Biomedical, Industrial, and Human Factors Engineering

Research Areas and Faculty

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Biomedical Engineering

Biomaterials/Tissue Engineering

Provides the student with a background in both theory and application on the use of natural and synthetic materials and their interactions with biological tissues. Our work focuses on materials that can stimulate beneficial biological responses from the body, such as the stimulation of tissue repair. Tissue engineering has the potential to achieve this by combining materials design and engineering with cell therapy. Biomaterials can provide physical supports for engineered tissues and powerful topographical and chemical cues to guide cells. In addition, the introduction of nanoscale cues, such as nanotopography or nanoparticles as therapeutic agents, provide an exciting approach to modulate cell function.

Topics

  • Scaffold design and fabrication
  • Adult stem cell differentiation control
  • Development of tissue engineering constructs for drug development
  • Biomaterials for orthopedic prosthetics
  • Computational biomechanics
  • Nanomedical formulations

Biomedical Systems Engineering

Provides the student with a background in both theory and application that covers two or more of the departmental focus areas. This allows students with diverse interests a viable alternative within the program.

Faculty

Neuroengineering

Provides the student with a background in fundamental principles and computational methods of how the nervous system works, and electrical stimulation and imaging modalities that yield spinal cord and brain-based measurements, as well as vibrotactile stimulation to improve human performance. Emphasis is placed on employing brain imaging and neural recording techniques to analyze human motor performance.

Topics

  • Neurorehabilitation
  • Neurodegeneration
  • Brain machine interface-based decoders
  • Neuroimaging
  • Neuromodulation
  • Motoneuron recording and signal analysis
  • Haptic sensory augmentation

Medical Devices

Provides the student with a background in both theory and application of the design, development, and evaluation of medical devices. Emphasis is placed on the understanding and application of design principles, safety, and regulatory requirements, as well as usability and accessibility standards. 

Topics

  • Orthopedic devices
  • Device biomechanics assessment and failure analyses
  • Nanoengineered devices and microfluidics
  • Navigational aid for minimally invasive surgery
  • Sensorized tools for image-guided intervention
  • Visualization system for robotic surgery
  • Haptic devices for endoscopy
  • Biomedical imaging devices implementation for clinical use
  • Optimize device data acquisition, visualization, contrast enhancement and analysis of signals from biomedical instruments

 


Industrial and Human Factors Engineering

Supply Chain and Logistics

Provides the student with a background in both theory and application of systems-based modeling, manufacturing design, and continuous improvement. Emphasis is placed on the application of optimization, heuristic approaches, simulation, and data mining techniques.

Topics

  • Network design
  • Warehousing and distribution planning
  • Facility layout (manufacturing and retail)
  • Inventory management
  • Demand forecasting
  • Scheduling

Data Science

Provides background in theory and application of data science and to engage in the design of AI systems, data visualization, and understanding the role of humans in the data processing pipeline.

Topics

  • AI/ML applications
  • Healthcare
  • Retail analytics
  • Security and other related areas

Human Factors and Cognitive Engineering

Students acquire knowledge on how to apply theoretical principles, data, and methods to ensure that design is optimal for enhancing human performance and well-being, leading to higher productivity and fewer incidents.

Topics

  • Human factors for inclusive design
  • Human factors in manned and unmanned transportations
  • Human factors and ergonomics for patient safety,
  • Human automation interactions.
  • Trust in automation
  • Systems ergonomics
  • Interface design
  • Analysis and prediction of human behaviors

Human Factors, Ergonomics, and User Experience

Provides the student with a background in human factors methods for understanding and applying usability engineering, computer interface design, simulations and virtual environments, systems modeling, and information design to enhance human and system performance. Emphasis is placed on human-computer interaction, cognitive modeling and experimental methods as they relate to the design, development and analysis of systems.

Topics

  • Petrochemical industries
  • Military
  • Healthcare

Neuroengineering

Provides the student with a background in principles, computational methods, and technologies in the area of applying brain-based measurements to improve human performance. Emphasis is placed on employing brain imaging and neural recording techniques to analyze human motor performance.

Topics

  • Cognitive neuroengineering
  • Brain imaging (CT, MRI, fNIRS, etc.)
  • Motoneuron recording and signal analysis

Optimization and Operations Research

Provides background in theory and application of Optimization and Operations Research (OR). Emphasis is placed on the application of mathematical modeling (integer programming, multi-objective optimization, combinatorial optimization, stochastic & robust optimization), machine learning, decision-making, and meta-heuristic/heuristic approaches.

Topics

  1. Facility location and sizing
  2. Vehicle/inventory routing
  3. Sensor network design
  4. Transportation planning
  5. Humanitarian logistics
  6. Military OR
  7. Energy production and distribution
  8. Healthcare resource allocation

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