Lab Members

Previous Members

Post-Doc Fellows

 

Natasha Jacobson, Ph.D., P.Eng.

Natasha received her B.Sc. in mechanical engineering from the University of Manitoba, and PhD in mechanical engineering from McGill University. She participate in the lab’s ongoing clinical work evaluating treatment options in neurodegeneration, while supporting team paper review and edits.

Ph.D. Graduates

 

Chandan Saha, M.Sc.

Chandan received his B.Sc.Eng. and M.Sc.Eng. from Khulna University of Engineering & Technology, Bangladesh, is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering, focussing on Alzheimer's disease, MRI, and EVestG.


 

Sadegh Marzban, M.Sc.

Sadegh received his Bachelor of Electrical Engineering from Ferdowsi University of Mashhad and Master in Biomedical Engineering from Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic) in Iran. He was a Ph.D. student focusing his studies on recording and analyzing EVestG data to investigate tACS treatment efficacy with and without cognitive exercises on Dementia.

Grant Rutherford
 

Grant Rutherford, M.Sc., P.Eng.

B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Computer Engineering at U of M
7 years work experience as Software Engineer / Firmware Engineer at Iders Incorporated P.Eng from APEGM.

Kazu

Kazu Kimura, M.Sc.

Kazu has received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. from Japan in Electrical Engineering. He is now a PhD candidate (as of Sept. 2013) at Biomeidal Engineering of the U of Manitoba, working on Virtual Reality Environment development.

Ahmed Khalil, B.Sc. 

Ahmed studied electrical communication and electronics at Ain-Shams University in Egypt before joining our group. He is currently pursuing his PhD, working on using acoustic signals to develop a new technology for assessing obstructive sleep apnea during wakefulness.

Farnaz Hajipour, B.Sc, M.Sc.

Farnaz received her Bachelor of Computer Engineering and her Masters in Artificial Intelligence from Shiraz University in Iran. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in our group, focusing her studies on sleep apnea.

Abed Sulieman, B.Sc.

Abed received his B.Sc. from Technion, Israel institute of technology in 2012, and is now doing his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering on EVestG and Concussion.

 

Mehrangiz Ashiri, B.Sc., M.Sc.

Mehrangiz received her B.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering from Azad University, Dezfool in 2009. She later completed her M.Sc. Electrical Engineering, with a focus on digital electronics from Sharif University of Technology-International Campus. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in our group, investigating the relationship between visual stimuli and vestibular response.

omid

Omid Ranjbar Pooya, M.Sc., Ph.D.

Omid received his B.Sc. in software engineering (2006)  and M.Sc. in artificial intelligence (2010)  from Iran University of Science and Technology and Shiraz University respectively.  He received  his Ph.D. at the U of Manitoba in Biomedical Engineering.

 

Niyousha Morteza, M.Sc.

Niyousha received her B.Sc and M.Sc. in Orthotics and Prosthetics from Iran University of Medical Sciences (Tehran). She is currently a Master student at the University of Manitoba in Biomedical Engineering. Her thesis was mainly on rehabilitation of patients with incomplete spinal cord injury.

zeinab

 Zeinab Dastghieb, M.Sc., Ph.D., P.Eng.

Zeinab has received her B.Sc.and M.Sc. from Ferdosi U of Iran . She graduated with her Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering on the use of EVestG signals for diagnosis of Meniere's disease.

ahmad

Ahmad Byagowi, Ph.D., P.Eng.

Ahmad received the B.S. and M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from Tehran (Iran) in 2005 and 2007, respectively. In 2007, he started the Ph.D. at the Institute of Handling Robots and Technology (IHRT) from Vienna University of Technology (Austria) and graduated with honors in 2010. During the Ph.D. work he was invited to the Autonomous Agent lab (AALAB) from U of Manitoba as a visiting scholar for ten months.  He  graduated from his second Ph.D. in BME field.


Ali Azarbarzin, Ph.D.

Ali has received his B.Sc., M.Sc. and Ph.D. from Gilan University, Sherif University (Tehran) and University of Manitoba, respectively, in Electrical Engineering. He is now a Postdoctoral fellow at the U of Manitoba in collaboration with Dr. Magdy Younes (YRT) in Biomedical Engineering. His main research has been on snoring sounds analysis and sleep data; currently working on EEG signals during sleep.
 Azadeh Yadollahi

Azadeh Yadollahi, Ph.D.

Azadeh received her B.Sc., M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran and University of Manitoba in 2001, 2005, and 2010, respectively. She was a visiting researcher at our lab during her Master Studies for 4 months and worked on respiratory flow estimation and heart sound localization using entropy of respiratory sounds. She also did her Ph.D. in our lab in sleep apnea detection and  respiratory flow estimation during wakefulness and sleep.She is now a postdoctoral fellow at University of Toronto.

Samaneh Sarraf, M.Sc., Ph.D.

Samaneh has received her B.Sc.(2003) and M.Sc. (2004) from AmirKabir University of Technology (Tehran) in Electrical Engineering focused on Neurofuzzy Controllers. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Manitoba in Biomedical Engineering. Her thesis was focused on swallowing sounds modeling and analysis.

Aimee Betker

Aimee Betker, Ph.D.

Aimee received her B.Sc. in Computer Engineering (2002) and her M.Sc. (2004), and Ph.D. (2008) from the University of Manitoba.  Her research involved dynamic aspects of balance control. In particular, development of a balance test to predict falls for the elderly, and patients with peripheral and central conditions, that is available to the clinical world. The test  combined sensory, motor and cognitive tasks in order to capture the widest physiological range, in order to create a neural control model using the minimal degrees of freedom. Aimee was a recipient of the Manitoba Health Research Council (MHRC) award (2004).

January Gnitecki

January Gnitecki, Ph.D.

January Gnitecki received her B.Sc. and Ph.D. from University of Manitoba in 2002 an d2007 respectively. Thesis Title: "Analysis and Modeling of Air Flow-Specific Lung Sounds for Non-Invasive Detection of Airway Status." January was a reipient of Canadian Asthma Foundation Studentship (2003), University of Manitoba Fellowship (2004) and NSERC (2004-07).
Mohammad Aboofazeli

Mohammad Aboofazeli, Ph.D.

Mohammad received his B.Sc. M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from Sharfi University, Amir Kabir University of Iran, and University of Manitoba respectively. His Ph.D. thesis was on swallowing sound analysis. He is currently Red River Colleage Instructor.
YeeLeng Yap

YeeLeng Yap, Ph.D.

YeeLeng (Daniel) worked on acousitcal airflow estimation from tracheal sound average power and graduated in Augest 2002. He is currently a postdoctoral fellow in Singapore.
M.Sc./M.Eng. Graduates

 

Ehsan Ranjbar, M.Sc.

Ehsan is a BSc and MSc graduate in Biomedical and Electrical Engineering, respectively. As a research assistant, his research interest includes MEMS, BioMEMS, and Bio Instrumentation. He was working on EVestG signal acquisition, exploiting MEMS technology.


Brendan Kupiak, B.Sc.

Brendan received his B.Sc. in Computer Engineering from the University of Manitoba in 2016 and has work experience in the Telecommunications and GeoAnalytics industries. He was pursuing his M.Sc. in Computer Engineering with a focus on speech signal processing and machine learning for Obstructive Sleep Apnea detection.


 

Samaneh Azarbarzin, M.Sc.

Samaneh received her Bachelor of Computer Engineering from Shiraz University and Master in Artificial Intelligence from the Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman in Iran. She was a M.Sc. student focusing her studies on Alzheimer's disease at the University of Manitoba.


Abnoor Kaur, B.Sc. EIT

Abnoor completed B.Sc. in Electrical and Communication Engineering from Punjab Technical University and a certificate diploma from Centennial College in Biomedical Engineering. After which, she worked in biomedical devices field for 5 years. She was pursuing her M.Sc. in Electrical and Computer Engineering with current focus in studying the efficacy of EMF blocker on sleep quality and cardiac health.

Ghazaleh Zakipour, B.Sc.

Ghazaleh received her bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Tehran in Iran. Afterward, she joined our team in 2019 to pursue her master's degree. Her thesis was on the effects of cognitive training on the speaking characteristics of dementia patients.


Tian Ni, B.Sc.

Tian received his B.Sc. from Elec. & Comp. Eng., University of Manitoba in 2012, and is now doing his M.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering on Virtual Reality Environment for Brachytherapy Simulation, Training and Real-Time Adaptive Optimization with co-supervision of Dr. Pistorious from Cancer Care and Medical Physics.


Cassandra Aldaba, B.Sc. Elec. Eng.

Cassandra has worked with us in the summer of 2013 on a University of Manitoba Undergraduate Research Award, and has continued to work on the Virtual Reality Assessments for the detection of early onset of Alzheimer's Disease. Since graduating in 2015, she has started her M.Sc. with our group, where she is studying the use of virtual reality in cognitive training for individuals with dementia.
paul

Paul White, B.Sc. Elec. Eng., M.Sc.

Paul has worked with us in summer of 2012 on an NSERC scholarship. He received M.Sc. on the Virtual Reality Assessments for the detection of early onset of Alzheimer's Disease.

 

Shumit Saha, B.Sc., M.Sc.

Shumit received his M.Sc. degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Manitoba. His focus was on investigating the effects of changes in upper airway anatomy during sleep on snoring sound features. Shumit has been awarded the Manitoba Graduate Scholarship (MGS). He has also worked as a research student in Toronto Rehabilitation Institute at University of Toronto. He completed his B.Sc. in Electronics and Communication Engineering (ECE) from Khulna University of Technology (KUET), Bangladesh in 2012. Then, he worked as a lecturer in the same university from 2012-2014. 

Mari Tere Garcia, B.Sc.

Mari received her B.Sc. in Mechatronic Engineering, Technological Institute of Monterrey (ITESM-CEM), Mexico 2006. She completed her M.Sc in Biomedical Engineering with a focus on the effect of memory exercises in elderly and those with dementia.

davood

Davood Karimi, Ph.D.

Davood received his first B.Sc.and M.Sc. in Agriculture Engineering from Isfahan University of Technology and Tehran University of Iran, respectively. He earned his Ph.D. in Biosystem Engineering, University of Manitoba. He received M.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering working on diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea during wakefulness. Currently, he is doing a second Ph.D. at U of British Columbia, Vancouver.

Younes Rakhsani, M.Sc.

Younes received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering, Control Systems from Iran University of Science and Technology (2008) and University of Tehran (2011), respectively.  He received his second M.Sc. at the U of Manitoba in Biomedical Engineering on brain imaging development.

Chathura Kumaragamage, B.C., Ph.D.

Chathura received his B.Sc. in Computer Engineering (2010) and M.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Manitoba (Aug. 2013). His BME M.Sc was on EVestG technology. He is currently doing his Ph.D. at McGill University, Montreal.

Tassneem Fathima, B.E., M.Sc.

Tasneem received her Bachelor's of Engineering from Visveswaraiah Technological Unviersity (VTU) in India. She received her Master's from the University of Manitoba in Biomedical Engineering, working on breath sounds analysis.

 

MohammadReza Moravati, M.Eng.

MohammadReza received his B.Sc. from Iran and did his M.Eng at our lab on designing and developing a rehabliation device for treatment of spinal cord injury. He defended his thesis in Aug. of 2012.

Aman Montazeri, M.Sc.

Aman received his B.Sc. from Iran University and did his M.Sc. at our lab on sleep apnea screening during wakefulness. He graduated in Nov. of 2011 and is now working at Iders.

Saif Huq, M.Sc.

Saif Huq received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Manitoba, in 2005 and 2010, respectively. He did his M.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering with focus on airflow phase detection in a noisy environment and during sleep using only one channel of respiratory sounds data. He is now an employee of Health Science Center, Winnipeg. 

Ali-Akbar Samadani, M.Sc.

Ali-Akbar received his B.Sc. from Kuwait UNIVERSITY, and his M.Sc. from our dept. in 2009 working on the effect of aging on human brain temporal and spatial processing thorough psychophysical experiments. He is now a Ph.D. candidate at Waterloo University.

Manju  Balachander

Manju Balachander, M.Eng.

Manju received her B.Sc. from JAWAHARLAL NEHRU TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY, (Hyderabad, India) in 2001 and her M.Eng. in 2009. Her Master  project was on designing a reliable and fast data transmission protocol as well as designing the user interface for the sleep apnea portable device.
Jungmok Han

Jungmok Han, M.Sc.

Jung received his Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering from the University of Manitoba. He finished his M.Sc. in 2007. Thesis title: Human Postural control characterisitcs during forward stepping: relationship between COM and body accelerations, trunk acceleration variablity and COP characteristics.
Chad MacDonald

Chad MacDonald, Ph.D..

Chad received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Computer Engineering from the University of Manitoba. His M.Sc. thesis was designing and implemetning a 2DOF robotic arm for motor learning investigations in our lab. He received his Ph.D. from University of Texas at El Paso and now is a postdoctral fellow at Phoenix Technologies.
Marziye Golabbakhash

Marziye Golabbakhash, M.Sc.

Marziye received her B.Sc. from Isfahan University of Technology (IUT) of Iran, in 2001 and her M.Sc. on May 2005. Her Master thesis was on acoustical airflow estimation from tracheal breath sounds.
Fazel Farahmand

Fazel Farahmand, Ph.D..

Fazel received his B.Sc. from Iran University of Science and Technology in 2001 and M.Sc. in May 2005. He developed a 5-DOF robotic arm with sterio vision as an assistive aid for handicapps in our lab. He later received his Ph.D. from the University of British Colombia, and is now working in US.
Mahsa Pourazad

Mahsa Pourazad, Ph.D.

Mahsa received her B.Sc. from Iran University of Science and Technology in 2001 and her M.Sc. from our department in Electrical Engineering in 2004. Her Master project in our lab was on heart sound cancellation from lung sounds record using image and signal processing techniques and 2D interpolation in time-frequency domain. She received her Ph.D.from the University of British Colombia and now is a research scientist at TELUS in Vancouver.

Ellen Cheung, M.Sc.

Ellen received her B.Sc. and M.Sc. from University of Manitoba in Computer Engineering, and worked with us in 2003-2004. She is currently employed as a senior programmer in Winnipeg.
Irina Hossain

Irina Hossain, M.Sc.

Irina received her B.Sc. degree in electrical and electronic Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) in June, 2000 and her M.Sc. from our department, in 2004. Her project was on lung sound-flow relationship in healthy and asthmatic subjects. Irina was a recipient of University of Manitoba Graduate Fellowship (2002). She is now a Ph.D. candidate at Wayne State University, Detroit, MI working on Secure Software Update in Intelligent Vehicles.

Lisa Lazareck

 Lisa Lazareck, Ph.D. 

Lisa graduated with her B.Sc and M.Sc in Electrical Engineering from our department in May 2001 and Sept. 2003, respectively. Her Master thesis in our lab was in classification between normal and dysphagic swallowing by acoustical means. She received her Ph.D. candidate from the Oxford University, UK. Lisa was a recipient of NSERC Graduate Fellowship.

Undergraduates Researchers, Research Assistants and Summer Students

Matthew Band, Undergraduate Comp. Eng.

Matthew is a final-year undergraduate BSc. Computer Engineer who is now in the field of biomedical research, investigating an acoustic transfer function for modelling the upper airway.

Sarah O'Byrne, Undergraduate Elect. Eng.

Sarah is currently a fourth-year undergraduate student majoring in Electrical Engineering and specializing in Biomedical engineering. She received the NSERC award and is working under Dr. Zahra Moussavi on a smart toothbrush for people living with dementia.

Ayat Al-Fakih, Undergraduate Biosys. Eng.

Ayat is currently a third-year undergraduate student majoring in Biosystems engineering and specializing in biomedical engineering. She received the URA and is now working as a research assistant/tutor under Dr. Zahra Moussavi, focusing on the application of tACS to patients with Alzheimer’s disease.
 

Hannah Fogel

She worked on acoustic medical devices

 

Harmanprit Tatla

Working on a simulator sickness solution

 

Keeley Edwards, B.Sc

Keeley received her B.Sc. in Biochemistry from the Unverisity of Manitoba in 2014. She has since worked with us in the summer of 2015 on an NSERC scholarship and is continuing to work with us on the development of oral devices for monitoring sleep apnea while pursuing her B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering.

Sam Jodat, B.Sc.

Sam is working with our group as a research assistant in data recording for our obstructive sleep apnea projects. He previously studied at the State Engineering Unversity of Armenia, where he received is B.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering.

Cameron MacGregor, B.Sc., EIT

In the summer of 2011, working with Shawn Koop, Cam helped program our Brain Exercises. From September 2012 to August 2013, he worked full-time in our lab through the ECE department's Industry Internship Program focusing on classifier development for heterogeneous biological data. Cam is a recipient of the Manitoba Health Research Council (MHRC) award (2014) and Sunnybrook Prize (2014).

 

Rebecca Gole, Undergraduate Elec. Eng.

Rebecca has worked with us in summer of 2011 and 2012 on NSERC scholarship

Kyle

Kyle Nemez, Undergraduate Elec. Eng.

Kyle has worked with us in summer of 2011 and 2012 on NSERC scholarship. 

 

Melanie Dyck, Undergraduate Elec. Eng.

Melanie has worked with us in summer of 2011 and 2012 on NSERC scholarship.

Shelley

Shelley Burns, Undergraduate Elec. Eng.

Shelley has worked with us in summer of 2011 n NSERC scholarship.

 

Shawn Koop, Undergraduate Comp. Eng.

Shawn has worked with us in summer of 2011 and 2012 part-time.

 Jonathan Baril

Jonathan Baril, Undergraduate Elec. Eng.

 Jonathan worked with us in summer of 2011 on NSERC scholarship.

Udeesha Annakkage

Udeesha is an undergraduate student at Elec. & Comp. Eng. and worked with us in summer of 2010 on literature review of epilepsy. 

Malsha Annakkage

Malsha is an undergraduate student at Elec. & Comp. Eng. and worked with our group in summer of 2010 on literature review of epilepsy .