Professor Hennig received his Diploma in Physics at the University of Göttingen in 1997 and his Ph.D. in Physics from Washington University in St. Louis in 2000. After working as a postdoctoral researcher and research scientist at Ohio State University, he joined the faculty of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Cornell in 2006.
Current Research
Professor Hennig’s research in computational materials science focuses on atomistic studies of defects, phase transitions, electronic, optical and mechanical behavior of materials. We aim to develop computational techniques that both accurately predict materials properties and provide an estimate of their accuracy and to apply these methods to accelerated materials development and enhanced understanding of the effect of atomic-scale processes on meso and macroscale behavior.
Research Projects
Current projects range from the prediction of crystal structures and selfassembly of block-copolymers and ligand-stabilized nanoparticles for energy applications, to modelling defects and trap states in organic and compound semiconductors, to the prediction of crystal structure and compound formation of novel materials for energy applications and materials under high pressure.
We are developing a genetic algorithm for the the prediction of compounds and phase stability. More information about this project and the public release of the GASP software package can be found on our website: http://gasp.mse.cornell.edu.