About Michael

I am President and Managing Director Americas at Smart Steel Technologies, where I oversee operations and growth of the company’s data-driven solutions for the metals industry across North and South America. With over eight years of experience in big data, software development, and artificial intelligence, I lead a team of engineers and project managers to deliver innovative and customized products that optimize production quality and efficiency for our clients.

My mission is to apply technical expertise and management skills to tackle the last efficiency frontier in the metals industry, leveraging the power of AI and machine intelligence technology. I am passionate about finding new ways to solve complex problems and create value for both industry and society.

Industry Career

Before joining Smart Steel Technologies, I spent over six years at SMS group, first as Technical Sales Manager and Senior Customer Consultant for QuinLogic North America, then as Managing Director of QuinLogic North America, and finally as General Manager of SMS Digital in Pittsburgh. In those roles I drove strategic company growth, led sales of digital products across North America, and coordinated large-scale data integration and production quality management software projects in the steel industry.

Academic Background

I hold a Ph.D. in Theoretical Chemistry from the University of Bonn, awarded Magna cum laude in 2013. My doctoral research at the Mulliken Center for Theoretical Chemistry focused on the electronic structure of molecular crystals, combining established quantum-chemical methods with the development of new computational models, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Thomas Bredow. Following my doctorate, I joined the research group of Prof. Dr. Frank Neese at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion in Mülheim an der Ruhr as a Postdoctoral Researcher.

I have authored and co-authored multiple publications in computational chemistry and materials science. A full list is available on the Publications page.

Beyond the Lab and the Office

Outside of work I am a lifelong practitioner and instructor of Traditional Taekwondo, currently 3rd Dan, and the author of A Brief History of Taekwondo Patterns (second edition, 2026). I live in Cincinnati, Ohio with my wife Jacqueline and our two daughters, and we all train together. You can read more about my Taekwondo journey on the Taekwondo page.

We are also a family of hunters. Cirilla Fiona, our Large Münsterländer, is trained as a hunting dog.

Cirilla Fiona, the Peintinger family dog, a Large Münsterländer trained as a hunting dog — Cirilla Fiona in the backyard.

vibe-qc

Alongside my industry work I have returned to my scientific roots through vibe-qc, an open-source electronic-structure code for molecules and solids that I am building entirely through AI-assisted development (vibe-coding). The project implements Hartree-Fock, DFT, and MP2 for molecules, with a growing periodic layer based on the cyclic cluster model — the same approach I worked on during my PhD. It is part technical project, part experiment: I am genuinely curious about what AI can do for scientific software development, and vibe-qc is my way of finding out. Documentation and more information are at vibe-qc.com, and I have written about the project on this site here.

You can connect with me on LinkedIn.

Professional Memberships and Associations

I am active in several professional organizations in the metals and materials industry:

Association for Iron and Steel Technology (AIST) — Member since 2015. AIST is a non-profit organization with over 18,500 members from more than 70 countries. I have been recognized as a 10-Year Member (2015–2024), representing a global network of steel industry knowledge and expertise. Within AIST I serve as Decarbonization Officer on the Digitalization Applications Technology Committee, which promotes the understanding and advancement of digitalization architectures and technologies for steel processing. Since 2023 I also serve on the AIST Transactions Board as a peer reviewer for AIST Transactions of Iron & Steel Research, a peer-reviewed open-access journal covering all fields of iron and steel manufacturing, where I focus on reviewing articles related to digitalization of the industry.

Galvanizers Association — Representative of Smart Steel Technologies since 2022, and previously representative of QuinLogic (SMS group). Founded in 1936, the Galvanizers Association is a worldwide organization of nearly 150 member companies dedicated to advancing the quality of galvanized products industry-wide. I have presented as an invited speaker at multiple Galvanizers Association Annual Conferences over the years, most recently in October 2023.

Austrian Society for Metallurgy and Materials (ASMET) — Member since 2022, associated with Smart Steel Technologies. ASMET brings together professionals working in metallurgy, materials science, and related engineering and business fields.

ABM — Brazilian Metallurgy, Materials and Mining Association — Member since 2021, associated with Smart Steel Technologies. ABM is a non-profit organization connecting individuals, companies, and institutions to advance professional development, technical and scientific progress, and innovation in metallurgy and materials.

Encrypted Contact

You can use encryption when contacting me. My current PGP public key is below (fingerprint: 0599 FE05 DDAE 7BA1 3ABE B948 6C3E 8E34 5ABD FD9C).