My interests lie in assistive robotics and human-machine interfaces.

My doctoral project, advised by Dr. Joel Burdick, was motivated by the needs of neural prostheses -- that is, robotic limbs people can control with thought alone. For these devices, tapping into and holding useful brain signals for years at a time poses an enormous barrier. Our approach consists of implanting a small robotic device (and accompanying control algorithm) with many individually-motorized electrodes that each autonomously locate, isolate, and track a neuron for long periods of time. To further complicate matters, we wish to find signals only from neurons dedicated ("tuned") to a particular task, say controlling an "arm reach." While the primary aim of such technology is for a neural interface for neuroprostheses, such a device may also advance the state-of-the-art experimental techniques for electrophysiology. This work is accomplished in collaboration with the neurobiology lab of Dr. Richard Andersen.

• BS Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University, 1997
• MS Mechanical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, 2005
• PhD Mechanical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, 2008