He designed the world's tallest structure, Burj Khalifa, as well as the building projected to surpass it, the Jeddah Tower.

[1] Smith attended Texas A&M University, pursuing a Bachelor of Architecture while being involved with the Corps of Cadets.

In 2008, he co-founded the MEP firm of PositivEnergy Practice (PEP), which specializes in the environmental engineering of high-performance, energy-efficient architecture design.

[4][5][6] Smith was also credited to introduce the first large-scale commercial passive double-wall structure in the United States located at 601 Congress Street in Boston in 2006.

[9] Smith's work at SOM has been featured in museums in the United States, South America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.