Kareem Hussein Email and Phone Number

CAD design and fabrication of peripheral neural interface (PNIs)- Designed various CAD models of electrode arrays for neural interfacingEquipment and Animal Training- Animal care | Rodents- Gait analysis- Electrode array characterization- Electrode array implantation- ElectrophysiologyAnimal Surgery | Rodent- lower limb implant surgery- upper limb implant surgeryNeural Data Analysis | Peripheral nerves- Data analysis of extracellular action potential signals (electrophysiology)Onboarding StudentsPublications- Poster presentation at Society for Neuroscience (SfN) 22- IEEE Neural Engineering (NER) 23 conference paper-- Podium talk and poster presentations- InterfaceRice 23 poster presentationMentorship | May 2023- Mentored high school students to create CAD models for cell culturing well plates

CAD design and fabrication of peripheral neural interface (PNIs)- Designed various CAD models of electrode arrays for neural interfacingEquipment and Animal Training- Animal care | Rodents- Gait analysis- Electrode array characterization- Electrode array implantation- ElectrophysiologyAnimal Surgery | Rodent- lower limb implant surgery- upper limb implant surgeryNeural Data Analysis | Peripheral nerves- Data analysis of extracellular action potential signals (electrophysiology)Onboarding StudentsPublications- Poster presentation at Society for Neuroscience (SfN) 22- IEEE Neural Engineering (NER) 23 conference paper-- Podium talk and poster presentations- InterfaceRice 23 poster presentationMentorship | May 2023- Mentored high school students to create CAD models for cell culturing well plates

TA for "Engineering the Human Body" debate-styled course (Spring 2023)- Moderated debates between two student teams debating alternative engineering solutions to a specific biomedical challenge- Proctored exams- Taught a lecture on touch/proprioception and robotic prosthetic limbs

Conducted 24-hour in-vivo studies to observe distribution effects of gold nanorods delivered to animal brain tissue.Researched optical stimulation method to evoke spatially precise neural responses in rodent somatosensory cortex- Conducted literature reviews on near-infrared stimulation of cerebral cortex- Designed and executed experiments based on past literature- Created & submitted IACUC protocol amendmentsConducted in vivo experiments to detect gold nanorods in fixed and live tissueEquipment and animal training acquired- Animal care – rodents- Nanorod injections- Microtome/vibratome use- Two-photon luminescence (TPL) imaging of paraffin-embedded (fixed) cortex slices- Laser safety/operation- Data management

Assisted students with - circuit design and using LabView (creating VIs to interface with sensors, PID controllers, troubleshooting), - instruments (e.g. multimeter, power supply, function generator, oscilloscope), - operational amplifiers (e.g. LF353, AD524), and Arduino/C++ (programming rover movement based on phototransistor input, and Mario Kart direction/acceleration based on EMG signals).

Developed an elbow support solution for a tactile speech communication device - material cuff with an array of vibrators producing patterned vibrations to communicate speech messages (words) to users’ forearms- With Fusion 360, I designed several iterations of the support and support case (to prevent the support from tipping during arm movement). - Utilized MATLAB to analyze and interpret pulses to arm from device and MATLAB GUI to evaluate elbow support prototypes- Solution: 2 components – (1) a closed-cell foam plank cutout and (2) a 3D-printed case.Skills:- Effective Use of User Feedback- CAD Modeling- Rapid Prototyping

- Designed, developed, and fabricated prototype device to improve occupational hearing loss- Iterated through multiple designs and performed root cause analysis to improve upon existing prototypes- Applied Rapid Prototyping to housing components, Spectrogram Analysis to sound files to distinguish human speech from machine noise, and Analog Circuit Design (influenced by spectrogram analysis) to internal circuit to create filters- Created portable test apparatus to test earbud prototype efficacySkills & Tools Used:- Market Research- Component Cost Analysis- Analog Circuit Design- Failure Mode and Effects Analyses (FMEAs)- Rapid Prototyping

Conducted brainstem neurophysiology experiments to prove that suppressive non-linearities in the cochlea lead to a neural correlate of comodulation masking release (CMR) in the auditory nerve (AN). CMR is a mechanical phenomenon enabling animals to tag and cancel noise, improving signal detection. There is proof this occurs in the furthest part of the auditory system (i.e. the AN), meaning all of the relevant neural information is already present at the brain's input; the brain doesn't have to work as hard to process sounds of interest and noise.

Myoblast culturing, harvesting, lysing as well as metabolic labeling and analyzing of tagged proteins in Professor Tamara Kinzer-Ursem's lab.