BME HEAD CANDIDATE SEMINAR

Monday, February 26, 2024

9:00 – 9:50 am, MJIS 1097 and via Zoom

Zoom link: https://purdue-edu.zoom.us/j/91954310211?pwd=TWF2ZzJBN1EwU1pwZWM2RE1kN3Judz09

“NPRLab Research & Vision for the

Dane A. Miller Head of the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering”

Kevin J. Otto
Professor of Biomedical Engineering, J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering

University of Florida

Dr. Kevin J. Otto is a Professor in the J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME) at the University of Florida (UF), where his research interests include neural engineering, device-tissue interfaces, and neurostimulation. He joined UF in 2014 as part of the UF Pre-eminence program, coming from Purdue University, where he was an Associate Professor in the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering and the Department of Biological Sciences.

He received the BS degree in chemical engineering from Colorado State University (1997), and both the MS degree (2002) and PhD degree (2003) in Bioengineering from Arizona State University. From 2003 to 2004 he was a Research Fellow in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Michigan where his work focused on brain-machine interface systems and implantable devices. From 2004 to 2006 he was a Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Central Systems Laboratory in the Kresge Hearing Research Institute in the Department of Otolaryngology at the University of Michigan where his work focused on cochlear implants. He was an Assistant Professor and Associate Professor at Purdue University from 2006-2014.

An accomplished leader, he served as the Senior Associate Chair of the UF BME Department from 2020-2023, leading the academic programs through the COVID pandemic and initializing ABET Accreditation preparations. He also led by serving as PI on several multidisciplinary, multi-investigator research projects including a 4-year NIH Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Program U01, and two separate DARPA Programs, a 4-year Targeted Neuroplasticity Training (TNT) Program and a 3-year Reliable Neural Interface Technologies (RE-NET) Program. While faculty at Purdue University he served as the Awards Committee Chair for the Weldon School from 2011-2014 and as the Faculty Advisor for the Weldon School Graduate Student Association from 2007-2014. He was also very active in the Purdue Sigma Xi chapter, serving as the Distinguished Lecture Committee Chair from 2012-2014. A dedicated mentor, he has supervised over 56 post-doctoral and graduate trainees, and over 115 undergraduate students. He has received many honors and recognitions, including the UF Doctoral Dissertation Advisor/Mentoring Award, the UF BME Service Award, the UF BME Research Award, the Weldon School Faculty Service Award, and the Outstanding Faculty Award from the Weldon School Graduate Student Association. He is a Fellow of the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and has served on numerous editorial and advisory boards.

~ Dr. Otto is a candidate for the Dane A. Miller Head of the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering ~