He received his B.S. degree from Louisiana Tech University and his M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Tims worked from 2001 until 2006 in a research and prototyping facility at the University of Texas where he played a pivotal role in developing numerous prototypes for industrial companies. While at Louisiana Tech University, Dr. Tims has focused primarily on engineering education and multidisciplinary collaborative projects. He has been one of the lead faculty on the NASA-Threads: Physics curriculum, Cyber Discovery, the Studies in Cyberspace honors course, and the high school Cyber Science course.