Dr. Liang received his BSc and MSc degrees in Mechanics and Applied Mathematics from Fundan University ( China ) in 1987 and 1990, respectively. He joined the doctoral program in the Mechanical Engineering Dept. of the University of Maryland , Baltimore County (UMBC) in 1995. He completed his Ph.D. degree in 1999, while conducting research in the area of constitutive modeling of finite plastic deformations in single and polycrystalline metals. Dr. Liang joined OAO Corporation in 1999 as a system analyst in 1999. He began to work as a system and software engineer for Lockheed Martin since 2002.