Volker Blum
@aimsduke.bsky.social
Ab initio materials simulations at Duke University. Associate professor, Duke MEMS & Chemistry. https://aims.pratt.duke.edu/ . Opinions my own. Unlike the shirt on the right side of the profile image, which is not my own. The number on the shirt is 10.
And with some clouds …
November 12, 2025 at 2:21 AM
And with some clouds …
Aurora North Carolinensis tonight.
November 12, 2025 at 2:19 AM
Aurora North Carolinensis tonight.
They did it! 🎉 Our Duke Pratt School of Engineering first-year engineers (and my 360 advisees - I'm just the advisor) successfully freed me from an elf-themed escape room with 15 minutes to spare. Amazing. (And future engineering is in good hands.)
November 9, 2025 at 6:52 PM
They did it! 🎉 Our Duke Pratt School of Engineering first-year engineers (and my 360 advisees - I'm just the advisor) successfully freed me from an elf-themed escape room with 15 minutes to spare. Amazing. (And future engineering is in good hands.)
Truly happy to have been part of Danish Khan‘s excellent „defense“ (it was a rout!) at U of Toronto, with wonderful hospitality by Doktorvater Anatole von Lilienfeld, Alastair Price (photo) and the entire group.
September 11, 2025 at 10:52 AM
Truly happy to have been part of Danish Khan‘s excellent „defense“ (it was a rout!) at U of Toronto, with wonderful hospitality by Doktorvater Anatole von Lilienfeld, Alastair Price (photo) and the entire group.
Congrats to our graduates, who worked really hard to get to this day. And if you think that our lives are about wearing hoods, caps and tassels, then come visit on a different day. We work very hard for leadership in science, technology, innovation. That is what we do.
May 10, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Congrats to our graduates, who worked really hard to get to this day. And if you think that our lives are about wearing hoods, caps and tassels, then come visit on a different day. We work very hard for leadership in science, technology, innovation. That is what we do.
First snow in about three years (1076 days, I am told). Enjoying the view while it lasts.
January 11, 2025 at 2:46 PM
First snow in about three years (1076 days, I am told). Enjoying the view while it lasts.
Here is mine. I'll need to think about this one a bit ... some unconventional molecules there ...
November 10, 2024 at 5:10 AM
Here is mine. I'll need to think about this one a bit ... some unconventional molecules there ...
Still in Telluride. What an amazing spot for science.
October 2, 2024 at 1:18 PM
Still in Telluride. What an amazing spot for science.
It is. With excellent science meetings at TSRC. :) All in amazing yellow today from the aspen trees that decorate the village and the mountains.
September 29, 2024 at 9:03 PM
It is. With excellent science meetings at TSRC. :) All in amazing yellow today from the aspen trees that decorate the village and the mountains.
1,407,100 - keep growing ...
September 18, 2024 at 3:52 AM
1,407,100 - keep growing ...
Congratulations to Gabrielle Koknat, who successfully defended her PhD thesis on July 26, 2024!
July 27, 2024 at 6:57 PM
Congratulations to Gabrielle Koknat, who successfully defended her PhD thesis on July 26, 2024!
At Society for Industrial and Applied Math SIAM-MS24 in Pittsburgh and very grateful to the Minisymposium organizers Fabian Faulstich and Amartya Banerjee for including me. And wonderful lunch with great colleagues. Thank you to everyone whose software & hard work drives this community.
May 19, 2024 at 5:51 PM
At Society for Industrial and Applied Math SIAM-MS24 in Pittsburgh and very grateful to the Minisymposium organizers Fabian Faulstich and Amartya Banerjee for including me. And wonderful lunch with great colleagues. Thank you to everyone whose software & hard work drives this community.
And one more thank you to Alberto Garcia, for a very enjoyable meeting here in Barcelona and for pushing ELSI forward.
March 8, 2024 at 11:08 AM
And one more thank you to Alberto Garcia, for a very enjoyable meeting here in Barcelona and for pushing ELSI forward.
After a long flight. It must be Barcelona.
March 3, 2024 at 9:35 PM
After a long flight. It must be Barcelona.
Amazing! I can't believe this worked! (this one is the wordcloud from my Google Scholar page)
February 12, 2024 at 11:39 PM
Amazing! I can't believe this worked! (this one is the wordcloud from my Google Scholar page)
On the way to today’s team meeting of our NSF DMREF project, at NC State in Raleigh. Understanding coherent quantum phenomena in hybrid perovskites. So happy to have a working train and work on the train.
January 30, 2024 at 6:24 PM
On the way to today’s team meeting of our NSF DMREF project, at NC State in Raleigh. Understanding coherent quantum phenomena in hybrid perovskites. So happy to have a working train and work on the train.
Grateful for group and visitors- group dinner last night, after a remarkable year. Thank you all!
November 30, 2023 at 11:46 PM
Grateful for group and visitors- group dinner last night, after a remarkable year. Thank you all!
Very proud of Xixi Qin (center), who just successfully defended her Ph.D. on a host of exciting topics in perovskites. Congratulations Dr. Qin!
November 20, 2023 at 9:48 PM
Very proud of Xixi Qin (center), who just successfully defended her Ph.D. on a host of exciting topics in perovskites. Congratulations Dr. Qin!
Please take a look and also please repost and share with your students. We have a vibrant Master's program at Duke MEMS and lots of options. And of course, materials for energy, materials chemistry, computational materials science, AI; some students go on to Ph.D., others to industry. Thank you!
November 15, 2023 at 8:40 PM
Please take a look and also please repost and share with your students. We have a vibrant Master's program at Duke MEMS and lots of options. And of course, materials for energy, materials chemistry, computational materials science, AI; some students go on to Ph.D., others to industry. Thank you!
To emphasize that last post, Duke Campus on a lovely fall day. Spot the Chapel in the background!
November 14, 2023 at 6:18 PM
To emphasize that last post, Duke Campus on a lovely fall day. Spot the Chapel in the background!
Duke MEMS is hiring! Two searches, "Robotics and Autonomous Systems" and "Computational and Robotic Systems for Surgery". Please spread widely. This is a great place to work with really wonderful colleagues and students.
November 14, 2023 at 5:25 PM
Duke MEMS is hiring! Two searches, "Robotics and Autonomous Systems" and "Computational and Robotic Systems for Surgery". Please spread widely. This is a great place to work with really wonderful colleagues and students.