Dr. Podobinski attended the University of Pittsburgh and received his BS, MS and PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering in 1975, 1979 and 1984 respectively. His MS and PhD degrees were earned while employed full time in the coal mining industry.

He began his career in the mining industry in 1975. He held the positions of Electrical Engineer, Maintenance Foreman, Longwall Maintenance Coordinator, Master Mechanic, Maintenance Superintendent, Director of Mining Research, and General Manager for a large coal mining company. Afterwards, he worked for two international mining equipment manufacturers. Currently, he works for an electrical contractor located in Morgantown, WV, whose focus is on the energy industry.

He received a U.S. Patent for his doctorate dissertation entitled “Low Level Fault Recognition on Coal Mine Trolley Systems”. He became a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Pennsylvania in 1980, and has since become registered as a P.E. in several other states.

He is a qualified Mine Electrician in the States of Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and is also a Certified Mine Electrician in the State of Pennsylvania. He is a qualified MSHA (Mine Safety and Health Administration) instructor for low-, medium- and high voltage electrical initial training and annual re-training.

In addition to his professional experience in the engineering field, Dr. Podobinski is a former adjunct instructor in the Mining Technology program at the Eberly Campus of Penn State University. He has taught three courses in electricity, equipment maintenance and power distribution for each of the past six years.

Dr. Podobinski has written export reports and has provided courtroom testimony, and has been a member of the Industry Applications Society of IEEE since 1992.