Experience
Curriculum Vitae (pdf)
Current Employment
Butterfly Network, Inc.
Co-founder and Team Lead of Signal Processing and Imaging Group
Guilford, CT
12/11 –present
• Organizational leadership: Direct fast-paced, high-performing teams
• Employ a distributed daily journal for high-bandwidth communication and record keeping, thus increasing IP discovery and simplifying logistics.
• Drive cross-functional alignment across technical and commercial teams to identify objectives, and achieve key results.
• $100M fund raising: Led technical coordination to build proof-of-concept prototypes, implemented risk-reduction demonstrations for real-time visualizations in 3D, IP portfolio management, hired top-tier talent for core technological areas, advised CEO on business plan and market opportunities, facilitated integration with cloud and deep learning.
• National Press: MIT Tech Review, Wired, Forbes, World Economic Forum, Fox News, Tech Republic.
• 4Catalyzer Fellow: (09/2015) Granted an honorary title and honorarium in recognition of extraordinary merits within Butterfly Network and 4Catalyzer. The 1st and only Fellow commendation to present date.
• Real-time transmission ultrasound system: (8852103, 9155521, 9033884, 9028412, 9022936, 20150247921, 20140243614, 20140180093, 20140180113, 20140180094, 20140180100, 20140180112, 20140180088, 20140180099, 20140180092, 20140180095)
• 3D ultrasound system on a semiconductor: MEMs (20140264660, 20140219062), digital and analog ASIC and FPGA for sequencing and processing (20150301165, 20150297193, 20150080724, 20140288428), end-to-end signal processing chain (20140180096, 20140180097)
• Image-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound: (20140180176, 20140180177)
• Coordination with Key Opinion Leaders, Key Technical Leaders and Scientific Advisory Board: Arranged the Next-generation of Medical Imaging Workshop at Carnegie Mellon University with top-tier researchers in ultrasound, magnetic resonance, optical, x-ray and computed tomography imaging.
• Ultrasound acquisitions and reconstructions: Created and validated sequences for 2-D and 3-D imaging in various modes (B-mode, M-mode, spectral and PW- Doppler, coded-aperture, coded-waveform, harmonic imaging, and more)
• Ultrasound signal processing: MATLAB, Python, C++, and GPU: plenoptic operators, Fourier-domain and time-domain beamformers, calibrators, signal conditioners, filters, correlaters, interpolators, bounded optimizers, and more.
• 3D visualization tools: Tuvok, WebGL, Mayavi2: Real-time voxel-based rendering, 2D transfer functions, iso-surfaces, remap functions, auto-leveling, histograms, denoising, segmentations, and integration into holographic and stereo displays.
Previous Appointments
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Technical Staff/PI in Adaptive Optics & Signal/Image Processing Group
Livermore, CA
11/10 –12/11
• 3D gamma ray imaging: Constructed a gamma ray imaging toolbox with metrics for automated 2D/3D shape classification using shape descriptors, e.g. orientation (PCA), shape bases (spherical harmonics), shape histograms, concavity, crinkliness, spherical extent functions, slice-oriented feature detectors, wavelets, and more.
• Radioisotope nuclide detection: Developed the radionuclide analysis toolkit, and a networked multi-sensor detector. Code and algorithm development included, Bayesian network propagation and evaluation, branch-and-bound optimization, high-energy spectral detector resampling methods, and system I/O dev.
• 3D x-ray CT micro-laminography: Image processing in computed tomography, denoising for increased SNR using wavelets, digital filtering, and contrast equalization.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory
Technical Staff/Program lead/PI in Aerospace Sensor Technology Group
Boston, MA
4/07 –11/10
• Multi-sensor Fusion Program18,24,25,28,30 (Lead - CLASSIFIED)
• Maintained DOD Air Force sponsorship and relationship with regular detailed reports and presentations.
• Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar and electro-optical backprojection for 3D incoherent composite imaging.
• 3D Interferometric ISAR image processing algorithms for reconstructions from multiple baselines.
• Research and development of computer vision algorithms for model building from 2D and 3D imagery.
• Real-time through-wall radar imager29,31 (Co-Principal Investigator)
• Successfully won award for proposal and presentation to Advanced Concepts Committee.
• Built signal chain architecture and real-time signal processing subsystem (C++ & GPU).
• Coordinated the designs for antenna, analog circuit, and mechanical structure.
• Received National Press: CNN, BBC, FOX, ABC, NBC, MIT, Slate, Wired, Wall Street Journal, Slashdot...
• Next-generation Radar Operating System Architecture (ROSA II) for all DOD imaging radars
• Engineered pulse integration routine for interpolating equally spaced angles from equally spaced times whereby one can adjust the coherent integration by adjusting the resampling window size.
• Designed modules for the second-generation real-time ROSA II which accounted for the refraction of the atmosphere and accounted for antenna biasing for monopulse calculations.
• Constructed Kalman filters for tracking, simulated scenarios of sensors for tracking space objects.
• Space Fence Performance Evaluation System50
• Multi-GPU (NVidia) computing for the propagation of satellites in orbits using SGP4 standard propagation.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Professional Program in Graphics Cards for Technical Computing
Research Experience
Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology
Postdoctoral Research Associate for the Optical Science Group and the Biophotonics Imaging Laboratories, at UIUC in Electrical and Computer Engineering
Fellow/Graduate Research Assistant for Nanonelectronics & Biophotonics Laboratory
Urbana, IL
11/06 – 3/07
8/02 – 10/06
• Time-domain OCT system1: Optical setup for heterodyning of broadband Ti:Sa source with UHNA fiber. Designed detection and scanning with dual balanced detector and Fourier optics (RSOD), respectively. Created a digital design for a FPGA (Virtex II), which acquired data, controlled galvanometer waveforms and digitally down converted signal using a Harvard processing architecture. Programmed both a DSP (TI C6701) and a computer (C++) to calculate and display structural and Doppler images.
• Spectral-domain (SD) OCT system3,6,12: Optical design, theoretic based software acquired axial scans at 29 kHz, and dispersion and beam diffraction (ISAM8,10,12) were both corrected in real-time at 2.25 frames/sec.
• SD-optical coherence and multi-photon microscope (OCM-MPM)5,7: Designed detection optics & software.
• Theory: Developed inverse scattering solutions for resolution improvements8-12. Developed hardware and software solutions to increase processing efficiency.
• Analysis: Signal analysis for resampling methods (linear, cubic-B splines, non-uniform FFTs, and prolate-spheroidal), boundary conditions, resolution expectations, phase stability measures and corrections39. Signal conditioning (wavelets40, regularizations2,4,8-12, entropy measures2,4)
• Biological applications: Developmental biology3, neural imaging1,†, cellular matrices, cellular spectroscopic scattering7, cancer tissues3,12, and contrast agents21,22.
Teaching Experience
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Graduate Teaching Assistant
Teaching Assistant for Biomedical Instrumentation Lab and Digital Signal Processing
Urbana-Champaign, IL
8/01 – 5/03
• Teaching and preparing lab, generating and grading lab reports, office hours.
• Proctoring exams, teaching, office hours (140+ in section), grading homework.
Industry Experience
Battelle
Full-Time Employee, Electrical/Computer Engineer
Columbus, OH
5/98 – 8/01
• ThinPrep® Imaging System (pap screener) (2001) - R&D 100 Award - Automated microscope station for analyzing and identifying cancerous cells from pap tests. Programmed automation and detection in C++, Rhapsody, and assembly.
• White blood cell classification (2000) – Microscope for pattern/image recognition of blood cells/platelets using mathematical 3-D computer vision techniques such as Optimal Infinite Impulse Response Edge Detectors, ellipse fitting by solving the generalized eigenvalues, convolutions, derating models. Programming in Matlab, C, and Matrox Imaging Library. *Earned “Key Contributor” award for this project.
• Enteral feeding pump (1999) - Embedded and computer-controlled system, micro-controller, and liquid crystal display selection, assessment, and programming.
• Neoprobe Neo2000® (radiation detector) (1998) - R&D 100 Award - Gamma ray detection console with audible surgical guidance. Programmed boot loaders and system drivers. Debugged DSP pipeline. Verified console interface.
Honors
• Best Paper Award MSS Tri-services 2010
• *Key Contributor Award from Battelle for proven feasibility of a medical microscope that differentiates white blood cell types.
• †Beckman Fellowship for research on "Mapping neural activity through optical scattering changes using real-time SD-OCT”
• Newport Spectra-Physics Research Excellence Award
• Milton Chang OSA Annual Meeting Travel Grant 2005
• SPIE Photonics West Travel Grant 2006
• ECE Graduate College Travel Grant 2005 & 2006
• Incubic Travel Award for Frontiers in Optics 2006
• CSX Employee Scholarship
• Ohio American Legion Scholar
• Golden Key National Honor Society
• University of Dayton Presidential Scholarship
• Dean's List
• Lewis/Morgan Scholarship Recipient
• NAECON Scholarship
Activities, Interests, and Memberships
• Institute of Electronics & Electrical Engineers (IEEE)
-Computer Chair at UIUC
• Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE)
-Committee Aide for Early Career Professionals (ECPs)
• Optical Society of America (OSA)
-President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Graduate Advisor at UIUC
• OSA Frontiers in Optics conference presider for the “Diagnostics in Microscopy” session.
• Reviewer for Journals: Optics Letters, Electronic Letters, Optics Communications, Optics Express, Journal of Biomedical Optics, IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, IEEE Phased Array, and Nature Photonics
• Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
• IEEE Biomedical Engineering Society (EMBS)
• Eta Kappa Nu Honorary ECE Society
• Golden Key National Honor Society
• Engineers Foundation of Ohio
• Ohio Society of Professional Engineers
• Engineers Leadership Institute
• Engineers Supporting Peers
• National Society of Professional Engineers
• Institute of Artificial Intelligence
• Reviewer for conferences: SPIE Photonics West, OSA Frontiers in Optics, IEEE Radar Symposium
Computer Skills
Organizational: MS Project, Asana, JIRA, Confluence, Crucible, Slack
Programming: Matlab/Octave, C, C++, iPython, Python, OpenCL, CUDA, Java, Verilog, VHDL (Xilinx/Altera), TMS320C6701(TI DSP ASM/C), System Generator(FPGA design & sim), Simulink(model based control, comm, DSP system-level design), Matrox Imaging Library, HTML, assembly languages (Spim/MIPS, IBM 370, DSP), WinBatch(scripting), Visual Basic, Mathematica, Maple, OCAML, Prolog, TI-92 (CAS), LaTeX, Rhapsody, Intel Math Kernel Library, OpenSceneGraph, OpenCV, k-wave, Field II
Software: LabView, Code Composer Studio (TI DSP), Quartus, Questa, Xilinx ISE 5.1i, Vivado, ModelSim SE (VHDL sim), LogiCore, Pspice(electronics sim), Scanalytics (image processing), AutoCAD/Autodesk, SketchUp, Visio, PhotoShop/Framemaker/Premiere, MS Office, Repositories: Github, Mercurial, SVN, CVS, Rendering: Enthought VTK, Mayavi2, Amira, Slicer Dicer, ImageVis3D, Tuvok, Seg3D, WebGL, Osirix, ImageJ
Operating Systems: DOS, Windows (8/7/Vista/ME/2000/NT/XP/Server), MacOS X, iOS, Linux (Red Hat/Fedora/Ubuntu/Debian), Unix, VAX, Sun Solaris.
Education
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), M.S., Ph.D.
Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), M.S., Ph.D.
Urbana-Champaign, IL
8/01 – 10/06
Ph.D. Dissertation:
Ralston TS. “Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Microscopy.” Open to public, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. Preliminary Examination: December 19, 2005. Final Defense: September 20, 2006.
• $1.3M raised for a startup to commercialize my Ph.D. thesis technology (Diagnostic Photonics).
• Ph.D. qualifying exam: (controls, signal processing, logic, computer architecture, acoustics, bioengineering, data structures and algorithms, electromagnetics, analog circuits, solid state, probability, and electro-mechanical devices)
• Designed, tested, and debugged broad-bandwidth interferometric optical systems (hardware and software).
Masters Thesis:
Ralston TS, “A real-time optical coherence tomography system utilizing an acquisition and signal processing architecture implemented on a field programmable gate array”
University of Dayton, B.S.
Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering
Dayton, OH
8/96 – 12/00
Grants
OSA Activity Grant, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (2005). Grant application for “Photons After Dark,” a weekly interdepartmental graduate student seminar series in optical science.
OSA Annual Meeting, Milton-Chang travel grant. (2005)
SPIE Photonics West, conference travel grant. (2006)
ECE Graduate College, conference travel grant. (2005)
OSA Frontiers in Optics, Incubic travel grant. (2006)
UIUC Graduate College, conference travel grant. (2006)
Beckman Fellowship Grant, salary and travel grant.
National Health Institute, R21 phase grant contribution, “Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Microscopy”
Diagnostic Photonics $1.3M raised to commercialize my Ph.D. dissertation technology
MIT Lincoln Laboratory ACC & NTI, $1M raised for real-time through-wall radar system