member of the Academy of Science and Technology (acatech), Germany (2002)
  • Honary Member of the German Materials Society, DGM, 2011
  • Elected Member of the National Academy of Engineering, Washington, DC, 2017.



Editorial Boards:
Acta Materialia (editor), Materials Transactions, Interfaces, Zeitschrift für Metallkunde, Materials Science Foundations


Honors and Awards:

  • Scripta metallurgica outstanding paper award, 1987
  • Chairman of the Gordon Conference on Metal Hydrogen Systems VI, Tilton, NH, July 1991
  • Carl Wagner Prize, 1990
  • Elected Member of the Academy of Science Göttingen (1998)
  • Elected Member of the Academy of Science and Technology (acatech), Germany (2002)
  • Highly Cited Author in Materials Science, (1980-2000)
  • Honda Memorial Award, Tohoku-University, Sendai, 2003
  • Heyn-Denkmünze (highest award of the German Materials Society, DGM), 2004
  • International Award of Materials Engineering for Recourses, Akita, Japan, 2005
  • Lee Hsun Lecture Award, IMR Shenyang, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 2007
  • Senior-Professorship of Lower Saxonia, 2008
  • Reinhart-Koselleck-Project of the DFG, 2008
  • Staudinger-Durrer-Lecture, ETH-Zurich, 2009
  • Hydrogen & Energy Award, H&E-Symposium 2010
  • Member of the Max-Planck-Society and External Member of the Max-Planck-Institute for Iron Research GmbH, Düsseldorf 2010
  • Honary Member of the German Materials Society, DGM, 2011
  • Member of the Advisory Board and Principle Investigator of the World Premier Institute I2CNER in Fukuoka, Japan, 2011
  • Honoree at the International Conference on Hydrogen Materials Interactions, Jackson Lake Lodge, Wyoming, USA, 2012
  • Leibniz-Medaille of the IFW Dresden,2013
  • Talbot Distinguished Lecture, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA,
  • Elected Member of the National Academy of Engineering , Washington, DC, 2017.