My research focus is data analysis at the Compact Muon Soleniod (CMS) experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, as well as the development of novel Silicon detectors for particle and x-ray science.

The LHC is colliding protons at the highest energies ever reached with accelerators- a new energy scale that opens up the exciting possibility of great scientific discoveries. Explanations for the origin of electroweak symmetry breaking, the existence of dark matter, and the discovery of supersymmetric particles are within our reach. The discovery of the Higgs boson has been a major milestone for our field, and we are now exploring the Higgs sector in more detail, as we are integrating data and are gaining sensitivity rapidly.

At the LHC, I work on the upgrades of the innermost layers of the pixelated Silicon detectors, which have to withstand enormous doses of radiation. Our sensitivity to New Physics depends critically on our ability to track particles with very high precision in a very challenging environment.

Pixelated sensors are also used in imaging radiation detectors, to reveal the detailed static and dynamic structural properties of matter. I work on detector development for use at CHESS and other light sources.

Research work in my group involves detector R&D both for particle and x-ray science, development of data analysis algorithms and Monte Carlo simulation of New Physics phenomena expected to be observed at the LHC, and CMS detector operations and upgrades.

•  Physics Dipl., 1997
•  Hamburg University. Ph.D., 2001, Hamburg University Research Assistant
•  Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) 1997-2002
• Research Associate, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL) 2002-2005
• Assistant Professor, Physics, Cornell University, 2005-2012
• Associate Professor, Physics, Cornell University, 2012-2018
• Professor, Physics, Cornell University, 2018-present
• Deputy Director of the Cornell Laboratory of Accelerator-Based Sciences and Education, January 2018-present
• Vice Provost for Academic Innovation, May 2017-present
• Guest Scientist at RWTH Aachen, Germany, March-Sept 2009
• Fellow, German National Scholarship Foundation 1993-1997.