Christoph Pflaum

Prof. Christoph Pflaum holds the position of Professor of Computational Engineering at the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg's Department of Computer Science. His academic journey includes a PhD (1996) and Habilitation (1999) from Technical University Munich and University of Würzburg, respectively. His research focuses on computational optics, high-performance computing, numerical analysis, and multigrid methods, with applications in laser simulation and energy-efficient systems.

Education:

• 1992: Diploma in Mathematics, Technical University Munich
• 1996: Dr. rer. nat., Technical University Munich
• 1999: Habilitation, University of Würzburg

Research Interests: PDE solvers on sparse grids, laser dynamics (thermal lensing, solid-state amplifiers), computational fluid dynamics for airships, and optical system optimization. His work bridges theoretical numerical methods with industrial applications in photonics and renewable energy.

Key Contributions:

• Developed simulation tools for high-power lasers and solar cells, including LASCAD and FDFD methods.
• Advances in multigrid algorithms and finite element analysis for complex optical systems.

Teaching: Courses in theoretical computer science, scientific computing, and computational optics, emphasizing practical implementation using advanced numerical libraries and HPC.

Grants & Projects: Led research on laser systems optimization (Innonet SOL), solar cell simulations (Photonics Europe), and high-performance computing initiatives (Par-EXPDE project).