Brandon Benson Email & Phone Number

United States

Stanford, CA

I did my PhD in Applied Physics under the supervision of Professor Surya Ganguli. My dissertation was in the field of computational neuroscience and involved the study of spiking neural networks; the analysis of a large, unprecedented dataset of neural activity; statistics such as non-parametric null distributions; theory from statistical physics; and.

Woods Hole, Massachusetts, United States

Facilitated research and course work for a one month Advanced Research Training Course aimed at PhD students and Post-Docs in the Computational Neuroscience field.- Assisted students in exercises during first two weeks of course- Supervised six students as the primary TA during their two-week-long research projects and final presentations

Cambridge, MA

• Studied autonomous flocking of drones into controlled formations under varying locality constraints
• Developed a neural network swarm simulation utilizing genetic algorithms
• Achieved complex decentralized capabilities such as herding in low communication environments with swarm aggregate data
• Displayed herding capabilities online: “Swarm simulation learns to herd via localized potentials” (https://youtu.be/ViEfMGoyix8)

Stanford, CA

• Collaborated on a team of researchers to develop a low-cost, electricity-free, centrifuge for use in malaria and anemia diagnostics
• Manuscript accepted: “Paperfuge: An ultra-low cost, hand-powered centrifuge inspired by the mechanics of a whirligig toy”
• Developed a novel physics model for dynamics of string twisting and torque transfer in the buzzer/whirligig toy
• Led research project on the fluid dynamics and handedness of toroidal swimmers at low Reynolds numbers and presented findings

San Francisco Bay Area

performing experiments with the accelerator, analyzing data, and presenting conclusions

Greater Boston Area

• Research and design an affordable method of centrifuging avocado oil that is optimized for rural Tanzania
• Source laboratory equipment and perform the experiments designed to optimize the avocado centrifuge process
• Collaborate with a team of engineers to construct and test the avocado centrifuge
• Inform local partners in Leguruki, Tanzania on current status of the project

Arusha, Tanzania

• Worked with local partners to advance avocado oil making business in Leguruki, Tanzania
• Implemented a semester long research project by building dryers to optimizing oil producing process
• Interviewed individuals and businesses in Leguruki, Arusha, and Dar es Salaam for avocado oil market
• Wrote “Exploration of Avocado Oil Extraction Methods and Potential in Rural Tanzania”

Greater Milwaukee Area

• Analyzed breast tissue using Electrical Property Enhanced Tomography
• Created simulations of electrical mammograms to better understand their properties using Python
• Developed numerical methods to transform bio-impedance curves to correctly identify tissue characteristics

Cambridge, MA

Communicated with MIT alumni and asked for donations

Cambridge, MA

• Provided baseline data for a linguistics study using web-based crowd sourcing
• Created an English grammar test for the VerbCorner website that examines current language theories
• Attended weekly lab meetings to discuss current linguistic topics and improvement of VerbCorner website

Milton, WI

lifeguard, swim coach, and swim lesson instructor

Doctor Of Philosophy - Phd, Applied Physics

Worked on computational neuroscience under the supervision of Professor Surya Ganguli

Bachelor’S Degree, “Physics” And “Mathematics And Computer Science”

High School

swam on varsity swim team as captain, mvp for 3 years, state champion;played trumpet in band for 4 years, principal chair, section leader.