He earned his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Aeronautics from the California Institute of Technology, and his B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Lehigh University. Prior coming to University of Central Florida, he was a research scientist at the Technical University of Denmark. He is a recipient of the NASA RHG Exceptional Achievement for Engineering and the NASA Tech Briefs Award. His research interests lie in mechanics of structures and materials, deployable structures, adaptive structures, composite materials, active materials, and balloon structures.