Kassel Half Marathon 2026, in the Rain
26 September 2026•2 min read
My third Kassel Half Marathon. It rained, I was slower than last year, and I am not going to pretend I know why.
RunningHalf MarathonKasselBeyond the Lab
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Blog & Field Notes
Notes on instruments and life in the lab.
About this blog
I write about scientific instrumentation, laboratory automation, and what I learn at the bench. Postdoctoral researcher at the University of Kassel.
What you'll find here:
- •Instrument troubleshooting and measurement reliability, from a working femtosecond laser and vacuum lab
- •Instrument software, raw-data integrity and physics-aware analysis
- •User workflows, documentation and training around scientific instruments
- •Occasional honest lessons from taking science into industry
Publishing cadence: I publish when a piece is worth reading rather than to a schedule. Each post aims to solve a real problem.
Beamtime at DESY, Hamburg
Beyond the lab
I run regularly along the Fulda river and the trails around Kassel. Long runs take the same sustained effort and discipline that experimental research does.
Whether reassembling a complex vacuum system over several weeks, iterating on automation code until it runs reliably, or pushing through the final kilometers of a long run, the approach is similar. Break the challenge into manageable steps, stay focused, and keep moving forward even when progress feels slow.
This mindset, built through both running and years in the lab, helps me tackle technical problems with patience and determination.
Kassel Half Marathon 2026 →Featured posts
The Feature That Wasn't There
26 July 2026•8 min read
I spent three weeks convinced I had a wiring problem. The device had accepted a valid instruction, quietly done something smaller, and reported nothing at all.
InstrumentationDebuggingPEPICOScientific SoftwareData AcquisitionHardware
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I Own Both Ends of the Measurement Chain. The Middle Is a Black Box.
26 July 2026•9 min read
I run a mass spectrometer and I own the acquisition system feeding it. There are six layers in between that I have been trusting rather than understanding, and here is exactly how I plan to close that.
InstrumentationEmbedded SystemsCareerScientific SoftwareHardwareLearning
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Why I Used Physics to Make XGBoost Better at Solar Forecasting
1 May 2026•10 min read
Most ML forecasting tutorials start with the data and end with a model. This project started with a physics equation, and it made all the difference.
Machine LearningEnergy ForecastingPythonXGBoostRenewablesPhysicsEnergiewende
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All posts
Kassel Half Marathon 2026, in the Rain
26 September 2026•2 min read
My third Kassel Half Marathon. It rained, I was slower than last year, and I am not going to pretend I know why.
RunningHalf MarathonKasselBeyond the Lab
Read Post
The Feature That Wasn't There
26 July 2026•8 min read
I spent three weeks convinced I had a wiring problem. The device had accepted a valid instruction, quietly done something smaller, and reported nothing at all.
InstrumentationDebuggingPEPICOScientific SoftwareData AcquisitionHardware
Read Post
I Own Both Ends of the Measurement Chain. The Middle Is a Black Box.
26 July 2026•9 min read
I run a mass spectrometer and I own the acquisition system feeding it. There are six layers in between that I have been trusting rather than understanding, and here is exactly how I plan to close that.
InstrumentationEmbedded SystemsCareerScientific SoftwareHardwareLearning
Read Post
Why I Used Physics to Make XGBoost Better at Solar Forecasting
1 May 2026•10 min read
Most ML forecasting tutorials start with the data and end with a model. This project started with a physics equation, and it made all the difference.
Machine LearningEnergy ForecastingPythonXGBoostRenewablesPhysicsEnergiewende
Read Post
From Research Lab to Industry: A Physicist's Guide to Career Transition
30 October 2025•10 min read
A physicist's honest account of moving from academic research into industry R&D and data-science roles in the DACH region.
Career TransitionAcademia to IndustryPhysics PhD CareersData Science TransitionResearch Skills
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OpenClaw and the Idea of a Personal AI That Actually Does Things
03 March 2026•9 min read
Exploring OpenClaw, the open-source project that went viral with 200K GitHub stars, and five specific use cases for a researcher in career transition.
AIAgentsProductivityToolsOpenClaw
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The Night I Replaced Windows 11 with Zorin OS (And Never Looked Back)
13 February 2026•7 min read
A lifelong Windows user's honest account of wiping a ThinkPad on a Tuesday night and switching to Linux for daily research work.
LinuxZorin OSProductivityToolsWindows
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How a Neuroscience Course Changed the Way I Build Everything
31 January 2026•8 min read
What 'Learning How to Learn' taught me about chunking, spaced repetition, and diffuse thinking, and how I applied those principles to build a website from scratch.
LearningCareer TransitionProductivityPhysics
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What I write about
Instruments and measurement
- Coincidence spectroscopy and the instruments behind it
- Lab software, data acquisition and calibration
- Machine learning on measurement and sensor data
Life in the lab
- What broke, how I found it, and what I changed
- Running, badminton and life in Kassel
Based in: Kassel, Germany
Writing between experiments and weekend runs. Kassel's parks in summer make both easier.