Mohammad Alhefdi, Ph.D.
I received my Ph.D. in computer engineering from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2022. I have been working on the smart city domain, emphasizing IoT and Blockchain, by investigating and applying complex and graph theory techniques to analyze and design complex systems. My research interests are in complexity theory and complex systems domains. I have been working as a researcher in Integrated Systems Center at UAB. I like to travel and spend time with my family in my free time. I am also a big fan of the Real Madrid soccer team.
Joseph Olson, Ph.D.
I have a B.S. in Mathematics from UAB and a Ph.D. in Physics from Harvard University. As a graduate student, I became interested in neuroscience and joined a computational neuroscience lab. I worked on various projects including computer modeling of plasticity in spiking neural networks, analysis of intra-cranial recordings in epileptic patients, and analysis of calcium imaging in mice. I am generally interested in understanding how both the “outside” and “inside” worlds (e.g. the physics of nature and the mechanics of ourselves). I find motor control and brain-computer interfaces interesting because it involves the interaction of these two systems. For down time, I have lately enjoyed bird watching, dabbling in music, and hanging out with my fiancé and friends.
Zachary Irwin, Ph.D.
I have a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Michigan. As a graduate student, I studied neural interfaces in non-human primates and in humans to restore motor control following injuries such as paralysis and amputation. Currently, my lab at UAB intends to use our foundation in translational brain-machine interface research to dive more deeply into the neurophysiology of the sensorimotor system in humans. Outside the lab, I love to tinker with electronics, get beaten up constantly by my sons (one and four years old), and binge-watch TV with my wife.
