He received his Ph.D. in physics with a minor in mathematics from North Carolina State University in 2009. He did his three-year (2009-2012) postdoctoral training in the “Center for Inverse Design”, an Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC) funded by DOE, at National Renewable Energy Laboratory. After that, he was research assistant professor in the Office of Vice Chancellor for Research and the Materials Science and Engineering program at the University of Colorado Boulder (2012-2014).