My research focus is on material-oriented tribology. I am interested in basic tribological problems, advanced materials characterization and nanoparticles. Recently, I have strongly focused on the tribological performance of 2d nano-materials (Mxenes

2019 - present: Lecturer for Materials Characterization CM5600 at the University of Chile (in Spanish) for undergraduate students

2018 - present: Lecturer for Physical Chemistry CM2004 at the University of Chile (in Spanish) for undergraduate students

2018 - present: Lecturer for Inorganic Chemistry CM3001 at Universidad de Chile (in Spanish) for undergraduate students

2017: Lecturing contribution for MAE 207 at University of California, San Diego (graduate students)

2015 - 2016 Lecturer for the undergraduate course “Material Properties” (in English) at Catholic University in Santiago de Chile (undergraduate students)

2015 - 2016 Lecturer for the Master course “Laser and Laser Application” (in English) at Catholic University in Santiago de Chile (graduate students)

2011 - 2015 Lecturer for the student courses “Fundamentals in Material Science” at University of Applied Sciences Saarbruecken (undergraduate students)

2010 - 2015 Lecturer for the advanced master courses laser technology I & II (laser basics and applications) at Saarland University (graduate students)

2010 - 2015 Supervisor for student seminar “Soft skills and presentation techniques”

Supervised Bachelor-theses
1. Leander Reinert: Grundlegende Untersuchung des anisotropen Reibverhaltens von beidseitig mittels Laser-Interferenzstrukturierung modifizierten Reibflächen (August 2011)
2. Emre Atalay: Multiskalenstrukturierung mittels Mikroprägen und Laser-Interferenz-Metallurgie: Aufnahme, Analyse und Charakterisierung von Stribeckkurven (November 2012)
3. Andreas Leber: Carbon Nanotubes Reinforced Nickel Matrix Composite: Tribological Analysis and Laser Interference Metallurgy (June 2013)
4. Simon Fleischmann: Untersuchung des anisotropen Spreizungsverhaltens von Polyalphaolefinen auf laserstrukturierten, metallischen Oberflächen (October 2013)
5. Tobias Heib: Untersuchung der Effizienz laserstrukturierter Stahloberflaechen im Mischreibungsbereich abhaengig von Strukturperiode, Oelfilmdicke und Oel-Zusammensetzung (November 2013)
6. Roman Buchheit: Untersuchung der tribologischen Eigenschaften von penrose-artigen Strukturgeometrien auf metallischen Oberflächen (December 2013)
7. Simon Bettscheider: Experimentelle Bestimmung der realen Kontaktfläche und des Festkörpertraganteils unter Mischreibungsbedingungen (August 2014)
8. Joris Pangraz: Tribologische Untersuchungen an laserstrukturierten Oberflaechen – Einfluss der Strukturperiode und der relativen Reibrichtung (July 2015)

Supervised Diploma- and Master-theses
1. Chen Chen: Einfluss der relativen Luftfeuchtigkeit auf das tribologische Verhalten zwischen lasertexturierten Reibflaechen (November 2012)
2. Viktoria Boiko: Untersuchung der Geschwindigkeitseffekte bei Reibung an lasertexturierten Kontaktflächen (December 2012)
3. Leander Reinert: Untersuchung des chemischen und mikrostrukturellen Einflusses auf das anisotrope Reibverhalten von lasertexturierten Reibflächen (February 2013)
4. Rodrigo Valenzuela (in progress): expected to be finished in 04/2020.

Supervised PhD-theses
1. Adriana Luz, University of Chile (co-supervision with Prof. Dr. Francisco Gracia).
2. Giulia Fiaschi, University of Modena, “Coupling of surface texturing and DLC coating for tribological applications (co-supervision with Prof. Dr. Alberto Rota)
3. Philipp G. Grützmacher, Saarland Unversity, (co-supervision with Prof. Dr. Frank Mücklich)

01/2018 - present: Associate Editor for Industrial Lubrication and Tribology
2018: Scientific committee for the tribology conference “Brazil Trib”, Florianopolis
2017, 2018 and 2020: Scientific committee for the German-Chinese Symposium in Harbin (2017), Bochum (2018) and Chengdu (2020)
2013: participation in a workshop related to staff and conflict management
2011 – 2015 consultant for ultra-short pulsed laser system (Saarland University)
2011 – 2015 consultant for the laser and tribology laboratory (Saarland University)
since 2010 certified laser safety representative (Bayerisches Laserzentrum)
2008 participation in a workshop related to interpersonal skills

Presentations at a conference
• International workshop on Material-oriented Micro/Nano Manufacturing: Model, Experiment and Application II, Bochum, Germany, 2018.
• International workshop on Material-oriented Micro/Nano Manufacturing: Model, Experiment and Application, Harbin, China, 2017.
• International workshop on steel and processing, Montevideo, Uruguay, 2016.
• ITC, Tokyo, Japan, 2015.
• ICMCTF, San Diego, United States, 2015.
• Wear of Materials, Toronto, Canada, 2015.
• MSE, Darmstadt, Germany, 2014.
• World Tribology Congress (WTC), Turin, Italy, 2013.
• Tribology conference, Lulea, Sweden, 2013.
• ICMCTF, San Diego, United States, 2013
• Conference “New Developments in Laser Processing”, Jena, Germany, 2012.
• Leeds-Lyon Symposium, Leeds, United Kingdom, 2012.
• Faraday discussions, Southampton, United Kingdom, 2012.
• EcoTrib, Vienna, Austria, 2011.