About Me: Andreas Krassnigg
Hello! My name is Andreas Krassnigg. I live in the nice town of Graz, Austria, right in the green heart of Europe.
I am a physicist by training, which has changed my life fundamentally. Already as a child, I noticed things or events around me that didn’t make much sense to me. More precisely, I was not able to explain them consistently, which used to annoy me quite a bit. Together with my curiosity, this may well have been the main reason for my decision to study physics (and astronomy, in the beginning).
I have not regretted this decision at all. It has enabled me to see things from a different angle and build a solid understanding of scientific methods. Furthermore it has taught me not to be afraid of any questions my kids may ask me about nature (or other stuff in general). To be clear: the key about the latter is to understand that it is ok not to have an answer for every question. Instead, it is possible to have a very good idea how to go about finding an answer. In addition, there are many questions that cannot reasonably be answered and it is important to realize that. In my opinion, this is an awesome chance for spending quality time with my children and giving them ideas about how the world works.
Contents
Professional and other experience
Over the past 40+ years, I have gained experience in various areas. Professionally, I see myself mainly as a problem solver. More concretely, I have served and still serve as a researcher, project leader, web designer, public speaker, and consultant.
On a more personal level, I am a hobby musician (guitar and singing), karateka (1st Dan Shotokan and generally interested in sports/exercise), husband (to my wonderful wife), and father (of two great kids). And other things.
I’ll give you more details on these subjects and their meaning in my life below.
Writing
I may not be an actual blogger, but I like to write about stuff every now and then. Part of this is that I observe interesting things or events around me, which I sometimes write about (here).
Another part of my writing activity is based on reading children’s books to my kids. When I do this, I, well, notice certain things, oddities you might call them, in those books. I then write about those strange encounters on another website of mine called kinderbuch.website (in German).
Regarding my writing, I should probably mention that my main writing activity over the past almost two decades was scientific writing. As the (co)author of a handsome number of published articles, I have certainly been heavily influenced by the corresponding writing style. I guess, this kind of style is still visible here and elsewhere when I write about things, most of which is probably habitual. I would like to apologize for those occasions, where the scientific writing style seems out of place. However, I would like to emphasize at the same time, that in most cases I feel confident to just write what I think and that’s the way my thoughts sound.
Physics
This is an interesting storyline in my life. I started noticing “inconsistencies” in my everyday life when I was a kid. In fact, some of my earliest memories are about me feeling that something about the way that a particular circumstance or event unfolded wasn’t quite right.
Many years later, I found out that what had irritated me was in some cases related to misconceptions or incomplete observations on my part. I felt extremely satisfied when I found out what the situation had been as I had perceived it, what it had actually been, and that my elementary-school self had been able to figure out that something was wrong or missing.
If you are interested in my physics research, I can quickly tell you that it deals with the nature and inner structure of hadrons, which are among the building blocks of ordinary matter. For example, the proton and neutron that constitute the atomic nucleus are two examples of hadrons. More generally, hadrons are defined by how the strong interaction works and interacts (or doesn’t interact) with various kinds of particles. The strong interaction is one of the fundamental interactions in our modern understanding of physics.
For more details, I can refer you to a couple of web pages that account for and keep up with my physics research. In particular, I have a CV-like collection of stuff that I’ve done and what I am doing in theoretical particle physics. I also maintain a separate page for my size-fluctuating workgroup on CovariantModelsofHadrons™. This page shows you all the details (more than you ever wanted to know) on theoretical hadron physics. For example the page features links to my published articles, scientific workshops I (co)organized, and related things. By the way, if you ever want to come back to that page and need to find it really quickly, you can go directly to Covariant.ModelsofHadrons.com. Yes, as easy as that.
Project Management
All of my recent physics work has been project-based, and I’ve acquired most of the funding myself. For the two most recent larger projects, the University of Graz hosts an official web-page each. You can find these at http://physik.uni-graz.at/~ank/fwf-p25121/ and http://physik.uni-graz.at/~ank/fwf-p20496/.
More general information about my projects can be found on my physics page under “research”. It may be of interest to you that I also had some specific training as a project manager.
Consulting
I am an independent scientific consultant in the areas of research funding and project management.
I can assist you with your research proposals in many ways, e.g., with finding more precise formulations of statements or expressing precisely what you have in mind.
I have many years of experience in dealing with funding acquisition via several successful scientific grant proposals I have written as well as from my professional activities as an independent consultant in the areas of scientific funding- and project management.
In the majority of cases, I subsequently was the project leader of the scientific projects carried out with the funding from these applications. The individual grants had volumes from a few thousand € to a few hundred thousand €, coming from different funding agencies and with timescales from a few months up to over three years.
From this pool of experience, I offer support in the planning, writing, and optimizing scientific grant applications on a scale well-suited to a client’s particular request or situation. Please don’t hesitate to contact me for more information and possibilities.
Web Design
Start creating a convincing website that serves your needs with very little effort by using modern professional tools and my experience.
My web-design process is built toward satisfying the needs and presenting the visions of my clients with as little worry as possible. That is why I specialize in professionally crafted WordPress websites. They are based on non-proprietary software, a huge user community, and ample functional possibilities. No matter what your basic website setup is, you can always easily add on functionality later, if and when needed.
Modern times require a modern online presence. This includes design as well as functionality. In the past, I have built websites from scratch. As a result, I know my way around HTML, CSS, and PHP. Presently, I can still rely on this experience when it comes to enhancing the results obtained with the professional tools I use.
I always recommend some kind of web analytics to my clients, when I set up a website for them. I also recommend a set of basic functionality, but the final choice is all up to you and your needs.
Personal service and recommendations are among my highest priorities. I don’t want you to worry about or pay for features you won’t need for your project or website goals. I can also help you with each step in the setup process of your website: choosing the right domain name, finding a web host, performing the necessary installations, and preparing for SEO.
Contact me for more information or for your personal free counseling interview.
The Best Domains
I am also an expert in domain-name valuation. A good domain name can make a material impact on a business by enhancing both its online presence and effectiveness. As a result, choosing a good domain name is an integral part of my work with potential web-design clients in a counseling session.
I am also an active domain-name investor. If you are interested in doing business with me in this domain (pun intended), please visit my domain-name marketplace at boomingdomains.com.
Music
The hobby musician lies somewhat dormant at the moment – I play the guitar, but not as often as I would like or did two or even three decades ago. Anyway, it turns out that I’m able to bring that back more when I spend time with my kids and family. We make an effort to have music around the house and also to make music ourselves. That includes singing, playing the flute, guitar, ukulele, piano, rhythmic instruments, and self-built instruments as well.
Great fun.
Karate-Do Shotokan
I’ve been late to the party regarding Karate. I started only around the age of 20 but managed to keep it active up to obtaining a 1st Dan (Shotokan style).
I have been training Karate-Do Shotokan for a number of years. In the beginning and at the moment, my Dojo was and is Karate-Do Graz. For a number of years in between, I have been training Shotokan Karate-Do at the USI Graz.
More information about Karate in Graz, Styria, and Austria can be found on the websites of the City of Graz, the Styrian Karate Federation, and the Austrian Karate Federation.
Squash
As my twitter profile suggests, I am also a veteran Squash spectator. That essentially means that I have watched much much much … much more Squash in my life (mainly my super-talented and successful wife playing) than I’ve actually played myself (and that trend continues, now that our kids pick up the sport as well).
At the time of writing this, I have been watching matches of this impressive sport for almost 25 years. Nevertheless, I have played less than ten hours of Squash actively in my entire life. A shame, actually, but nobody’s perfect, I guess.
I did, however, take part in the worldwide match of “Team Squash” (including myself) vs. “Team 2020” on World Squash Day, October 20th, 2012. At the event organized by the Union Squash Club 2000 Graz, I lost my match 8-20, but had a lot of fun and gained about 30 % of my life’s match-experience.
To keep up with recent developments in the world of squash I use Twitter a lot and I also maintain two public Twitter lists with regard to squash: Squash, a list on “Squash on Twitter. For more categorized lists, see e.g. @SquashSite“, and SquashLists, “a list of twitterers who maintain squash-related twitter-lists”.
Cacti
And then there are other interests that I have. For example, I maintain an active interest in cultivating and raising cacti of several species. Due to limitations with respect to habitable areas in our home, I cannot rival many other people’s achievements, but as soon as we move to a palace, that will certainly change.
As an example, in the picture above you can see part of a flock of 100 seedlings of setiechinopsis mirabilis which have grown substantially since the above picture was taken. In the meantime, they have produced several beautiful flowers which open in the evening, last only for a single night, and – most remarkably – have a stunningly sweet odor. Since the flowers are fully open only in darkness, I have taken some imagery with the IR functionality of my camera. I’ve also added another image of one of the flowers opening when it was still light.
Cooking, Baking, etc.
Since I like to eat good food (and so does my family), I like to cook and bake quite a bit. Examples of descriptions of these activities can be found on this blog. Maybe, you are interested in a quick and simple breakfast recipe for oatmeal. Or you are a fan of the iconic Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte (this article was written in German and I haven’t had time to translate it, but you may use the translation tool at the bottom of the page at your own risk).
Conclusion
I hope you enjoy the content here, however little it may be. Take care.