Michael's work has focused on understanding places of learning for over 35 years and has directed architectural firms for over 20 years. His architectural practice specializes in learning spaces. He taught applications of abstract mathematics in architecture at CUNY, and led research at Drexel University examining how systems designs affect the flow of information in face-to-face social networks. His architectural office concentrates on educational research, integrating shifting social networking paradigms in educational design, curricula and assessment with building design. He has managed more than $340 million of construction in education and research. The work ranges from learning spaces for autistic young adults to informal university collaboration spaces and research laboratories. The firm specialized in applying complex modeling techniques to building systems forensics and construction risk problems.He is the recipient of the Society of College and University Planners 2014-5 Perry Chapman Prize for research and has presented six academic papers at national and international conferences since 2014, ranging from campus social network analysis to the sociology of informal learning. He is the co-author of "Evaluating the Learning Commons in the Digital Age" in 'Spaces for Teaching and Learning' published by Springer in 2018.He has taught at the Spitzer School of Architecture at the City College of New York and in the CUNY Macaulay Honors Program. His students study interdisciplinary approaches to network science, behavioral economics, resource distribution and demography. His academic research at Corvus Lab models group cognition in informal social spaces. The Lab studies the relationships between information, distance, diversity, and design as interrelated components of learning ecosystems.