Biomedical Engineering
Faculty & Staff
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Dr. Samhita Rhodes
B.E., Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering, University of Pune, 1994 Dr. Samhita Rhodes is the Chair of the Biomedical Engineering Committee at Grand Valley State University. In 2007, Dr. Rhodes received an NSF grant ($700,000) to establish the Master’s program in Biomedical Engineering at GVSU. Her current research interests are in the area of Biomedical Image Processing and Signal Processing. She collaborates with Dr. Anthony Chang at the Van Andel Institute to improved automated image processing techniques for the detection of tumors in small animal models. She is also working with neurosurgeons at Spectrum Health in the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit to accurately model the behavior of localization-related epilepsy, and extract information regarding network relationships between recording sites during ictal, pre-ictal, inter-ictal, and post-ictal periods. Dr. Rhodes maintains an active interest in using advanced signal processing techniques to study mechanisms affecting the initiation of cardiac dysthymias for which she was the recipient of an American Heart Association Scientist Development Grant from the National Center. Dr. Rhodes also holds a joint appointment as an Adjunct Research Faculty member at the Medical College of Wisconsin, where she collaborates in research with Dr. David Stowe.
Email: rhodesam@gvsu.edu |
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Dr. John Farris
B.S., Mechanical Engineering, Lehigh University, 1987 Dr. John Farris focuses on medical device design. He works in an ongoing collaboration with the Lincoln Developmental Center, a Grand Rapids public school serving approximately 120 severely impaired students, and Mobility Opportunities Via Education/Experience (MOVE). Through this collaboration, they have developed the prototype for a lean-activated wheelchair that responds to the user’s upper-body deflection as it improves trunk strength. Full-time graduate students in GVSU’s Biomedical Engineering program are playing a key part in getting this wheelchair to production as they work with Dr. Farris to improve its design as they participate in translational research.
Email: farrisj@gvsu.edu
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Dr. Blake Ashby
B.S., Mechanical Engineering, Utah State University, 1998 Dr. Blake Ashby’s area of specialty is biomechanics. Prior to joining GVSU, he worked several years as a biomechanical engineer at Exponent Failure Analysis Associates in Phoenix, Arizona and at Woolley Engineering Research Corporation in Provo, Utah providing technical expertise in the areas of injury biomechanics, sports biomechanics, occupant kinematics, accident reconstruction, vehicle dynamics, component and systems testing, and computer simulation of human movements. Dr. Ashby has collaborated with the Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy programs at GVSU on projects investigating work-related musculoskeletal disorders in sonographers and the limits of stability in sitting for children and adults. Other research projects include the biomechanics of human jumping and the effect of laminectomies on improving gait and balance.
Email: blake_ashby@gvsu.edu |
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Dr. Wael A. Mokhtar
B.S Department of Mechanical Engineering, Alexandria University, 1994 Dr Mokhtar’s research is in the areas of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). He worked in several experimental and numerical projects in cardiovascular system. He worked in developing biomedical training tools such as blood flow phantoms. His research in the area of Bio-Fluid Mechanics focuses on using CFD tools to simulation blood flow. He studied several cardiovascular diseases such as carotid artery stenosis.
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Dr. Rob Bossemeyer
The University of Michigan, B.S.E.E., 1974 Dr. Rob Bossemeyer joined the faculty of Biomedical EEngineering at GVSU in 2011, after serving as a visiting professor here in 2010. His research focuses on bioinstrumentation and speech and neural processing. He teaches courses in analog and digital circuit analysis, signal processing, C programming, and bioelectrical potentials. During his graduate studies, he developed techniques for applying digital signal processing to analyze nerve bundle electrical signals. Dr. Bossemeyer began his industrial research career at AT&T Bell Laboratories in Holmdel, New Jersey, working on applied signal processing for speech signals, and he also worked with the Neurology Clinic at the University of Michigan Medical Center to develop methods for quantifying thresholds to motion sense and pain sensations. His career in the telecommunications industry spanned nearly two decades and resulted in more than 50 patents. In 2000, Dr. Bossemeyer established a consulting company to provide speech technology services to government and business clients. Dr. Bossemeyer and a GVSU bioengineering graduate student are currently engaged in a research project with a local cancer surgeon.
Email: bossemer@gvsu.edu |
Page last modified January 26, 2013
