He comes to Pittsburgh from the University of Pennsylvania where he was the postdoctoral fellow for academic diversity. He is an expert in biofilms, microfluidics and interfacial science and is gaining national acclaim for his bacterial research, which involves antibiotic discovery as well as how beneficial microbes can be used to clean the environment after oil spills. He is also a successful entrepreneur. He has a bachelor’s in science and a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Syracuse University.