Wisam is working with Anne Takesian (https://takesian.hms.harvard.edu/) on projects that aim to describe the biophysical mechanisms of plasticity in auditory neural circuits.

The Howard Society of Fellows is a prestigious, global community of researchers passionate about furthering our understanding of the brain. A diverse group of intellectuals, elected by their peers, Fellows are concerned with and possess expert knowledge on subjects that span over a wide range of scientific disciplines.Link: http://brainsciences.org/PhD thesis topic: Biological and synthetic intelligence

Wisam is working on the theoretical, computational biophysics of hearing with Professors Anthony Ricci and Daibhid Maoileidigh. The Ricci Lab's work ranges from furthering our understanding of both mechanotransduction, and how the sensory hair cells communicate with the central nervous system, to developing novel technologies and working with other researchers to provide technical insight, to the very exciting development of novel aminoglycoside antibiotics – a line of research which could significantly lessen the incidences of hearing loss, particularly in young children, from exposure to ototoxic drugs.

Wisam was working as a rotation student with Mark Harnett (http://www.markharnett.org/), a member of MIT’s Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences. He is studying the biophysical features of individual neurons and the way dendrites (neuronal tree-like structures) endow neural circuits with powerful processing capabilities.

Speech and hearing are fundamental to our ability to communicate, yet in the US alone millions of people suffer from some form of speech or hearing impairment. As engineers and scientists, it is important to understand the underlying principles of speech and hearing. The goals of this course are to introduce students to the acoustics, anatomy, physiology, and mechanics related to speech and hearing and to build a foundational understanding of one of the most complex, interdisciplinary, and fascinating areas of bioengineering. Particular attention will be paid to how humans generate and perceive speech. Topics include the acoustic theory of speech production, basic digital speech processing, control mechanisms of speech production and basic elements of speech and voice perception. These fundamental topics will be explored through applications and challenges involving acoustics, speech recognition, and speech disorders, which are especially relevant given the ubiquity of recording and playback devices such as smartphones and home assistants. On the hearing side, topics include acoustics and mechanics of the outer ear, middle ear, and cochlea, how pathologies affect their function, and methods for clinical diagnosis. Surgical treatments and medical devices such as hearing aids, bone conduction devices, and implants will also be covered.

The Committee on Academic Computing and Information Systems, subject to the Charter and Rules of the Senate, formulates policies concerning the computing and information systems of Stanford University to meet the academic and administrative needs of the faculty, students and academic staff. In addition, the committee reviews the work of the appropriate University administrative officers whose duty it is to implement the policies adopted by the Senate.

Wisam co-instructed this course with Iran Roman, at Stanford's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA). The availability of large-scale databases has facilitated recent advances in Deep Learning across fields like computer vision, genomics, and natural language processing. These techniques are also applied in the field of Music Information Retrieval.In this course, students will master the theory behind tools at the intersection of machine learning, Digital Signal Processing, Music Information Retrieval, and Computational Neuroscience. First, students will write software completely from scratch, and then they will optimize their implementations with TensorFlow.Syllabus:Day 1: Feature spaces of music. Review of k-means clustering, SVMs, and regression classifiers.Day 2: Decomposing and building a Softmax Neural Network from scratch, and training it with music.Day 3: Obtaining Spectral Features from raw audio using Convolutional Neural Networks.Day 4: Natural Language Processing in Music using Recurrent Neural Networks.Day 5: Make it your own: Proposing and developing a Final Project with Neural Networks.

I will be assisting PhD candidate, Iran Roman, in teaching this week-long neuroscience workshop at Stanford's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics. Participants will record brain activity using a custom and mobile electro-encephalogram (EEG) to study topics including the fundamental patterns of cortical brain activity unfolding overtime, specific relationships between cortical activity and the acoustic stimuli that trigger it, experiments that we can bring outside the lab to investigate the brain in realistic scenarios, machine learning and statistical tools to clean, analyze, and visualize EEG data, and artificial neural networks as tools for modeling of brain activity. Other topics that will be taught in this workshop include:- Anatomy and physiology of the peripheral and central auditory systems- The history and functionality of modern EEG systems- Analysis of electrophysiological data using Matlab and Python libraries- Neuroscience literature on cognition of music and speech. - Modeling of brain activity using Neuroscience-Inspired Artificial Neural Networks.

TuneBlocks is an interactive teaching aid designed to help children learn music through cognitive approaches. The software is based on Jeanne Bamberger's (MIT / UC Berkeley) ground breaking music text, Developing Musical Intuitions (Bamberger, Oxford Press, 2000). Wisam has recently been added to the TuneBlocks development team, as a User Interface Designer and Cognitive Music researcher.

String Theory Labs is a Berkeley-based for-profit startup dedicated to developing scalable andflexible 3D spatial audio technologies. Wisam has been appointed as the CCO (Chief Creative Officer) and is responsible for String Theory Lab's creative works, leading design teams, and the overall look and feel of marketing, media, and branding associated with the organization.Link: http://stringtheorylabs.com

String Theory is much more than just music performance. Firmly believing that musical experiences and audience engagement should radiate far beyond 60 minute set times, breaking free from the traditional music performance model, in which the audience is presented with sequential musical lineups. String Theory not only performs sets of highly synchronized 3D audio and 3D video compositions, but strives to create immersive, interactive multimedia environments that resonate with venues, concert goers and art enthusiasts throughout the course of a night.String Theory offers services including art exhibition and curation, live visual and audio performances including non-invasive venue integration of immersive 3D audio technologies (developed by String Theory Labs), 3D projection video, LED lighting networks, dancers and more. String Theory also provides songwriting, recording, production and post-production services for music collaboration, video, films, augmented and virtual reality experiences in stereo and multichannel formats. .Link: http://stringtheory.audio

Under his DJ moniker E^2, Wisam has played and held DJ residencies with several clubs from San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco; including but not limited to Bassmnt (SD), Voyeur (SD), Avalon (Hollywood), SPIN (SD), Supperclub (SF), 4th & B (SD), WaveHouse (SD) ...

Wisam Reid, Iran Roman, and Cynthia Moncada have accepted a research residency at The Mexican Center for Music and Sonic Arts (CMMAS) from August 22 to September 25, 2016. The group will be developing computational models of neural dynamic processes that occur in the primary auditory and motor cortices using several artificial neural network architectures including: Recurrent Neural Networks (RNN), Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) and Gradient Frequency Neural Networks (GrFNN). CMMAS is a unique technology-musical space in Latin America. CMMAS was created in September 2006 at the initiative of the National Council for Culture and Arts (CONACULTA), today the Federal Ministry of Culture, through the National Arts Centre (CENART) and the Ministry of Culture of the State of Michoacan (SECUM).

Wisam will be assisting Professor Jonathan Berger in teaching Music 1A at Stanford University. Music 1A is an introductory exploration of the question of why music is a pervasive and fundamental aspect of human existence. The class will introduce aspects of music perception and cognition as well as anthropological and cultural considerations.

Wisam will be assisting Professor Thomas Rossing in teaching acoustics (Music 150) during the 2016 Winter quarter. Music 150 teaches topics including, the physics of vibrating systems, waves, and wave motion. Time-frequency-domain analysis of sound. Room acoustics, reverberation, and spatialization. The acoustics of musical instruments: voice, strings, and winds. Emphasis is on the practical aspects of acoustics in making music. Hands-on and computer-based lab. Prerequisites: Music performance/composition experience; basic algebra, calculus, and physics.

The Stanford Youth Orchestra will bring the finest young musicians from around the world to participate in a three-week intensive orchestral and academic program in Summer 2015 on the beautiful campus of Stanford University. Bringing together world-renowned faculty instructors, the Stanford Youth Orchestra will provide participants with exceptional orchestral training in the state-of-the-art Bing Concert Hall, and within Stanford’s peerless intellectual and interdisciplinary environment.

GeoStory, is a new mobile platform for location based news, awareness and shameless self-promotion. GeoStory allows users to view and post pictures and micro news articles about things happening all around them.

Wisam served as a TA in Physics C21 during the Spring 2015 semester. C21 is a course designed by Nobel Laureate, Saul Perlmutter covering the physical principles encountered in the study of music. The applicable laws of mechanics, fundamentals of sound, harmonic content, principles of sound production in musical instruments, musical scales, acoustics, and fourier analysis.

Wisam worked with distributed audio/video and home automation systems with PTC (Precision Tech Connect). Wisam was involved with installing, managing high-end large-scale control systems, as well as programming and designing custom user interfaces.Wisam has experience with complex Lutron lighting, RTI, AMX, and Crestron systems.