Tobias received a B.S. from University of Tulsa, OK (2000), M.S. from University of Texas at Austin (2002) and Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin (2004). He served as Postdoctoral Research Fellow, MIT (2005) Postdoctoral Research Fellow, TU Eindhoven, and The Netherlands (2006-2007) before coming to Cornell.
There is a tremendous opportunity space for nanostructured materials to play a key role in next generation energy technologies. Our research efforts focus on the fundamental study of optoelectronic properties of semiconductor nanocrystals; this work is inspired by the potential application of these materials in solar energy conversion and energy storage devices. The semiconductor nanocrystals used in our work provide a diverse set of building blocks whose electronic and optical properties differ from their bulk counterparts due to the spatial wavefunction confinement. This quantum confinement effect allows us to engineer the materials properties through simple adjustments in nanocrystal size, shape, composition, and surface chemistry. In addition to their immense potential for technological applications, these materials also provide a material system to experimentally test fundamental quantum mechanical concepts.
Education and outreach are fully integrated with the research activities of our group. Our educational objectives are designed to: (1) integrate results from the research frontier and education of students and (2) capture the students enthusiasm and engagement in impending energy issues, encouraging their future contributions as the next generation of scientist and engineers. Serving as a faculty advisor to the new Cornell University Sustainable Design team and work with them to showcase prototype nanocrystal-based photovoltaics in the 'sustainable classroom', which will be built on campus to serve as a venue for educational activities for high-school science teachers and students. Asst Prof Hanrath is committed to integrating research and teaching is illustrated in efforts to modernize the undergraduate curriculum, for example by introducing a new nanotechnology senior 'product design' project. Undergraduate teaching responsibilities include ChemE 3130 (Equilibrium Thermodynamics) and project manager for ChemE4620 (Senior Process Design). Graduate teaching responsibilities include ChemE 7920 (Principles and Practices of Graduate Research), which includes a small workshop on research ethics to educate graduate students about the proper conduct of research, ranging from the writing of and review of manuscripts to day-to-day activities in the lab
From exploring the mechanics of early-stage bone metastasis to analyzing price formation policies in wholesale electricity markets, Cornell Engineering’s Sprout Awards are funding unique research... Read more about SPROUT Awards support 6 novel research collaborations
Cornell researchers developed a multimodal platform to image microbe-semiconductor biohybrids with single-cell resolution, to better understand how they can be optimized for more efficient energy... Read more about Imaging shows how solar-powered microbes turn CO2 into bioplastic
Four teams of engineering faculty and students each received up to $20,000 from the college to advance their laboratory research toward functioning prototypes. Read more about Engineers turn research into prototypes with Scale Up Awards
