| Introducing Wolfgang Porod, or Why Good Things Come in Small Packages |
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bridges vol. 14, July 2007 / News from the Network: Austrian Researchers Abroad by Milan Polak mp3 download 
Wolfgang Porod
"The more you learn, or the more you try to learn, the more you realize how much you do not know," says Wolfgang Porod, Frank M. Freimann Professor of Electrical Engineering at Notre Dame University in Indiana. "I have been in the field of nanotechnology for some time, and I probably know more than a newcomer," Porod points out, "but to use another cliché: Behind every door you open, you find others yet to be opened."
Reality check. Wolfgang Porod opened his first door in 1981, right after earning his Ph.D. in theoretical physics, which he finished with "Promotio sub auspiciis Praesidentis Austriae" honors at the University of Graz. After appointments as a postdoctoral research fellow at Colorado State University and as a senior research analyst at Arizona State University, he joined Notre Dame as an associate professor, until becoming a professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering in the summer of 1992, where he now serves as the director of its Center for Nano Science and Technology. During his theoretical physics studies in Austria, he focused on the specific topic of solid state. He was mainly interested in studying semiconductors - materials used for transmission of information in electronics - and the properties and oscillations in crystal lattices. Remembering his arrival in the US, he recalls, "In the beginning I only planned to stay in the US for a year, but the theoretical physics community in Graz - especially the solid state community - was a fairly small one, so there were not any openings." Now it has been 26 years - "an incredibly long time," that Porod has lived and worked in the United States. Access to the full article is free, but requires you to register. Registration is simple and quick – all we need is your name and a valid e-mail address. We appreciate your interest in bridges. |
