Maysam Ghovanloo is one of Iran’s and also world’s most influential senior research scientist at the EECS at Georgia Institute of Technology with a major in circuits and microsystems and medical instrumentation wireless microsystem for neural stimulating microprobes which can be used in a variety of neuroprosthetic applications.

Ghovanloo holds Ph.D. degrees from University of Michigan in electrical engineering. He is also member of International Solid States Circuits Conference (ISSCC) subcommittee on Imagers, MEMS, Medical and Displays (IMMD).

Education

• 1994 at age 21 – B.S. in Electrical engineering – University of Tehran-Iran.
• 1997 at age 24 – M.S. in Biomedical engineering – Amirkabir Institute of Technology Tehran-Iran.
• 2003 at age 30 – Advanced bionics, Inc. working on a spinal cord stimulator.
• 2004 at age 31 – Ph.D. in Electrical engineering – University of Michigan.
• 2004 at age 31 – Assistant professor the faculty of N.C. State University – Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
• 2007 – at age 34 – Professor in Bioengineering, and Electronic Design and Applications at Georgia Institute of Technology – School of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Research Interests:

• Implantable microelectronic devices.
• Neural interfacing.
• Rehabilitation engineering.
• Bio-inspired microsystems.
• Medical instrumentation.
• Low-power analog/digital/mixed-mode integrated circuits.

Distinctions:

• Who’s Who in Science and Engineering, 2006-2007.
• 41st DAC/ISSCC student design contest third place award in operational category, 2004.
• 40th DAC/ISSCC student design contest honorable mention award in operational category, 2003.
• A member of Tau Beta Pi, Sigma Xi, and IEEE Solid-State Circuits, Circuits and Systems, and Engineering in Medicine and Biology societies- Implantable microelectronic devices.

– Neural interfacing
– Rehabilitation engineering
– Bio-inspired microsystems

Maysam Ghovanloo was born in January 1973, in Tehran, Iran. He received his B.Sc. in electrical engineering from the University of Tehran in 1994. His undergraduate research was focused on developing an 8kW microprocessor-controlled power supply for Nd-YAG Lasers. As an undergrad intern at the Etrat institute of technology, he worked on PC-Interfacing for industrial automotive robotic applications.

He received his M.Sc. in biomedical engineering from Amirkabir Institute of Technology, Tehran, Iran in 1997. His master’s thesis was on development of a multi-site physiologic recording system for investigation of the neural assemblies. From 1994 to 1998 he worked part-time at the Industrial Development for Electronic Application Inc., where he participated in the design and development of a modular patient care monitoring system.

In December 1998 he founded Sabz Negar Rayaneh Co. Ltd., where he manufactured physiology and pharmacology research laboratory instruments such as precision bio-amplifiers and isolated stimulators. He started his Ph.D. at the EECS department of the University of Michigan in January 2000 with a major in circuits and microsystems and a minor in solid-states.

During summer-2002 he was with the Advanced Bionics Corporation working on the spinal-cord stimulator project. He received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering in July 2004. In his Ph.D. research, he developed a wireless microsystem for neural stimulating microprobes, which can be used in a variety of neuroprosthetic applications. He was a faculty of the N.C. State University from 2004-2007 at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He joined the faculty of  Georgia Institute of Technology in June 2007 where he is currently an assistant professor and the director of the GT-Bionics Laboratory in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Ghovanloo is an Associate Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems II. He is a member of International Solid States Circuits Conference (ISSCC) subcommittee on Imagers, MEMS, Medical and Displays (IMMD). He has co-chaired two tracks at the 31st IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC’09), has been a member of the technical program committee at the IEEE Midwest Circuits and System (MWSCAS’07) and Biomedical Circuits and Systems (BioCAS’07) conferences.

He has organized special sessions on Neuroengineering Circuits & Microsystems at the IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems (ISCAS’07) and Modern Assistive Technologies at the 29th IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC’07) conferences. He is a member of Tau Beta Pi, Sigma Xi, and IEEE Solid-State Circuits, Circuits and Systems, and Engineering in Medicine and Biology societies. He currently serves on the Analog Signal Processing (ASP), Sensory Systems (SSTC), and Biomedical Circuits and Systems (BioCAS) technical committees of the IEEE Circuits and Systems society.

Part of the 43rd President of the United States George W. Bush at a White House dinner at Septemebr 17, 2008:

Tonight we honor members of the Muslim community who’ve risen to the top of their professions. Among our guests are individuals with wide-ranging accomplishments — from working on the Apollo Program, to pioneering advances in healthcare and medicine, to developing cutting-edge applications for the Internet. One of these innovators is Professor Maysam Ghovanloo.

This immigrant from Iran has become one of our nation’s most ingenious biomedical engineers. Last month, the good professor and his team of researchers at Georgia Tech unveiled an incredible invention that could one day help people with severe disabilities operate wheelchairs and surf the Internet by simply moving their tongue. Through this pioneering research, this good professor has brought new hope to thousands.

He, like others in this room, have earned the admiration of our citizens. Stories like the professor’s remind us that one of the great strengths of our nation is its religious diversity. Americans practice many different faiths. But we all share a belief in the right to worship freely. We reject bigotry in all its forms. And over the past eight years, my administration has been proud to work closely with Muslim Americans to promote justice and tolerance of all faiths.

Professor Ghovanloo has authored and co-authored book chapters, journal papers, invention disclosures, and peer-reviewed conference papers. He has served as a technical reviewer for major IEEE and IoP journals in the areas of circuits, systems, and biomedical engineering. He is a member of Tau Beta Pi, Sigma Xi, and IEEE Solid-State Circuits, Circuits, and Systems, and Engineering in Medicine and Biology societies and holder of sveral patents.

Awards, Astonishing and Recognitions

November 12, 2009:
Maysam Ghovanloo was named the “2009 Faculty Communicator of the Year” and received a Gold Tower Award from the Georgia Tech President.

October 10, 2009:
Tongue Drive featured on Science Nation (the NSF online Magazine):

October 1, 2009:
GT-Bionics lab receives an NIH Challenge Grant from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering to evaluate the Tongue Drive System in a multi-center clinical trial.

July 6, 2009:
Tongue Drive on Georgia Tech research NEWS website:
Clinical Trial Shows That Quadriplegics Can Use Tongue Drive System

June 10, 2009:
GT-Bionics lab will participate in the 31st Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC’09) in Minneapolis, MN, in September with 5 papers.

May 9, 2009:
Dr. Ming Yin successfully graduated from NC State University with a Ph.D. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering. Ming will continue his research on brain-computer interfacing as a post doctoral fellow at the Brawn University.

September 17, 2008:
Tongue Drive featured in President Bush’s Speech:
President Bush Attends Dinner. September 3, 2008:

Tongue Drive featured in The Economist:
Speaking in Tongues.

August 25, 2008:
Tongue Drive featured in CNN:
Tongue Computing’ could help disabled.

August 25, 2008:
Tongue Drive featured in Atlanta Journal Constitution:
Computing at the tip of the tongue.

August 25, 2008:
Tongue Drive featured in CBS News:
“Tongue Computing” May Help The Disabled.

August 25, 2008:
Tongue Drive featured in TIME:
Research aims to put tongues in control of devices.

August 24, 2008:
Tongue Drive featured in LA Times:
With tongue in cheek and elsewhere in the mouth disabled might someday control devices.