Neurotechnologies to Help the Body Move, Heal and Feel Again

Interested in gaining research experience in engineering?
Spend ten weeks this summer performing research in emergent neurotechnologies to help people with disabilities in the Cullen College of Engineering at UH — and earn a $5,000 stipend!

The IUCRC BRAIN at the Cullen College of Engineering (CCoE) at the University of Houston will continue to host Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) programs in the summer and fall of 2023. The program is designed to inspire bright and motivated undergraduates to pursue graduate education and careers in science and engineering research. In the REU Neurotechnologies Program, participants will work closely with leading neural engineers and neuroscientists at the NSF BRAIN Center at CCoE and contribute to the development of innovative medical devices including diagnostics, neural interfaces, medical robotics and other ongoing cutting-edge research in neural, cognitive and rehabilitation engineering.

For more information on the REU program, click on the links on the top left of each web page.

Basic Application Requirements

1. U. S. Citizen or Permanent Resident status
2. GPA of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 GPA scale
3. Completed application, including an essay, received by February 15, 2023.
4. Completed letter of recommendation received by February 15, 2023.
5. Current unofficial transcript or transcripts received by February 15, 2023.

In the ten-week REU program:

• Build research laboratory skills.
• Develop written and oral presentation skills.
• Gain training in safety and ethics.
• Establish a professional network.
• Learn to use state of the art neuroscience instrumentation.
• Explore social activities in Houston!

Research Projects offered by the IUCRC BRAIN Center faculty:

• Design of Mobile brain-body imaging (MoBI) technology for Recording in the 'Wild'
  Mentors: Jeff Feng, Ph.D., Associate Professor 
  Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture & Design;
  Jose L Contreras-Vidal, Ph.D., Fellow IEEE, Cullen Professor
  Director, Noninvasive Brain-Machine Interface Systems Lab
  Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
  Director/PI, NSF IUCRC BRAIN (https://nsfbrain.org/)
• Brain-Computer Interfaces to Help the Body Move Again
  Mentor: Jose L Contreras-Vidal, Ph.D., Fellow IEEE, Cullen Professor
  Director, Noninvasive Brain-Machine Interface Systems Lab
  Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
  Director/PI, NSF IUCRC BRAIN (https://nsfbrain.org/)
• Developing virtual reality software for visualizing brain vasculature
  Mentor: David Mayerich, Ph.D., Associate Professor
  Director, STIM Laboratory: Scalable Tissue Imaging and Modeling
  Co-PI, NSF IUCRC BRAIN
  Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Temporal Response Function Modeling to Assess Neural Encoding of Acoustic and Linguistic Features of Speech
  Mentor: Heather Dial, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
  Director, SLAB-Lab
  Department of Communications Science and Disorders
• Miniature Magnetic Robotic Swimmers (MMRS) for Navigating the Brain Ventricles
  Mentor: Aaron Becker, Ph.D., Associate Professor
  Director, Multi-Robot Systems lab
  Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Artistic Brain-Computer Interfaces (Your Brain on Art and Wellness)
  Mentor: Jose L Contreras-Vidal, Ph.D., Fellow IEEE, Cullen Professor
  Director, Noninvasive Brain-Machine Interface Systems Lab
  Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
  Director/PI, NSF IUCRC BRAIN (https://nsfbrain.org/)
• NeuroExo: A brain-computer interface for stroke rehabilitation
  Mentor: Jose L Contreras-Vidal, Ph.D., Fellow IEEE, Cullen Professor
  Director, Noninvasive Brain-Machine Interface Systems Lab
  Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
  Director/PI, NSF IUCRC BRAIN (https://nsfbrain.org/)
• Enhancing Mobile VR/AR User Experience via An Integrated Architecture-System Approach
  Mentor: Xin Fu, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
  Director, Efficient Computer Systems (ECOMS) Lab
  Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
• An EEG Headset Research and Development:  Sideline Concussion Assessment for Athletes
  Mentor: Jeff Feng, Ph.D., Associate Professor
  Director, Medical Device Design Lab
  College of Architecture and Design
• Sex-based Differences in Tissue Oxygen Use in Type 2 Diabetes
  Mentor: Stacey Gorniak, Ph.D., Associate Professor
  Department of Health and Human Performance
• Neuromodulation to Improve Dynamic Balance in Stroke
  Mentor: Pranav Parikh, Ph.D., Associate Professor
  Director, Center for Neuromotor and Biomechanics Research (CNBR)
  Department of Health and Human Performance
• Enabling Light-Driven Microfluidics with Laser Streaming
  Mentors: Jiming Bao, Ph.D., Professor
  Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering;
  Dong Liu, Ph.D., Professor
  Department of Mechanical Engineering

Completed applications will be reviewed on a first-come-first-served basis. We encourage you to send application materials early. Each complete application will be acknowledged via email, and all applicants will be notified in May as to their status.

Stipend: $5,000

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Drs. Jose L Contreras-Vidal and Stuart Long // reu_brain [at] egr.uh.edu