A fairly brief history

The Early Years

I was born on May 20, 1981 on Chicago's southwest side, in a quiet neighborhood called Brighton Park.  I attended Five Holy Martyrs Grade School (Class of '95) and Brother Rice High School (Class of '99).  I also attended Maria Konopnicka Polish School on Saturdays for 8 years, where I learned to read and write in Polish. 

In high school, I played doubles tennis on the JV team.  I was also captain of the chess team, participated in intramural bowling, and was a member of the math team.

University Life

I attended the University of Illinois.  There, I met my wife, Liz, at the bowling club in the student union.  My sophomore year, I began working with Prof. Huimin Zhao.  Under the supervision of his graduate student, Zhilei Chen, I learned basic molecular and cellular biology lab skills and used them to investigate directed evolution.  I graduated in May of 2003 with a B.S. in chemical engineering with departmental distinction. 

During college I held summer internship positions with three different companies.  These experiences led me to the decision that graduate school and life in academia was the thing for me.  I remained at Illinois, and obtained a research assistantship with Prof. Chang Liu in the Mechanical Engineering Department.  In 2005, I transferred to the newly established Bioengineering Department to finish my Ph.D.

Recent Events

In March of 2008, I began working as postdoctoral fellow at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands.  My hobbies include road biking and collecting hard to find Lego sets.

In September 2010, I started at Northeastern University in Boston as an assistant professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering. We live in Back Bay with our two cats: Dexter and Morris.