People

Principal Investigator

F. Levent Degertekin
George W. Woodruff Chair in Mechanical Systems and Professor of Mechanical Engineering

MDRC II, Room 311B 

Visiting Researchers/Postdoctoral Scholars

Coskun Tekes
Collaborator

Assistant Professor of Computer Engineering at Kennesaw State University

Yusuf Yaras
Research Engineer II

PhD in Electrical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2020

Reza Pakdaman Zangabad
Postdoctoral Scholar

PhD in Biomedical Engineering, Erasmus MC, 2020

Graduate Researchers

M. Sait Kilinc
PhD student in Electrical Engineering

M.S. - Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2022

B.S. - Electrical Engineering, TOBB University of Economics and Technology, 2017

Research interests: Wave Propagation, Signal Processing, MEMS

Lee Bradley
MS student in Electrical Engineering

B.S. - Physics, College of William & Mary, 2020

Research Interests: MEMS

Xitie Zhang
PhD Student in Electrical Engineering
B.Eng. - Integrated Circuits Design and Integration System, Xidian University, 2019
M.S. - Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2021
Research Interests: High-Performance Data Conversion, Bio-Electronic Interface, and Hybrid Micro-System
(co-advised with Prof. Shaolan Li)

Undergraduate Researchers

Edo Bareket
BS Student in Mechanical Engineering
Ben Skowronski
BS Student in Mechanical Engineering
Helen Snyder
BS Student in Mechanical Engineering

Alumni

Postdoctoral Fellows Supervised

Dr. Ali Razavi.  MEMS metrology using microinterferometers. August – December 2002 (jointly with Prof. T. Kurfess). Currently with Hewlett-Packard, San Diego, CA.

Dr. Timo Kikas. CMUT-based microfluidic systems. June-August 2002 (jointly with Prof. A. Fedorov).

Dr. Hong-seok “Moses” Noh. Micromachined ultrasonic droplet ejectors for vaccine aerosolization. May-August 2004 (jointly with Prof. A. Fedorov). Currently Assistant Professor at Drexel University.

Dr. Ming Yang. Micromachined ultrasonic droplet ejectors for vaccine aerosolization. September 2004 –December 2004 (jointly with Prof. A. Fedorov).

Dr. Jemmy Sutanto Bintoro. AFM arrays for biomolecular measurements. June 2005- March 2006. Currently with Intel Corp., Phoneix, AZ.

Dr. Neal Hall. Diffraction-based micromachined optical microphones and accelerometers. October 2006-February 2007. Currently Assistant Professor of ECE at University of Texas, Austin.

Dr. Mujdat Balantekin. Micromachined capacitive ultrasonic transducers and AFM arrays for biomolecular measurements. June 2005-May 2009. Currently Assistant Professor of ECE at Izmir Insitute of Technology, Izmir, Turkey.

Dr. Krishna K. Sarangapani. AFM arrays for biomolecular measurements. March 2006-May 2009. Currently a postdoctoral researcher at University of Washington, Seattle.

Dr. Kianoush Naeli, “Batch Fabrication of FIRAT probes,” January 2009- September 2010. Currently MEMS Reliability Technical Lead at Hewlett-Packard, Corvallis, Oregon.

Dr. Hamdi Torun, “Biological single molecule applications of membrane-based probes,” January 2010 – August 2010. Currently Assistant Professor of ECE at Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey.

Dr. Coskun Tekes, “Beamforming and Imaging for CMUT-based Intravascular and Intracardiac Catheters,” September 2010 – 2015.

Dr. Ayse Topoglu-Tekes, “Nonlinearity Modeling and Efficiency Optimization of CMUTs,” November 2013 – October 2104.

Dr. Seyedabdollah Mirbozorgi, “High Speed Data Transfer electronics for CMUT based 3-D ICE Probes,” August 2014- January 2017.

Dr. Bernie Shieh, “Simulations and experiments for folded ICE implementation,” September 2017- August 2018.

Evren Arkan (ME), “Intravascular Ultrasound Imaging Guidewire with Wireless Readout,” September 2020- May 2023.

Ph.D. Students Supervised

Byungki Kim (ME), “Miniaturized Diffraction Based Interferometric Distance Measurement Sensor,” Supervised jointly with Prof. Tom Kurfess. Received Ph.D. degree in Summer 2004. Current position: Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Korea University of Technology and Education.

Jeff McLean (ME), “Interdigital Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducers for Microfluidic Applications,” Received Ph.D. degree in Fall 2004. Current position: Upper School Science Teacher at Episcopal School of Baton Rouge, Baton Rouge, LA.

Neal Hall (ME), “Micromachined Broadband Acoustic Transducers with Integrated Optical Displacement Detection,” Received Ph.D. degree in Fall 2004. Current position: Founder and CTO of Silicon Audio Inc., Austin, TX. Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Texas, Austin.

Mark Meacham (ME), “Micromachined Ultrasonic Droplet Generator for Energy Efficient Atomization of Liquid Fuels,” Supervised jointly with Prof. Andrei Fedorov. Received Ph.D. degree in Summer 2006. Current position: CEO of Open Cell Technologies LLC. Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, University of Washington at St. Louis, MO.

Wook Lee (ECE), “Optical Modeling and Implementation of Optoelectronics for Micromachined Broadband Optical Microphones,” Received Ph.D. degree in Fall 2006. Current position: Research Engineer at Samsung, Korea.

Rasim O. Guldiken (ME), “Micromachined Capacitive Ultrasonic Transducer Arrays for Intravascular Imaging,” Received Ph.D. in Summer 2008. Current position: Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at University of South Florida, Tampa, FL.

Logan McLeod (ME), “Hydrogen Separation via Micromachined Pd/Ag Alloy Membranes: Performance Limitations and Transient Response,” Supervised jointly with Prof. Fedorov. Received Ph.D. in Fall 2008. Current position: Director of Engineering, NTS, Dana Point, CA.

Omkar Karhade (ME), “Micromachined Optical Sensor Arrays for MEMS Metrology,” Received Ph.D. in Fall 2008. Current position: Process Technology Development Engineer at Intel, Chandler , AZ.

Shakeel Qureshi (ECE), “Micro Power CMOS Design for Hearing Aid Microphones with Optical Displacement Detection,” Spring 2004 to present. Received Ph.D. in Spring 2009. Current position: Technical Staff at Intersil. Supervised jointly with Prof. Hasler (ECE).

Hamdi Torun (ECE), “Micromachined Membrane-based Active Probes for Biomolecular Force Spectroscopy,” Received PhD in Fall 2009. Current Position: Assistant Professor of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Bogazici University, Turkey.

Baris Bicen (ME), “Micromachined Mechanical Sensors with Integrated Optical Detection,” Fall 2004 to present. Passed Ph.D. Received PhD in Spring 2010. Current Position: Process Technology Development Engineer at Intel, Chandler, AZ.

Zehra Parlak (ECE), “Quantitative Ultrasonic Atomic Force Microscopy of Thin Films and Subsurface Interfaces,” Received PhD in Fall 2010.Current Position: Postdoctoral researcher at Duke University.

Thomas P. Forbes (ME), “Electrohydrodynamics and Ionization in the Array of Micromachined UltraSonic Electrospray (AMUSE) Ion Source,” Received PhD in Spring 2010. Supervised jointly with Prof. Fedorov. Currently an NRC postdoctoral fellow at NIST.

Mark Varady (ME), “Fuel Reformation and Hydrogen Generation In Direct Droplet Impingement Reactors,” Received PhD in Fall 2010. Supervised jointly with Prof. Fedorov.

Gokce Gurun (ECE), “Integrated Electronics Design for High Frequency Intravascular Ultrasound Imaging,” Received PhD in Fall 2011. Supervised jointly with Prof. Jennier Hasler. Currently Technical Staff at Apple.

Jaime Zahorian (ECE), “Advanced CMUTs for IVUS Applications,” Received PhD in Fall 2012. Currently Technical Staff at Butterfly Network Inc., CT.

Sarp Satir (ECE), “Modeling and Optimization of Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducers,” Received PhD in Fall 2014. Currently a research engineer at Butterfly Network Inc., CT.

Drew Loney (ME), “Modeling of complex fluid ejection in micromachined ultrasonic ejectors,”. Received PhD in Summer 2014. Currently with US Army Corps.

Toby Xu (ME), “Material and array Design for CMUT based intravascular and intracardiac ultrasound imaging,” Received PhD in Spring 2015. Currently with Amazon.com.

Muhammad Rashid (ECE), “Integrated Electronics for Noise-based CMUT imaging,” Fall 2010 to present. Supervised jointly with Prof. Maysam Ghovanloo. Received PhD in Summer 2017. Currently with Impinj Semiconductor in Seattle, WA.

Bernie Shieh (ME), “Efficient Broadband Simulation of Fluid-Structure Coupling for Large Membrane-Type Acoustic Transducer Arrays,” Supervised jointly with Prof. Karim Sabra. Received PhD in Summer 2017. Currently a postdoc at Oxford University.

Shane Lani (ME), “Ultrasonic Subwavelength Focusing and Imaging using a 2D Membrane Metamaterial,” Supervised jointly with Prof. Karim Sabra. Received PhD in Spring 2015. Currently with ARL in Johns Hopkins University, MD.

Serife Tol (ME), “Structure-borne Elastic Wave Energy Harvesting Enhanced by Metamaterial Concepts,” Supervised jointly with Prof. Alper Erturk. Received PhD in Spring 2017. Started as Assistant Professor at University of Michigan in 2018.

Gwangrok Jung (ECE), “Integrated Circuit Design for CMUT based 3D ICE probe,” Received PhD in Fall 2019. Currently at Broadcom Inc.

Amirabbas Pirouz (ECE), “MEMS fabrication for 2-D ICE arrays,” Spring 2014-present. Passed PhD preliminary Exam in Fall 2013. Received PhD in Spring 2019.

Evren Arkan (ME), “Intravascular Ultrasound Imaging Guidewire with Wireless Readout,” Received PhD in Spring 2020.

Yusuf Samet Yaras (ECE), “Acousto-optical Sensor for Visible MRI Catheters without RF Heating,” Received PhD in Spring 2020.

Sushruta Surappa (ME), “Investigation of Parametrically Excited Capacitive Transducers for Wireless Power Transfer and Sensing,” Received PhD in Summer 2021. Current position: Postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University, CA.

Ahmad Rezvanitabar (ECE), “Integrated Electronics for Wireless Imaging Microsystems with CMUT Arrays,” Received PhD in Fall 2021. Current position: RFIC Design Engineer at Broadcom Inc., CA.

Ph.D. Students fully funded and partially supervised

Sheng-Yu Peng (ECE), “Charge-based Analog Circuit Design for Low-power High Efficiency Sensing and Classification.” Received Ph.D. in Summer 2008. Advisor: Prof. Jennifer Hasler.

Arindam Basu (ECE), “Analog circuit design for low-power high efficiency MEMS sensing.” Fall 2006 to present.  Received PhD in Spring 2010. Advisor: Prof. Jennifer Hasler.

Jaemyung Lim (ECE), “Integrated Circuit Design for Guidewire IVUS.” Received PhD in Spring 2017. Advisor: Prof. Maysam Ghovanloo.

M.S. Students Supervised

Matt Abercrombie (ME), “Acoustic microsensor with optical detection for high-temperature, high-pressure environments,” Received degree in August 2002. Current position: CardioMEMS, Atlanta, GA.

Laura Rowe (ME), “Through-wafer interconnects for 2-D Micromachined Capacitive Ultrasonic Transducer Arrays for Intravascular Imaging,” Received degree in August 2002. Current position: Project Engineer IMT, Santa Barbara, CA.

Joshua Knight (ME), “2-D Micromachined Capacitive Ultrasonic Transducer Arrays for Intravascular Imaging.” Received degree in May 2004. Current position: Cummins Inc., Columbus, IN.

Byron Van Gorp (ME), “Force Sensing Integrated Tip and Active Readout Structures with Improved Dynamics and Detection Range,” Received degree in April 2007. Current position: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA.

Abidin Guclu Onaran (ECE), “Fast AFM Imaging Using Integrated Acoustic and Electrostatic Actuation”, Fall 2000 to Fall 2009. Passed ECE Ph.D. Proposal in Fall 2006. Current position: Design Engineer at Silicon Audio Inc., Austin, TX.

Ceasar Garcia (ME), “Packaging and Characterization of MEMS Optical Microphones”, Received degree in November 2007. Current position: MicroAudio Inc., Austin, TX.

Rameen Hadizadeh (ME), “Novel Probe Structures for High Speed AFM”, Received degree in August 2009. Current position: Research engineer, Texas Instruments, Dallas, TX.

Sunny Jolly (ECE), “Detailed Optical Modeling of Diffraction-Based Micromachined Biomimetic Microphones,” Received degree in August 2009. Current position: Research engineer, Applied Physics Labs, Johns Hopkins University.

Kamran Jeelani (ME), “Packaging of Micromachined Optical Hearing Aid Microphones”, Received degree in November 2009.

Ofer Finkler (ECE), “Electrostatic Microactuator Control System for Force Spectroscopy”, Received degree in November 2009. Current position: Investment Analyst, DRW, Chicago, IL.

Mike Hochman (ME), “Investigation of Acoustic Crosstalk in CMUT Arrays”, Received degree in August 2011. Current position: Boeing Corporation, Seattle, WA.

Hasan Giray Oral (ME), “Modeling Active Time-Resolved Interaction Force Imaging,” Received degree in April 2012.

Fred Banser (ME), “Micromachined Biomimetic Optical Microphones with Improved Packaging and Power Consumption”, Received degree in April 2012. 

Chulyong Kim (ME), “Interface materials for CMUT imaging arrays”, Spring 2017. Current position: PhD student in GT ME.

Sowmya Sankanarayanan (ECE), “Power Link Design and Implementation for Wireless Intracranial Ultrasound Imaging System”, Fall 2019.

Brian Chen (ECE), Spring 2021, Current position: Apple, TX.

Charles Wei (ME), “Analysis and Design of Capacitive Parametric Transducers for Wireless Ultrasound Power Transfer”, Fall 2021. Current position: Sandia National Laboratories, CA.

Batin Mert Karahasanoglu (ECE), “Process Development And Characterization Of Piezoelectric Transducers On Flexible Substrates For High Frequency Ultrasound Applications”, Spring 2023. Current position: Simon-Kucher, BOS.

Undergraduate Students Supervised

Chih-Hao Chang, “Software Development for Micromachined Optical Microphone Characterization Setup,” Fall 2000 to present. Received PhD in ME from MIT, Summer 2008. Currently Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at University of Texas, Austin, TX.

Jared Dervan, “Imaging of Human Face Using Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducers,” supported by Georgia Tech President’s Undergraduate Research Award (PURA), Fall 2002.

Joe Kim, “Computerized Electrical Characterization of Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducers.” Spring 2003, Summer 2003 (supported by PURA), Fall 2003, Spring 2004.

Chris Kelly, “Computerized Acoustic Characterization of Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducers for Intravascular Ultrasound Imaging.” Spring 2003, Summer 2003 (supported by PURA), Fall 2003, Spring 2004, Summer 2004. Currently partner at Alston and Bird, LLC, Atlanta, GA.

Shaohui Foong, “Modeling and analysis of AFM data for cell elasticity measurement.” Spring 2004. Currently a PhD student at GT ME.

Sadat Shaikh, “Analysis of AFM force curves for cell elasticity measurements,” Spring 2005.

Mohammad Biswas, “Fabrication and testing of FIRAT probes.” NNIN REU program, Summer 2007.

Emad Shahid, “Control software development for the FIRAT probe,” Fall 2009.

Chulyong Kim, “Interface Materials for CMUT Imaging Arrays,” Fall 2014 – Summer 2016.

Kwon, Shinjae, “ICE catheter array characterization,” Summer 2017.

Eleena Nikfarjam, “Air transducer characterization,” Fall 2018.

Dylan Fife, “MRI antenna characterization,” Fall 2021. Current position: Master’s Student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MA.

Visiting Scholars Supervised

Hamdi Torun, M.S. student in Electrical Engineering, Koc University, Turkey. February 2005 – August 2005.

Selim Olcum, Ph.D. student in Electrical Engineering, Bilkent University, Turkey.  July 2006 – January 2007.

Onur Ferhanoglu, Ph.D. student in Electrical Engineering, Koc University, Turkey. October 2007 – February 2008

Yalcin Yamaner, Ph.D. student in Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Sabanci University, Turkey. September 2008 – January 2009.

Nezih Tolga Yardimci, B.S. Student in Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Middle East Technical University, Turkey, July-September 2011.

Yusuf Yaras, M.S. student in Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Koc University, Turkey, August 2015-December 2015.

Yigit Topoglu, B.S. student in Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Middle East Technical University, Turkey, July-September 2017.

M. Sait Kilinc, M.S. student in Electrical Engineering, Istanbul Technical University, Turkey, October 2018-August 2019.

Dr. Coskun Tekes, “Beamforming and Imaging for CMUT-based Intravascular and Intracardiac Catheters,” June-August 2019. Assistant Professor at Kennesaw State University.

Research Engineers Supervised

Thomas Carpenter, Electrical Engineer, November 2014-October 2016.

Dr. Coskun Tekes, “Beamforming and Imaging for CMUT-based Intravascular and Intracardiac Catheters,” September 2010 – August 2018. Currently Assistant Professor at Kennesaw State University.

Dr. Sarp Satir, “CMUT modeling and acousto-optic MRI transmission lines,” January 2015- October 2016.