Sam's practice includes the preparation, prosecution and opposition of patent applications in the fields of lasers and photonics, electrical/electronic engineering, signal and data processing, software/information and communications technology (ICT), mechanical devices and biomedical sensing.

Sam has led research teams in Australia and the US, and has completed a Ph.D. in terahertz technology. Sam was a senior lecturer in the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the University of Adelaide, where he still holds an adjunct appointment, and is an inventor on two US patents. He is the current author of a chapter on the processes for obtaining and maintaining a patent in Thomson Reuters' "The Laws of Australia".

Sam has experience in patents relating to computer-implemented and Web-based inventions for both local and international software companies, communications technology, signal processing, electronics, physical systems (including nanotechnology and photonics), electrical machines, mechanical devices, and biomedical devices.

Sam's research in terahertz technology included working on biomolecular diagnostic targets, writing signal and image processing programs, and building ultrafast laser systems, including optical and electronic components. His research was conducted at the University of Adelaide and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York. He has received a number of Australian Research Council Discovery grants for his research.

Sam received a University Medal from the University of Adelaide for his Ph.D., a Tall Poppy Award from the Australian Institute of Political Science, and a Fulbright Scholarship from the Australian-American Fulbright Commission to study in Troy, New York.