Harbin is a senior in the Aeronautics and Astronautics department at the University of Washington. His academic interests include space propulsion, specifically plasma propulsion. He plans on continuing his academic studies on that topic for graduate school. He has spent the past summers conducting undergraduate research on a plasma diagnostic under the principal investigator Dr. Roger Smith.

His hobbies include playing classical and contemporary music on the piano and viola. He has played accompanying performances with the Seattle Symphony in Benaroya Hall on two occasions. He has performed with the University of Washington Symphony and continues playing with quartets today.