The audience – and jury in one - was impressed by his presentation titled "Vom Schall zum Hören – wie aus Frequenzen Musik wird".

The Johannes Kepler University Linz presents the Wilhelm Macke Award annually to outstanding graduate theses in physics. In order to win the award, the selected candidates must present their topic to an audience of high school students in a brief, comprehensible, and humorous way. The audience is treated to an entertaining afternoon featuring presentations that provide inside into different areas of physics and in the end, they vote for the winner.

The Winner: Matthias Bramauer

Vom Schall zum Hören – Wie aus Frequenzen Musik wird
How Frequencies Become Music - From Sound to Hearing

After studying the physics of hearing and auditory perception, Bramauer constructed a model designed to help students understand the complex processes, resulting in an educational document for educators that can serve as a basis to develop an educational series.

About Matthias Bramauer

Born in Waidhofen/Ybbs (Lower Austria), Matthias Bramauer (32) currently lives in Linz and teaches in Wels. He enjoys photography, traveling, and learning more about other cultures.  However, he also enjoys spending quality time at home.

Additional Finalists:

Tobias Krieger (Institute of Semiconductor and Solid-State Physics)

Quanten im Netz – Was Quantentechnologie für die Weiterentwicklung des Internets bedeutet.
Quanta in the Net - What Quantum Technology Means to the Evolution of the Internet.

Krieger’s very ambitious goal is to create a quantum internet. In order to connect different quantum processors in new types of quantum computers with each other, a quantum internet of this kind is needed. Krieger is currently working on a quantum repeater that is similar to a WiFi network at home.

Maximilian Schober (Department of Many-Particle Systems)

Wandertag im Halbleiter – Wie Elektronen durch Energietäler streifen
Hiking Day in a Semiconductor - How Electrons Roam Through Energy Valleys

While conducting research on electrons trapped inside of extremely thin layers of various semiconductors, Schober came across exciting information: The interaction between spin and valley results in an additional quantum mechanical property, thereby opening the door to discovering completely new technological applications.