Meet the UCF BRaIN Team
Helen J. Huang, PhD
Assistant Professor & Principal Investigator
1. Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, 2. Biionix Cluster, 3. Disability, Aging, and Technology Cluster
Jinfeng Li, MS
PhD Candidate
Mechanical Engineering
Projects: Brain dynamics and gait adaptation during during treadmill walking with small perturbations; EMG sensor evaluation; dual-layer EEG evaluation
Career goal: help improve the lives of disabled individuals based on understanding the neuromechanics of human locomotion
Cesar R. Castano, MS
PhD Student (post-quals)
Mechanical Engineering
Projects: Gait biomechanics and brain dynamics during self-paced walking on a range of slopes; Perturbations during self-paced treadmill walking
Career goal: work in biotechnology
Highlights: UCF ORC Fellowship; The American Society of Biomechanics (ASB) President’s Award for best poster at the 2020 Annual Meeting
Lietsel Richardson, MS
Graduate Research Assistant
Biomedical Sciences PhD Student
Projects: Guidelines for using EEG on curly hair. Something with spinal cord injury and rats – to be determined.
Highlights: UCF ORC Fellowship 2019; Black in Neuro organizer
SciComm blog: motherofneurons
Jasmine Balsalobre, BS
Graduate Research Assistant
Mechanical Engineering PhD Student
Projects: Using visual feedback to shape adaptation during recumbent stepping. Using machine learning to estimate metabolic energy from EEG.
Highlights: UCF ORC Fellowship 2020
Erick Vasquez, BS
volunteer
Mechanical Engineering
Projects: Developing a mobile cycle ergometer with perturbation capabilities
Former undergraduate research assistant in the lab who still wants to help out!
Ivy Nguyen
Undergrad Research Assistant
Computer Science
Projects: Developing a mobile cycle ergometer with perturbation capabilities. Evaluating dual-sided electrodes.
Jessica Sulistio
Undergrad Research Assistant
Biology
Projects: Helping out with data collections.
Priscilla Louis
Undergrad Research Assistant
Biomedical Sciences & Psychology
Projects: Guidelines for using EEG on curly hair and helping out with data collections.
Alumni
| Name | Major | Degree | Year grad. | Years in lab | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seyed Yahya Shirazi | Mechanical Engineering | PhD | 2021 | 2017-2021 | Postdoc at NYU |
| Alanna Raffaelli | Biomedical Engineering | MS with thesis | 2019 | 2018-2019 | Engineer at Harris Engineering, Inc. |
| Allen Rahrooh | Biomedical Engineering | MS with thesis | 2019 | 2018-2019 | Mathematical Statistician with Department of Defense in Huntsville, AL |
| Cesar R. Castano | Biomedical Engineering | MS with thesis | 2019 | 2017-2019 | PhD student in UCF BRaIN Lab |
| Ethan Venosa | Biomedical Engineering | MS | 2018 | 2017-2018 | Engineer at Simi Reality Motion Systems |
| SJ Jones | Biomedical Engineering | MS | 2018 | 2017-2018 | Engineer at Siemens |
| Alejandro Hurtado | Aerospace Engineering | MS | 2018 | 2016-2018 | Engineer at Raytheon |
| Jem Shaylor | Mechanical Engineering | BS | 2021 | 2020-2021 | |
| Zachary Whitacre | Mechanical Engineering | BS | 2021 | 2020-2021 | 2021 NSF GRFP Honorable Mention |
| Al Rahrooh | Biomedical Sciences | BS | 2020 | 2019-2020 | Director of Innovation at LeNgineer. Bioinformatics PhD student at UCLA |
| Samantha Brunson | Biomedical Sciences | BS | 2020 | 2018-2020 | UCF Showcase for Undergraduate Research Excellence (SURE) 2019 Award; UCF EXCEL Program; Neuroscience PhD student at the University of Minnesota |
| Henry Willis | Mechanical Engineering | BS | 2021 | 2020 | |
| Sarah Schiefelbein | Biomedical Sciences | BS | 2019-2020 | ||
| Nicholas Puglisi | Mechanical Engineering | BS | 2019 | 2019 | |
| Paola Lugo | Mechanical Engineering | BS | 2018-2019 | UCF RAMA Program | |
| Nicholas Nunez | Mechanical Engineering | BS | 2020 | 2017-2018 | UCF RAMA Program |
| Amy Lebanoff | Mechanical Engineering | BS | 2020 | 2016-2018 | DAAD RISE (Research Internships in Science and Engineering) Intern 2019; MSBME student |
| Kevin Graydon | Mechanical Engineering | BS | 2020 | 2016-2018 | UCF EXCEL Program; PhD student in Materials Science and Engineering |
| Taniya Shaffer | Computer Engineering | BS | 2019 | ||
| Maria Makar | Interdisciplinary Studies, focus on Biomedical and Physical Sciences | BS | 2019 | 2019 | founded UCF STEAM Knights |
| Kirsten Miller | Mechanical Engineering | BS | 2019 | 2019 | |
| Nkiruka Chukwuelue | Biomedical Sciences | BS | 2019 | 2017-2018 | UCF EXCEL Program |
| Alana Hall | Biomedical Sciences | BS | 2019 | 2017-2018 | UCF EXCEL Program |
| Lauren Filart | Applied Physiology and Kinesiology at UF | BS | 2018 | 2018 | UF APK internship program |
| Zachary Stein | Psychology | BS | 2018 | 2016-2018 | |
| Matthew Norman | Mechanical Engineering | BS | 2019 | 2017 | UCF EXCEL Program |
| Miguel Rodriguez | Mechanical Engineering | BS | 2016 | ||
| Ryan Garrison | Mechanical Engineering | BS | 2018 | 2016 | |
| Rimpitripathi Tiwari | Electrical Engineering | MS | 2017 | 2017 | |
| Amanda Modesto | Biomedical Engineering | MS | 2017 | 2017 |
