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Rüdiger Birenheide
Tokyo Institute of Technology, Faculty of Science
Biological Laboratory (Prof. Motokawa)
Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152, JAPAN
Tel.: x81-3-5734-2656
FAX: x81-3-5734-2946
email: rbirenhe@bio.titech.ac.jp
Nationality: German
born March 8, 1961
EDUCATION
Diploma in Biology, Ruhr-University, Bochum, Germany (05/86)
Doctor Degree in Biology, Ruhr-University, Bochum, Germany
(12/89)
Japanese Language Course, Kyushu-University, Fukuoka,
Japan (10/90-03/91)
LANGUAGES
· fluently trilingual: English, German, Japanese
· good knowledge of French, Latin, Russian
EXPERIENCE
Teaching Assistant
Faculty of Biology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany,
04/84-05/86
· supervised undergraduate laboratory courses
in invertebrate biology
· trained students in histological techniques
· oversaw field and laboratory work during field
trips to marine biological laboratories
· set up and operated several sea water aquaria
Research Assistant
Faculty of Biology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany,
06/86-02/89
· prepared and oversaw undergraduate and graduate
level courses in invertebrate biology
· taught advanced laboratory techniques to graduate
students
· assisted and critiqued research projects of
graduate students
Postdoctoral Fellow/Visiting Scientist
Biological Laboratory, Tokyo Institute of Technology
04/91-03/95 Postdoctoral fellow funded by Japanese Government
04/95-06/97 Visiting Scientist at the Faculty of Science,
Tokyo Institute of Technology (TIT)
from 07/97 Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Bioscience
and Biotechnology, TIT
· planned and established new laboratory for morphological
and biomechanical research
· operates this laboratory and reports regularly
to the head of the laboratory
· serves as liaison between head of the laboratory
and staff or students
· develops and sets up all main research projects
in the lab
· communicates these research projects at various
natl. and internatl. conferences
· responsible for thesis projects of students
at undergraduate and graduate level (two to three projects
per year)
· trains and counsels students and provides regular
evaluation of student work
· implemented laboratory connection to the Internet,
system administrator for the Chair of Basic Biology
(see also below under: Computer Experience)
Teacher for German Language
Interlink Language School, Tokyo (08/91-12/93)
· planned and taught German classes to leading
staff of various companies
· responsible for choice of textbooks and other
teaching materials
· provided regular written evaluations for each
student
RESEARCH ACTIVITIES
Completed Research
Investigation on sponge-feeding sea urchins: uptake and
fate of sponge spicules inside the sea urchin
body; published in Mar. Biol. 115, 677-683 (1993).
First description and behavioural analysis of movements
of sea lilies; biomechanical and
microscopical characterization of arm ligaments; published
in Mar. Biol. 121, 273-283 (1994).
Ultrastructure of the tooth ligament of sea urchins, a
connective tissue with variable mechanical
properties; and neurophysiological control of these properties;
published in Biol. Bull. 190,
218-230 and 231-236 (1996).
First description and interpretation of a skeletal cortex
covering ossicles of stalked and stalkless
crinoids. Zool. Sci. 14(5): 753-761 (1997)
First direct evidence of a contractile ligament in animal
kingdom: crinoid ligaments produce forces
without muscles; published in Biol. Bull. 191, 1-4 (1996)
Isolation and physiological action of neuropeptides controlling
connective tissue stiffness in sea
cucumber dermis. Biol. Bull. 194: 253-259 (1998)
Ongoing research
Cholinergic and GABAergic control of stiffness and contractions
of crinoid ligaments
Mechanical properties and mechanism of contractile connective
tissues
Anatomy and physiology of echinoderm nervous systems with
special regard to connective tissue
innervation
for PUBLICATION LIST, click
here
COMPUTER EXPERIENCE
SUMMARY
Experienced Professional with over 10 years of experience
in IT field. Implemented network connection of university lab and maintains
official lab website. Is LAN-administrator and provides hardware and software
support for ca. 20 PC and Macintosh Computers in 3 laboratories.
TECHNICAL PROFILE
Hardware: Commodore 64, Commodore Amiga, PC98, Macintosh
and Power-Macintosh, Pentium-PC
Software (English and Japanese): MacOS, Windows95/98,
Unix, Linux, MS Office, Claris Works, Claris Filemaker, Adobe Photoshop,
Macromedia Freehand, Deneba Canvas, Internet Explorer and Outlook Express,
Netscape Navigator, Eudora, ClarisMail, Adobe Pagemill, Macromedia Dreamweaver,
Shade 3D, Povray, Blender, Future Basic, Assembler
Publications: Homepage <http://www.geocities.co.jp/Technopolis/7744>
WORK EXPERIENCE
1991-present
Postdoctoral Fellow/Visiting Scientist/Assistant Professor
Fac.Bioscience & Biotechnology, Tokyo Institute of
Technology
AWARDS AND HONORS
· Contract as research assistant in the laboratory
of Prof. K. Märkel, Ruhr-University, Bochum,
Germany funded by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German
Science Foundation) (06/86-02/89)
based on achievements during research work for Diploma
Thesis
· First prize in Japanese Speech Contest at Kyushu
University, Fukuoka, Japan (03/91)
· Monbusho Scholarship of the Japanese Ministery
of Science, Culture and Education for 1.5 years
(10/90-03/92); based on academic achievements
· prolongation of Monbusho Scholarship (until
03/95); based on research results and performance in
japanese environment during the initial term
· Sasakawa Research Grant of the Japan Science
Foundation for pioneering research on stalked sea
lilies (04/94)
· Visiting Scientist Fellowship of the Faculty
of Science of Tokyo Institute of Technology (03/95)
ACTIVITIES
Network of European Scientists and Technologists in
Japan (NEST)
· founded NEST together with other european colleagues
(04/93)
· responsible for the newsletter of NEST as one
of two editors (06/93-12/93)
· first elected chairman of NEST (01/94-04/95)
· responsible for smooth performance of all activities
of NEST for the benefit of over 800 members
· organized and headed bimonthly general meetings
held at Tokyo Denki University Hall
Summer seminars for German Language
· teaches German language and culture at innovative
summer seminars of Keio University, Tokyo, on
a volunteer basis (1993 to present, 2 seminars per year)
· participates in planning of these seminars including
implementation of multimedia techniques
· analyzes and evaluates these seminars
Diving Club, Hagen, Germany
· elected technical manager (06/83-06/84) of diving
club with ca. 100 members
· coordinated trips to various diving places and
supervised use of diving equipment
· communicated problems to technical staff and
general manager
· counseled members on questions of diving practice