He received a Dipl.- Ing. degree in Cartography at the Technical University Dresden, Germany, and a Ph.D. in Geography at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Areas of interest and expertise include text document visualization, geographic visualization, cartographic generalization, and visual data mining. Much of his research revolves around new perspectives on geographic metaphors, methods, and principles, outside of traditional geographic domains. Andreï¿½s GIS expertise has been invaluable in developing the Geodesign San Diego program.