Experience

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  MYNERVA

  • Zurich, Switzerland

  • Software Engineer

    • Sep 2023 - Present
    • Zurich, Switzerland

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  Neuroengineering Lab - ETHZ

  • Zürich, Switzerland

  • Master Thesis - Neuroengineering Lab

    • Feb 2022 - Sep 2022
    • Zürich, Switzerland

    Title: Developing a Realistic Computational Model For Vagus Nerve StimulationStarting point was an existing biophysical computational model for cervical vagus nerve stimulation (illustrated below). It could determine how much charge has to be injected by a monopolar square pulse in order to recruit large myelinated fibers.• Integrated histological data of precise fiber placements and designations as well as a computational model for unmyelinated fibers.• Built a parametric generator to easily synthesize arbitrary multipolar stimulation policies.• Developed a novel method (dynamic discretization) to more efficiently simulate unmyelinated nerve fibers, reducing the required computation time by an order of magnitude while inducing less than 0.5% error.• Developed an additional method (longitudinal truncation) to more efficiently simulate all nerve fibers, reducing the required computation time by up to an order of magnitude while inducing less than 0.5% error.• Further optimized the pipeline and implemented various technical improvements, such as leaner code and high-performance cluster support, which combined with the previously mentioned algorithms boosted the computational efficiency of the pipeline by three to four orders of magnitude in total.• Showed that considering the 3D structure of fascicles, including merging and branching, causes the estimated recruitment thresholds to vary by about 15% compared to a model with linearly extruded fascicles.• Showed that knowledge of fiber clustering, if present, can significantly improve the selectivity of tailored stimulation policies synthesized using the computational model.• Showed that variations of location and rotation of a helical cuff electrode with 8 contacts during surgical placement do not significantly effect the achievable fascicular selectivity. Here 18 different electrode configurations were evaluated.All previously mentioned findings have been verified using two distinct nerve models.

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  ETH Zurich, Department of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering

  • Zürich, Switzerland

  • Graduate Research Project - Laboratory of Biosensors and Bioelectronics (LBB)

    • Sep 2021 - Feb 2022
    • Zürich, Switzerland

    Title: Single Axon Physiology on CMOS Based Microelectrode Arrays• Designed PDMS structures to enable the electrical recording and stimulation of neuronal networks grown on CMOS microelectrode arrays at single axon resolution• Seeded, imaged and electrically recorded neural cell cultures and processed spike data

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  ETH Zurich, Department of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering

  • Zürich, Switzerland

  • Graduate Research Project - Neuromorphic Cognitive Systems Group

    • Feb 2021 - Jun 2021
    • Zürich, Switzerland

    Title: Exploiting Temporal Dynamics of Spiking Autoencoders for the Processing of Biosignals• Investigated a novel autoencoder-based spiking neural network architecture for the processing of biosignals in the context of actuating a robotic hand using Python and Brian2

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  NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

  • NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center, Palmdale, CA, United States of America

  • Bachelor Thesis - NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center

    • Oct 2019 - Mar 2020
    • NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center, Palmdale, CA, United States of America

    Title: Development and Evaluation of a Coma Free Secondary Mirror Mechanism Concept for SOFIAGrade: 1.0/1.0 - Very Good with Distinction• Conceptualized and evaluated next generation coma-free secondary mirror chopping mechanisms for the airborne SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy) telescope, yielding the concept of an extremly compact spherical parallel manipulator• Derived and analyzed the full kinematic model of this design• Optimized the geometric parameters for accuracy using a genetic algorithm in Matlab• Designed and implemented flexure joints for improved precision and reduced abrasion

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  Avy

  • Amsterdam, Netherlands

  • Hardware Engineer

    • May 2019 - Sep 2019
    • Amsterdam, Netherlands

    Hardware engineering intern at the drones-for-good startup Avy• Rapid prototyping using in-house machinery (e.g. 3D printers, lasercutters)• Performance and structural analyses of flight tests performed with prototype

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  University of Stuttgart

  • Stuttgart, Germany

  • Undergraduate Research Assistant

    • Apr 2018 - Aug 2018
    • Stuttgart, Germany

    • Tutored students of the module “Construction Elements” and assisted with exercises in weekly seminars

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  Hybrid Engine Development - HyEnD e.V.

  • Stuttgart, Germany

  • Sounding Rocket Systems Engineer

    • 2017 - 2018
    • Stuttgart, Germany

    Member of the Student Rocket Team Hybrid Engine Development - HyEnD• Led a team of five responsible for the design of an internal cryogenic fluid system• Designed and manufactured a scalable CFRP dual-parachute recovery system

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  Siemens

  • Mülheim an der Ruhr, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

  • Metallurgy Internship

    • 2016 - 2016
    • Mülheim an der Ruhr, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

    • Learned the basics of welding and conventional/CNC metal machining

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  European Space Agency - ESA

  • Darmstadt, Hesse, Germany

  • Summer Internship

    • 2015 - 2015
    • Darmstadt, Hesse, Germany