iL-INSIDE
October 18, 2023
Peter Krebsbach:
"Great opportunities"
The fourth floor of the InnovationLab is full of scientists, researchers, students and professors. Who is actually who? Where do the different players come from? And what makes them different? That's exactly what this series is about: To shed light on the people, to show their history and motivation and most importantly: to get to know them a little better. One of them is Peter Krebsbach, a doctoral student in the KIT research group led by Professor Gerardo Hernandez-Sosa.
How are you to InnovationLab come about?
Peter Krebsbach:The first time I was at InnovationLab was for my Bachelor's thesis . Back then, I was still in Professor Annemarie Pucci 's group , which was in 2017. I came to iL through her , but only for the six months of my bachelor's thesis at the time . I worked in the office next door and did research in the cluster tool room , which is currently less used .
Then have I in the Master further studied and am for the master thesis again came back here. Although I in the Bachelor and Master at the Uni Heidelberg studied I had I the opportunity to my master thesis here with the KITgroup to make. In the end was this then very networked: Professor Wolfgang Kowalsky could mentor me supervise me, because he also in Heidelberg a professorship has and about him could I then also as a Heidelberg student in Gerardo's group group, even even if it is a KITgroup is.
For the master thesis was I was then one year here and afterwards has Gerardo me as a doctoral student PhD student, now am been since beginning of 2021 for my doctorate here. I feel comfortable comfortable, because I am always again and again again and again come back again and again.
Peter Krebsbach on the fourth floor: he considers the platforms offered by iL to be great opportunities for students. Image: InnovationLab
What do you find particularly exciting about your work?
Peter: What I find very pleasant is the aspect that there are already many different things in the labs . On the one hand, very applied things, but also analytics. Well, it's a bit dormant at the moment, but in principle it's there. I did my Bachelor's and Master's thesis at the same institute here , but they were quite different in terms of subject matter. One was more analytics , now I'm working in a much more applied way. It 's an area that I'm increasingly drawn to, more in the direction of engineering. I studied physics and was therefore less interested in engineering . But I actually quite like it now : looking at the applied side a bit without completely losingsight of basic research.
"The networking is pretty good"
Which opportunities offers iL young researchers?
Peter: I think the networking is pretty good. The fact that universities from Darmstadt, Braunschweig, Heidelberg and Karlsruhe as well as various companies from industry were here and some still are. The different companies know each other here and come together, also through the many different people. The platforms that InnovationLab offers are also great opportunities. And then there ' s the step towards industry , which many universities may lack . I think iL is a stepping stone here because it simply hasthe interface.
How well do university and iL complement each other - and what can they learn from each other?
Peter: I think think that this interface something is, where where university and iL very well complement each other. I believe in the last years when various projects expired have expired, is the cooperation less become less, which now but due to the remodeling again stronger become again. I believe that then also generally again more cooperation available is possible, because here also again more people are here again. Then is also again more activity and exchange in the fourth floor possible.
In the clean room: Peter works with conductive or otherwise functionalized inks that produce a humidity sensor, among other things.
Picture: InnovationLab
How would you explain your work to a child?
Peter: Everyone is familiar with images of an ECG, heart rate monitors or even smartwatches that measure the pulse and monitor bodily functions . What we do here is print the electrodes that can take the same measurements, for example ECG, EMG for muscle movements or EEG for brain waves. We print these electrodes on flexible substrates that are stuck to the skin and evaluate them as part of a collaboration with Tel Aviv University : How do they work ? How good is the noise behavior? That is one of my projects. Another is , for example, a bio-based and possibly biodegradable humidity sensor, which we also print here. Many people are not familiar with these printed electronics , but in principle it is like a printer at home, only we replace the inks with inks with silver nanoparticles, conductive or otherwise functionalized inks , which canthen produce a humidity sensor .
Did you always always become a scientist become or had you as a child a completely different dream job?
Peter: Scientists , yes - but I still can 't say exactly where I am at the moment and what field I' m in : I studied physics , but I ' m not really doing physics here , I'm now a PhD student in electrical engineering, but I don't quite see myself there either : I make electronic components, but that's not pure electrical engineering either . So yes, I wanted to be a researcher as a child , but to say I 'm a physicist, I 'm a chemist - that's rather a no. I 'm more cross-linked and a bit of everything. But I think my childhood selfwould be happy with that (laughs).
Peter Krebsbach is part of the research group led by Professor Gerado Hernandez-Sosa (right). The doctoral student studied for his Bachelor's and Master's degrees at Heidelberg University. Picture: InnovationLab
Is there anything more iL can do to support your work?
Peter: InnovationLab is already making a good step forward from what they can do : They are renovating the fourth floor so that working here is more pleasant and more lively again . iL has less of a direct influence on my personal work , as the work tends to be done via KIT . We use the same labs , but iL provides the infrastructure . There are also sometimes projects - like two years ago -that are tackled jointly , which canof course help both sides.
Peter recommends: "Follow through and keep at it"
What advice would you give to young people who are pursuing the same goal as you?
Peter: As long as you feel interested in a subject, you should try to continue even if, for example, the lecture doesn 't really suit you , and not stop immediately . In the Master's degree or towards the end of the Bachelor's degree, you are usually freer to choose your own topics and can organize them yourself . But if in doubt , you shouldn 't be too shy and say: 'Okay, I tried it and realized it 's not for me, I think I like something else more'. It's better to go for what interests you and not just finish your degree because you started it .
That sounds contradictory, but a a little differently said: Pull through and stick with it, even even if it not always always fun fun! But only if you realize there is still something behind it what me interested and in in this case not on devil come out continue studying, but the courage have the courage still something new to try something new.
Text: Hannah Gieser, Communications Department
Joachim Klaehn
Head of Communications
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