He received his Ph.D. degree in Materials Science & Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology, where he performed the research focused on the design of novel materials for electrochemical energy storage and conversion. Prior to joining WSU, he conducted postdoctoral research at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He also worked at Hyundai Motors Company for six years as a research engineer on the development of fuel cell vehicles. Central to his efforts is the synthesis of carbon-based nano-hybrid materials and manipulation of their electro-chemical properties, with a current emphasis on lithium–sulfur and lithium-air batteries.