5. IKZ Summer Course on Crystal Growth 2010

Chemical and Thermodynamic Issues of Crystal Growth

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Thomas F. Kuech, University of Wisconsin - Madison (USA)

31 May - 04 June, 2010 - daily 10:00 - 11:30 a.m.

Thomas F. Kuech earned a bachelor's degree in physics and master's degree in materials science from Marquette University and master's and PhD degrees in applied physics from the California Institute of Technology (CalTech).
After that, he worked nine years as a research staff member and research manager for IBM. In 1990 he came to University of Wisconsin-Madison. There he chaired the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering from 2003 - 2007. He played a key role in establishing the UW-Madison Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) on Nanostructured Interfaces, which he directed for several years. This center combines the expertise of more than 90 UW-Madison faculty, staff and students who study how to form, characterize and use materials on the scale of individual atoms and molecules. To date, this interdisciplinary center has received more than $30 million in total NSF funding.
From 2003 until now he is the Principal Editor of the Journal of Crystal Growth. In 2010 he was elected to the US National Academy of Engineering. Membership honors people who have made significant contributions to engineering through groundbreaking research and innovative educational approaches. T. F. Kuech has made fundamental contributions to the understanding of chemical vapor deposition, especially to the role of surfactants.
 
His fields of interest comprise
- solid-state materials synthesis and characterization
- electronic and semiconductor materials
- materials integration
- nanostructure formation