Hendrik was born in Essen, Germany. He did his undergraduate studies at RWTH Aachen University. After brief stints at ETH Zurich and Imperial College London, he moved to Cambridge, MA for his Ph.D. work with Prof. Moungi Bawendi at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). His graduate research focused on the development of advanced optical single-emitter spectroscopy and the study of optical coherences and quantum interference in single quantum dots and quantum defects in two-dimensional materials. His research was highlighted by two MIT News articles demonstrating the first coherently-emitting colloidal quantum dot, and a novel method for all-optical charge control in semiconductor nanostructures.

After receiving his Ph.D. in 2019, Hendrik conducted postdoctoral work in nanophotonics with Prof. Jennifer Dionne in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Stanford University. From 2021-2022, he additionally served as the Associate Director of the Photonics at Thermodynamic Limits Energy Frontiers Research Center, a DOE-funded multi-university research effort combining materials development and photonic integration.

Hendrik joined the UC Berkeley College of Chemistry as an Assistant Professor in July 2022. He was additionally appointed a Faculty Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab in the Materials Science Division in 2023. His current research lies at the nascent interface of nanophotonics and quantum optics with the chemical sciences.

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