The Student Angle: ECE Student Explores Light in an Optics Lab and from a Mountaintop
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Klaus snowboarding at Vail.
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Engineering and a passion for light and physics have brought Klaus Hartinger, electrical and computer engineering doctoral student, not only to CSU but to America, where as Assistant Professor Randy Bartels' first graduate student, Klaus is excelling both in and out of the classroom. Originally from a small village in Germany, Klaus is representative of a new wave of global engineers seeking international education and research opportunities worldwide. Through his research in ultrafast optics, involvement with the International House, and membership in the International Center, Klaus has not only shed light on the molecules he aims to control, but also the international community at Colorado State.
Klaus works in Colorado State's Laboratory for Ultrafast and Nonlinear Optics, where his research concentrates on the generation and control of short laser pulses and their use for the control of quantum dynamics - to precisely control the positions of atoms in molecules. For example, Bartels' research group is using this newly perfected control over matter to develop new technology to make optical clocks 10,000 times more precise than standard atomic clocks, to develop new molecular-specific imaging techniques that could be harnessed to study molecular function in cells in fundamentally new ways, and to drive chemical reactions with specially shaped light pulses that enable the synthesis of chemical compounds not possible by any other techniques.
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After completing his Ph.D. Klaus hopes to utilize his experience in working with lasers to combine other disciplines like biology and chemistry with ultrafast optics.
Klaus has integrated effortlessly into American culture and graduate life, partaking in snowboarding trips to Breckenridge, hiking and backpacking much of the state, and exploring many of the West's beautiful national parks. And during the week, Klaus helps other students in his group work with the laser equipment while simultaneously realizing his own leading-edge research.