Kenneth G. Libbrecht

Kenneth G. Libbrecht is a Professor of Physics at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in the Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy. He has been teaching at Caltech since 1984, progressing from Visiting Associate in Solar Astronomy to his current position as Professor of Physics since 1995. He also served as Executive Officer from 1997-2013.

Dr. Libbrecht's research focuses on the physics of crystal growth and pattern formation in ice, laboratory instrumentation for physics education, gravitational-wave detection technology for LIGO, and laser cooling of neutral atoms. His work on snow crystal formation has led to the creation of SnowCrystals.com and a monograph published by Princeton University Press.

He has developed numerous educational instruments used in physics teaching labs at Caltech and universities worldwide, including tunable diode-laser spectrometers, picometer-resolution laser interferometers, and microparticle ion traps. His instrumentation work has been commercialized through collaborations with TeachSpin and Newtonian Labs.

Dr. Libbrecht teaches several physics laboratory courses including Physics 3 (Physics Laboratory), Physics 5/105 (Analog Electronics), Physics 77 (Advanced Physics Laboratory), and Physics 78/79 (Senior Thesis).