Steve Winterstein holds degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Mathematics (B.Sc.) and Civil Engineering (M.Sc. and Ph.D.). He has taught diverse topics in applied mathematics and engineering at M.I.T., Stanford, and U.C. Berkeley. He has studied a range of novel engineering problems, including nuclear power plants, offshore oil platforms, and wind turbines for energy production. His methods in common industry use include the Hermite model of nonlinear vibration and the Environmental Contour model of wind-wave site characterization.
He began studying piano at age six, won his first piano competition at nine, and began concertizing with symphony orchestras the following year. Mathematics and music often intersect in his work. The talk "Why is There No Key of H?", for Stanford's Continuing Studies program, sought to show why the period-doubling dynamics of offshore platforms were analogous to the most common and aesthetically pleasing of musical effects: an octave.