I am a tenure-track Assistant Professor at the Electrical and Computer Engineering department at the University of Central Florida as part of the Disability, Aging, and Technology (DAT) research cluster starting August 2023. My lab’s research will be in the field of Neural Engineering with a particular focus on neural prostheses and brain-machine interfaces.

Previously, I was the Biomedical Engineering Distinguished Fellow at Johns Hopkins University. I have a Ph.D. in Computational and Cognitive Neuroscience from Dartmouth College. Prior to that, I graduated from University of Notre Dame with a M.S. in Electrical Engineering focusing on Signals, Systems, and Control. I also graduated from Shiraz University with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering focusing on Systems and Control.

I am passionate about Neural Engineering, Computational and Cognitive Neuroscience, Teaching, Cooking, and Hiking (and sometimes Running).

Education

2017-2022 Ph.D. Computational and Cognitive Neuroscience, Dartmouth College, NH, USA

2015-2017 M.S. Electrical Engineering (Signals, Systems and Control), Notre Dame, IN, USA

2013-2015 M.S. Electrical Engineering (Control), Shiraz University of Technology, IR

2009-2013 B.S. Electrical Engineering (Systems and Control), Shiraz University, IR

Prospective Graduate Students

I receive many emails from prospective graduate students daily, making it difficult to answer each separately. I feel bad not answering each because I know how much time the applicant spends to craft a good email and what it means to hear back from the PI the applicant has contacted. However, I have to create some ground rules to make the process more optimal for all of us:

1. I do not know how many students I will hire for the following year. It depends on how much funding I can secure and how much time I can spend for each student in my lab. It is extremely important for me to be able to spend enough time with each student in my lab to guarantee their success.
2. If you are interested in doing research in my lab, please apply to the ECE department at the UCF, stating in your cover letter that you are interested in working with me. If you get admission from the UCF, then we can talk about possible research in my lab based on the financial support I can provide at the moment for the student.
3. Please feel free to email me if you want to ensure your interests align with the research in my lab before you apply. It might be hard for many people to pay application fees, and they want to know if there is a potential match of interest before they apply. I will answer all the emails regarding this topic in a week if there is a match of research interest. So, if you don’t hear back from me in a week, it probably means our interests are not similar. However, if you receive an auto-reply that I am out of the office, I will answer the emails when I am back, and it can be excluded from the 1-week response time rule.

Some general information on my lab is that we want to create a diverse, respectful, and fun research environment, do rigorous, meaningful, and ethical science, and want to be impactful for society. The lab’s members are either experienced or strongly interested in one of the following tracks.

Track 1: Hands-on experience with EEG and EMG data collection and analyses Knowledge of human motor control Knowledge and experience in machine learning and AI

Track 2: Hands-on experience in sensor development, circuit, and IC design Knowledge and experience in Signal processing Knowledge and experience in Information Theory Knowledge and experience in machine learning and AI

Track 3: Hands-on experience in robotics and motors and drives for robotic applications Knowledge and experience in 3D printing and design Knowledge and experience in machine learning and AI

Track 4: Hands-on experience in motion tracking data collection and analyses Knowledge and experience in VR/AR design Knowledge of biomechanics and human movement