• Member of Empa's Board of Directors
• Head of Department "Advanced Materials and Surfaces"
• Head of Research Focus Area "Nanoscale Materials & Technologies"
• President Research Commission of Empa

Area of Expertise

Surface- & Nano Technology, Plasma Technology, Adhesion & Friction, Photoemission Spectroscopy, REM

Membership in National and International Committees

• Swiss Academy of Engineering Science (SATW), Member
• Nanotechnology Commission of SATW, Member
• Competence Centre for Materials Science and Technology (CCMX) of the ETH Domain, Member Steering Board
• Swiss Association for Materials Science and Technology (SVMT), Member
• IASTED International Conference on Nanotechnology and Applications, Member Scientific Program Committee
• Swiss Micro- and Nanotechnology Network (SWISS MNT), Committee Member
• Swiss User Group Surfaces and Interfaces (SAOG), Committee Member

Referee
JACS; Phys. Rev. Lett.; Phys.; Rev. B.; J. Vac. Sci. and Technol.; Appl. Phys. Lett.; J. Appl. Phys.; Adv. Eng. Mat.; Thin Solid Films; Polymer; Physica E; Electrochemical and Solid-State Letters; Diamond and Related Materials; Materials Science & Engineering B; IEEE Transaction on Nanotechnology

Teaching / Research Commissions

• Education and Research Committee of the Association of the Swiss Lubricant Industry (VSS-Lubes), President
• Vigier Foundation, Expert
• International Master Course "Micro- und Nanotechnology" of Euregio Bodensee, University of Applied Science Vorarlberg (Austria), Module Coordinator and Lecturer
• Fondation Suisse pour la Recherche en Microtechnique (FSRM),Lecturer
• PhD School of EPFL, Lecturer
• Laboratory for Ion Beam Physics at ETH Zurich, Member Board of Trustees

Curriculum Vitae

• Professional Carreer
  • 2006 – present Empa, Head of Departement "Advanced Materials and Surfaces"
  • 2003 – 2011 Empa, Head of nanotech@surfaces Laboratory in Thun
  • Responsible for Apprentice Training of Physics Laboratory Technicians
  • 1993 – 2003 University of Fribourg, Group leader "Plasma Technology"
  • 1981 – 1986 ABB Turgi, Development of Electronic Power Converters for Railways
• Education
  • 1993  PhD in Physics, University of Fribourg, Institute of Physics, Solid State Physics Group (Prof. L. Schlapbach)
  • 1984 – 1989 Diploma in Physics and Mathematics University of Fribourg 
  • 1978 – 1981 Graduate studies in Electric-Engineering, Diploma HTL, Engineer School Biel/Bienne
  • 1974 – 1978 Apprenticeship in Electro-Mechanics, Autophon AG, Solothurn