High-Tech in the Cleanroom

High-Tech in the Cleanroom

The Westphalian University appointed Prof. Dr. Michael Schlüter to the Gelsenkirchen Department of Electrical Engineering and Applied Natural Sciences on September 1st. The Herten native is an expert in microsystem technology and manages the cleanrooms in the field of physical technology.

Anyone looking for the new professor of microsystem technology at the Westphalian University in Gelsenkirchen will find Prof. Dr. Michael Schlüter (41) either in his office, in the lecture hall, or in the "cleanroom." This is where Schlüter's practical workday takes place: experiments on the production of microsystems are conducted there, primarily with ultra-thin coatings that would be destroyed by any flying speck of dust.

For students of physical technology, these laboratories are very important because they allow them to experience and try out in practice how microsystem technology works. This turns theoretical lecture content into applicable knowledge. Additionally, research projects are carried out in the laboratories, involving students in the development of new products even before graduation or possibly building a doctoral thesis upon them after completing their master's degree. One of the goals of the newly appointed professor is to further expand and strengthen the contacts he already has with microsystem technology companies in the region to facilitate technology transfer. At the same time, he hopes that collaboration with industry will strengthen the financial basis of the university laboratories. Schlüter brings his own industry experience from a role as CEO of a small high-tech company in Dortmund.

Michael Schlüter was born in Marl, studied physics at Ruhr University in Bochum, and earned his doctorate in engineering sciences at the Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen. He is already well known at the Westphalian University, as it was called Fachhochschule Gelsenkirchen when he worked there from 1999 to 2005 as a research associate. He also has experience as a professor: in 2009 and 2010, he was a professor of medical and microtechnology at Jade University in Wilhelmshaven, and since then, he has been a professor of mathematics and physics as well as founding dean of the "Natural Sciences, Measurement, and Sensor Technology" department at Hochschule Ruhr West.

In his free time, he is interested in everything with wheels: bicycles, inline skates, but also cars and motorcycles. Additionally, he enjoys the boards that mean the world to athletes: surfing in summer and snowboarding in winter.

Author: Barbara Laaser