Omar T
- Research Program Mentor
PhD at Illinois Institute of Technology
Expertise
Biomedical Engineering, STEM in general, medical, prosthetics, Electronics, Robotics
Bio
My name is Omar. During my undergraduate years at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), I participated in Neural Prosthetics Research, during which I published my first paper. I decided to pursue a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering at IIT in collaboration with the University of Chicago and the University of Alberta. My research focuses on developing a medical implant for the spinal cord that will, hopefully, restore standing and stepping in individuals with severe spinal cord injury. My goal is to help students find a true passion for science and engineering and to motivate them to pursue a professional career in STEM. Outside of academics, I enjoy going to the gym, traveling, and riding my bike.Project ideas
Prosthetic Arm
In this application-based project, you will learn how to design a functional prosthetic limb. You will learn how to use CAD software to design different components of the limb. You will use an Arduino microcontroller and motors to provide mobility. The commands used to drive the motors will be obtained using a custom-built, analog, electromyography (EMG) sensing-circuit.
Modeling physiological systems
You will learn how to model a sophisticated organ system using ordinary and partial differential equations. You will use a numerical computing platform, such as MATLAB, to solve these equations and accurately predict the behavior of the human body. By the end of this project, you will appreciate the complexity of the human body, read scientific papers, build a physical prototype and submit your own report.