	*About me*

	This is me on April 21, 2010; and in the background that is the city of Barcelona, which is probably the reason I'm almost smiling.

In Short

My name is Juergen F. Kolb or more 'original' Jürgen F. Kolb. I got a PhD in physics (actually "Dr. rer. nat.") from the University of Erlangen, Germany. Currently I'm employed by Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, as Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. My research association is with the Frank Reidy Research Center for Bioelectrics. This university center collects scientists from different areas (microbiology, physiology, chemistry, physics and electrical engineering) to investigate the interaction of electrical stimuli with cells. Naturally my own research projects are strongly intertwined with the mission of the center. However, pulsed power and plasma science have always been and still are a strong component in this research.

Education

I started my scientific career with the 'Abitur' from the Friedrich-Alexander Gymnasium in Neustadt a. d. Aisch, Germany. (There is not really a equivalent US degree for this exam. In short, the exam is the required general education qualification to go to a university in Germany.) I enrolled at the University of Erlangen, Germany, in 1988 to study physics and mathematics. In 1995 I took (and passed) the 'first state exam' (Erstes Staatsexamen) in these subjects. At least for Bavaria the degree is equivalent to a diploma/master degree, with the difference that diploma exams (at that time) were mostly orals and degrees were awarded by individual universities. The 'state exam' is regulated by the state of Bavaria and required final written exams for several subjects in addition to orals. The exam is mandatory to become a school-teacher in Bavaria. It also requires a 'Zulassungsarbeit' (master thesis), for which I meddled with high-temperature supraconductors at the research and development center of Siemens in Erlangen. After the exam, Dr. D.H.H. Hoffman accepted me as a PhD-student in his plasma physics group, where I worked on the interaction of heavy ion beams with hot dense plasmas. The research was mostly done at the tandem accelerator in Erlangen but for key-experiments I was collaborationg with Dr. Hoffman's group at the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung (GSI) in Darmstadt. My graduation in 1999 followed by a brief employment at the Technical University Darmstadt till I entered the preparation service (Vorbereitungsdienst, Referendariat) for the second state exam in 2000. During this two year time, I was recruited by Dr. K.H. Schoenbach for Old Dominion University as postdoctoral resarch associate.

Professional Positions

I had my first paying job as a highschool student during my summer vacation with 'INA Wälzlager' in Herzogenaurach and worked as tutor for 'Studienkreis' (equivalent to Sylvan) for most of my student-years at the university. My first academic position was as a graduate student, i.e scientific assistant, with the Institute of Physics at the University of Erlangen. I was then briefly a postdoctoral reasearch associate at the Institute for Nuclear Physics at the Technical University in Darmstadt before I became 'Referendar' in service of the state of Bavaria teaching high school (Gymnasium). In 2002 I became a postdoctoral research associate with the Physical Electronics Research Institute at Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virgina. Eventually I was promoted to Assistant Research Professor and became Adjunct Professor with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Since 2006 I am Assistant Professor in the department, conducting research at the Center for Bioelectrics.