He received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering Technology from Purdue, and his M.S. and Ph.D. both in Computer Science from the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, IL. Before joining the ECET department in 2003 he worked for twenty years developing electronics hardware and embedded systems software as a design engineer, chief engineer, and manager of advanced development crosscutting the automotive, consumer and industrial warning and safety, medical diagnostic equipment, and telecommunications industries.