Doctor Vassbinder was a professor at Starfleet Academy in the 24th century. During his time as Starfleet Academy, Chakotay failed Professor Vassbinder's course in temporal mechanics. (VOY: "Year of Hell, Part II") In 2370, Vassbinder published some new theories on warp propulsion inter-relays, which Wesley Crusher used to discredit Geordi La Forge's work on a new plasmadyne relay for the USS Enterprise-D's warp core. (TNG: "Journey's End" )