[6][7] This effort resulted in the development of a methodology of estimating the distance to galaxies which, when applied, has become one of the most reliable ways to measure the total mass density of the universe.

As a postdoc at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian under Margaret Geller he participated in research that resulted in the development of maps of the large-scale structure of the universe, which led to the discovery of the Great Wall.

[8] [9] [10] [11] [12] He was a member of the EFAR project, a detailed study of the peculiar velocity distribution of a large number elliptical-rich galaxy clusters.

[5] At the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian he developed 3D visualization software that was used in the 40-minute film, So Many Galaxies...So Little Time, which was on display at the National Air and Space Museum.

[15] He then joined In-Q-Tel, a private venture capital organization funded by the CIA, and afterward served as the senior advisor to the governor of North Carolina for science and technology, and the executive director of the North Carolina Board of Science and Technology from 2003-2008[16] where he led the development of significant state and national innovation, investment capital, and technology based economic development policies and legislation,[17][18][19] and was a frequent international speaker on academic entrepreneurship and on the role of universities in economic development.