Before coming to CSUF, he received his Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from the University of Delaware and then spent time in Tucson, AZ where he held a National Science Foundation Mathematical Sciences Postdoctoral fellowship at The University of Arizona. Broadly speaking, Dr. Brubaker's research interests lie in using mathematical modeling and the tools of applied analysis to characterize novel phenomena arising in micro-scale systems, especially those involving an interplay of fluids, electrostatics and elasticity. Recently, he has been focused on using to techniques from variational calculus and partial differential equations to elucidate the behavior of surface tension driven folding, an area of study that has applications to micro-fabrication and self-assembly.