Professor Sacco received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Northeastern University; and a PhD in Chemical Engineering from MIT. He was appointed and served as the George A. Snell Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering at Northeastern University from 1997-2010 when he became the Dean of the Whitacre College of Engineering in 2011. From 1978-1997 he was a tenured professor at WPI and was Department Head from 1989-1997. He flew on the space shuttle Columbia in 1995, conducting 200 experiments for 130 scientists. His research focus is in the areas of carbon nanotube initiation and growth, catalysis, zeolite synthesis, biosensors development, and synthesis and device integration of quantum wires from natural materials. He has published over 200 papers and is a Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and a full member of the International Academy of Astronautics. He has received numerous awards including three honorary doctorates (two in science, one in engineering), and was awarded the Nation’s Space Flight Medal in 1995. In 2010 he received the 2010 Distinguished Chemist Award given by the New England Institute of Chemists.