Ms Alicia Carabali (Oticon Scholarship) PhD Researcher (BEng, MBioMedEng) Expand Alicia received her Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics and Control at Escuela Politécnica Nacional in Ecuador and her Masters in Biomedical Engineering at Flinders University in Adelaide. As a student she has been awarded for her performance and has been part of two research groups: the first one related to advanced computing for EEG interpretation, and the second one related to brain signal analysis, where she developed her thesis in EEG source analysis. Alicia has worked as a full-time lecturer at Escuela Politécnica Nacional in Ecuador, and has conducted research in the areas of medical devices, artificial intelligence, multi-agent systems, and signal processing. In February 2018 Alicia commenced her PhD studies at the Bionics Institute where her research is focused on assessing listening effort using fNIRS technology. Her goal is to explore how fNIRS technology can help to improve the quality of life of patients using hearing devices such as Bone-Anchored Hearing Systems and Cochlear Implants. E: [email protected] Research projects Understanding listening effort Further information Click here to read Alicia's story.
Mr Steven Lee PhD Researcher (BSc (Hon), MSc) Expand Steven Lee Onn Wah received his BSc.(Hon) Audiology from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and MSc. Audiological Science with Clinical Practice from University College of London (UCL). He was an audiologist trainee at Royal National Throat Nose and Ear Hospital, London for one year. He also served as a lecturer/audiologist at UKM for three years. Steven enrolled as a PhD student in 2019, under the supervision of Prof Colette McKay and Dr Julia Wunderlich. His study funded by the Graduate Research Scholarship from University of Melbourne. Currently, Steven is exploring the use of fNIRS in measuring the functional cortical change in population with hearing loss. E: [email protected] Research project Infant hearing Further information Click here to read Steven's story.
Mr Ishara Paranawithana PhD Researcher (BScEng (Hons)) Expand Ishara received his bachelor’s degree in Electronic and Telecommunication Engineering from University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka in 2016. Following his research interest in signal processing, he joined Robotics Innovation Laboratory (RIL) at Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), Singapore as a full-time Researcher. During his time at SUTD, he worked on several multidisciplinary projects including the development of vision-guided cell micro-manipulation system and ultrasound image-guided robot-assisted visual-servoing system for the PCNL surgery. Research from these projects led to several peer-reviewed publications in top tier journals and conference proceedings. He was also involved in a project to develop explainable AI (XAI) for multi-modal predictive maintenance of jet engines with augmented reality and smart human-computer interfaces. In February 2020, Ishara commenced his PhD at the Bionics Institute and Monash University under the supervision of Prof Colette McKay and Dr Yan Wong. His research will focus on developing novel techniques to measure functional connectivity in language areas of the brain using fNIRS. E: [email protected] Research project Infant hearing Further information Click here to read Ishara's story.
Mr Michael Warburton PhD Researcher (BEng(Hons) Biomedical) Expand Michael Warburton is a PhD candidate working at RMIT University and the Bionics Institute on the pre-clinical validation of a unique neural signal (ERNA) discovered in the brain of people with Parkinson’s disease. Under the supervision of Dr Arman Ahnood (RMIT), Dr Joel Villalobos (Bionics Institute), Dr Tomoko Hyakumura (Bionics Institute) and Dr Beth Jelfs (RMIT), Michael’s research focuses on characterising the properties of ERNA and assessing its feasibility as feedback signal for the development of an adaptive deep brain stimulation system. Michael received his BEng.(Hon) Biomedical from RMIT University in 2019 and shortly after undertook a graduate role as a Service Engineer with Chemtronics Biomedical Engineering before beginning his PhD in 2020. E: [email protected] Research projects Pre-clinical validation (ERNA signal) Further information Click here to read Michael's story.