CV

Contact Information

Name Shayan Khodabakhsh
Professional Title M.S. Electrical Engineering · University of Rhode Island
Email skhodabakhsh@uri.edu
Location Department of Electrical, Computer, and Biomedical Engineering, Kingston, Rhode Island 02881

Professional Summary

M.S. Electrical Engineering student at the University of Rhode Island working on computer vision, multimodal sensor fusion (EEG, EMG, IMU, motion capture), and machine learning for clinical movement assessment. Two peer-reviewed journal publications in wearable sensor validation.

Experience

  • 2026 - 2026

    Kingston, RI

    Graduate Researcher (Prof. Abiri) — A Vision-Language Coach for Ingestive Behaviors (NIH R01, DIBS)
    Dept. of Electrical, Computer, and Biomedical Engineering, URI
    • Fine-tuned a Qwen2.5-VL vision-language model with LoRA on profile-view meal video to jointly classify ingestive-behavior quality and generate clinician-style coaching feedback.
    • Designed a multi-bite temporal windowing strategy capturing chewing rhythm and inter-bite pauses, improving classification accuracy over per-bite clips.
    • Showed a single LoRA adapter on a VLM matches the classification accuracy of a prior multi-head architecture while adding language generation in one pass.
    • First-author poster, ECBE Graduate Student Poster Competition.
  • 2026 - Present

    Kingston, RI

    Graduate Researcher (Prof. Besio) — Tripolar Concentric Ring Electrode (TCRE) EEG Comparison
    Dept. of Electrical, Computer, and Biomedical Engineering, URI
    • Built a unified Python preprocessing and analysis pipeline to compare Paste, Gel, and saline-soaked Felt TCRE configurations on resting-state and visual-evoked-potential recordings.
    • Used scale-invariant cross-setup metrics (alpha SNR, alpha reactivity, spectrogram SSIM) to handle hardware scaling differences across acquisitions.
    • Ran preprocessing sensitivity analyses and per-subject VEP diagnostics that informed cohort and exclusion decisions for the manuscript (in preparation, Sensors MDPI).
  • 2026 - 2026

    Kingston, RI

    Graduate Researcher (Prof. Abiri) — PRIME Closed-Loop Cobot
    Dept. of Electrical, Computer, and Biomedical Engineering, URI
    • Fine-tuned YOLOv26 on task-specific image datasets for object detection and action recognition driving the closed-loop perception module of a human-robot teaming cobot.
    • Integrated the perception module with the cobot stack and ran end-to-end task evaluation experiments.
    • Manuscript under review.
  • 2025 - Present

    Kingston, RI

    Graduate Researcher — Automated Neuromuscular Assessment with Computer Vision and Robotics
    Dept. of Electrical, Computer, and Biomedical Engineering, URI
    • Developing a non-invasive assessment system using Socially Assistive Robots (SAR) to automate standardized neuromuscular tests.
    • Implementing computer vision pipelines (Python/OpenCV) for 3D hand pose estimation to quantify fine motor deficits without markers.
    • Designing closed-loop algorithms to provide real-time feedback to patients during unsupervised rehabilitation sessions.
  • 2025 - Present

    Kingston, RI

    Graduate Researcher — Multimodal EEG and Motion Capture for Movement Decoding
    Dept. of Electrical, Computer, and Biomedical Engineering, URI
    • Engineered a hardware synchronization solution to fuse high-density EEG (g.tec) data with optical motion capture systems.
    • Optimizing data acquisition protocols to reduce latency between cortical activity and recorded kinematic events.
    • Analyzing neural correlates of grasping and reaching movements for potential Brain-Computer Interface applications.
  • 2024 - 2024

    Kingston, RI

    Research Assistant (Prof. D'Andrea) — Biomechanical and Myoelectric Pattern Recognition in ALS
    Biomechanics and Motion Analysis Lab, URI (ALS Foundation No. 1159154)
    • Synchronized EMG signals with gait kinematics to identify pathological movement patterns.
    • Used Visual3D motion capture software to model joint mechanics and muscle activation timing.
  • 2023 - 2023

    Kingston, RI

    Research Assistant (Prof. Chapman) — Wearable Inertial Sensor Validation
    Biomechanics and Wearable Sensors Lab, URI
    • Validated commercial IMU sensor accuracy against gold-standard optical motion capture.
    • Analyzed sensor drift and calibration errors in measuring sagittal knee angles during dynamic tasks.

Education

  • 2025 - Present

    Kingston, RI, USA

    M.S.
    University of Rhode Island
    Electrical Engineering
    • Department of Electrical, Computer, and Biomedical Engineering
  • 2020 - 2022

    Tehran, Iran

    M.S.
    Shahid Beheshti University
    Applied Exercise Physiology
    • Top 5 cumulative GPA in cohort
    • Thesis: Acute Effects of Lunge Exercise with Blood-Flow Restriction on Amateur Male Basketball Players
  • 2014 - 2020

    Tehran, Iran

    B.S.
    Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch
    Sports Engineering

Awards

  • 2024
    Dr. Thomas "Doc" Manfredi Student Research Fund Awardee
    University of Rhode Island
  • 2023
    Finalist, Student Investigator Award and Presidential Cup Award
    New England American College of Sports Medicine
  • 2023
    Dr. Thomas "Doc" Manfredi Student Research Fund Awardee
    University of Rhode Island
  • 2023
    Dean's Scholarship
    University of Rhode Island
  • 2022
    Top 5 Cumulative GPA, M.S. cohort
    Shahid Beheshti University

Skills

Programming (Advanced): Python, MATLAB, R
Machine Learning & Computer Vision (Advanced): PyTorch, Keras, OpenCV, Hugging Face Transformers, LoRA / PEFT, YOLO, PyBullet
Biomedical Signal & Sensor Tools (Advanced): MNE-Python, g.tec EEG, Qualisys, Motive, Visual3D, StretchSense
Statistics (Intermediate): SPSS, Prism GraphPad, bootstrap methods

Certificates

  • Fundamentals of Deep Learning - NVIDIA / University of Rhode Island (2024)
  • A Deep Understanding of Deep Learning - Udemy (2024)
  • Master the Fourier Transformation and Its Applications - Udemy (2024)
  • MATLAB Fundamentals - MathWorks / University of Rhode Island (2023)

Languages

Persian : Native
English : Full professional proficiency

Interests

Research: Computer vision, Vision-language models, EEG / BCI, Multimodal sensor fusion, Socially assistive robotics