He earned his Ph.D. degree in Materials Science at the University of Maryland College Park, and then served as a postdoc fellow at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He received 2015 National Science Foundation – CAREER Award, 2014 Army Research Office – Young Investigator Award, 2014 RSC Emerging Investigator – Journal of Material Chemistry, 2013 NSF EPSCOR First Award, 2013 Air Force Summer Faculty Fellowship, 2012 KU New Faculty General Research Fund, 2009 China’s National Award for Outstanding Graduate Students Abroad, 2009 Dean’s Doctoral Research Award (First Prize) and Distinguished Doctoral Dissertation Award at University of Maryland, College Park. He is North American editor of J. Exp. Nanoscience, and editorial panel member of Scientific Report.