Habib is the founding Executive Director of the University of Maine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center and a world-leading advocate for developing advanced structural systems which simultaneously optimize structures, materials, and construction. Under his leadership, the UMaine Composites Center has gained national and international reputation from major research and development projects, such as:

• The VolturnUS 1:8, which is the first grid-connected floating offshore wind turbine in the United States as well as the first in the world made out of concrete and composite materials
• The “Bridge-in-a-Backpack” technology, which are inflatable composite arch bridges that are now approved in the AASHTO Code
• The first Modular Ballistic Protection System (MBPS) approved by the US Army to protect troops in tents from blast and ballistic threats,
• The development of coated wood technology for blast and hurricane resistant wood buildings
• The longest carbon-fiber composite vessel built for the US Navy

The UMaine Composites Center has 220 full and part-time employees and students, over 500 clients and partners globally, and is housed in a 100,000 ft² ISO 17025 accredited testing laboratory.

Habib holds more than 57 patents, and has received numerous awards, including:

• The 2015 White House Transportation Champion of Change,
• The Carnegie Foundation Maine Professor of the Year,
• The Distinguished Maine Professor Award, which is the highest award given to a faculty member at UMaine
• The American Society of Civil Engineers Charles Pankow Innovation Award

Habib earned his Ph.D. in structural engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, as well as two Masters Degrees in Structural engineering and engineering mechanics and joined the University of Maine faculty in 1985.