Chris Eberl

Prof. Chris Eberl is a Full Professor of Micro- and Materials Mechanics at the University of Freiburg's Faculty of Engineering and Deputy Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials (IWM). His research focuses on materials' reliability, fatigue mechanisms, and bio-inspired programmable materials. He leads the 'Longevity' pillar of the Cluster of Excellence livMatS (living Materials Systems) and coordinates the Fraunhofer Cluster of Excellence Programmable Materials. He has pioneered scalable fabrication concepts for adaptive metamaterials and investigates self-healing mechanisms through interdisciplinary approaches.

Education: PhD in Materials Science from the University of Stuttgart (2004), postdoctoral work at Johns Hopkins University, and leadership roles including head of the 'Microreliability' junior research group (2007–2012) and 'Meso- and Micromechanics' group at Fraunhofer IWM (2012–2018). Current roles include board membership of the German Association for Materials Research and Testing (DVM).

Key projects include MetaGen4Morphing (programmable meta-materials), Solstore II (photosupercapacitors), and Gallisense (passive material sensing). Awards include the Otto Hahn Medal (2006) and University of Stuttgart Doctoral Award (2004). He has supervised numerous PhD and postdoc researchers, advancing fields like microfluidic networks, self-sealing materials, and digital material representation.

Labs/Teams: LivMatS Excellence Cluster, Fraunhofer IWM research groups, and the IDEASfactory@FIT innovation hub. His work integrates experimental mechanics, computational modeling, and biomimetic principles to create sustainable, adaptive materials systems.