Axel Drefahl - curious about the past and the future

Berlin Ichthyosaur State Park
Axel is a chemist, cheminformatician, science writer and roadside blogger, enjoying photography, outdoor activies and (re-)discovering the less-knowns. Beyond all things molecular and nanostructured, he is interested in natural history, the history of sciences as well as the history (and future!) of our Earth. The picture shows Axel backdropped by a life-size Shonisaurus illustration in Berlin Ichthyosaur State Park, Nevada.

Background, Experiences and Activities
  • Abitur (university entrance qualification), Hermann-Böse-Gymmnasium, Bremen, Germany, 1975.
  • Diploma in Chemistry, University of Göttingen, Germany, 1984.
  • Ph.D. in Natural Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Germany, 1988.
  • Postdoctoral Research and design of molecular similarity algorithms and chemical property estimation methods, Terman Engineering Center, Stanford University, California, 1989-1995.
  • Modeling of functionalized nanoparticles and teaching physical chemistry & Monte-Carlo simulation techniques, Freiberg University, Germany, 1995-2000.
  • Researching ionic-liquid/semiconductor chemistry and nanostructuring of solar materials, Owens Technology Inc., Palo Alto (CA) and Reno (NV), 2001-2010.
  • Hydrometallurgical process design by applying selective metal adsorption/molecular recognition, Comstock Mining Inc. and Cycladex, Virginia City & Carson City, Nevada, 2014-2018.
  • Battery metal winning and recycling, American Battery Technology Company, Reno/Fernley, Nevada, 2019-present.
  • Creating and managing the CurlySMILES Project to capture and process information on macromolecular molecules and nanostructure architectures, Axeleratio, Reno, Nevada, 2011-present.

Axel's other profiles

Axel's Publications