Meet the CILab


Featured Publications:
  • Hansen, J.H.L., Ali, H., Saba, J.N., M.C., R.C., Mamun, N., Ghosh, R., Brueggeman A. (2019) “CCi-MOBILE: Design and evaluation of a cochlear implant and hearing aid research platform for speech scientists and engineers,” in IEEE EMBS I nternational Conference on Biomedical and Health Informatics (BHI), Chicago, IL, pp. 1-4. doi: 10.1109/BHI.2019.8834652.
  • Wang, D., Hansen, J.H.L. (2018) “Speech enhancement for cochlear implant recipients,” The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 143(4): 2244-2254. doi: https://doi.org/10.1121/1.5031112
    • External Profiles: Google Scholar   Personal Website
    CRSS Website


    Featured Publications:
  • Hansen, J.H.L., Lee, J., Ali, H., Saba, J.N. (2020). “A speech perturbation strategy based on ‘Lombard Effect’ for enhanced intelligibility for cochlear implant listeners,” Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 147, 1418–1428. doi:10.1121/10.0000690
  • Saba, J.N., Ali, H., Hansen, J.H.L. (2018) “Formant priority channel selection for an “n-of-m” sound processing strategy for cochlear implants,” The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 144(6): 3371-3380. doi: https://doi.org/10.1121/1.5080257
    • Dissertation Title (Spring 2021): “Leveraging Landmark Acoustic Features in Cochlear Implant Signal Processing”
    External Profiles: LinkedIn   Google Scholar
    Resume for Juliana Angell (Saba)


    Dissertation Title (Fall 2021): "Advancements in Hardware/Firmware and Applications for the CCi-MOBILE: Cochlear Implant Research Platform"
    Featured Publications:
  • Ghosh, R., Ali, H., Hansen, J.H.R. (2021) "CCi-MOBILE: A Portable Real Time Speech Processing Platform for Cochlear Implant and Hearing Research," Submitted to IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering: Feburary 23, 2021. Accepted: September 14, 2021.
  • Ghosh, R., Chandra Shekar, R.C., Hansen, J.H.L. (2020) "Portable Smart-Space Research Interface to Predetermine Environment Acoustics for Cochlear Implant and Hearing aid users with CCi-MOBILE," 2020 42nd Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society (EMBC), 2020, pp. 4221-4224, doi: 10.1109/EMBC44109.2020.9175825.
  • Mamun, N., Ghosh, R., Hansen, J.H.L. (2019) "Quantifying Cochlear Implant Users' Ability for Speaker Identification using CI Auditory Stimuli," in Proceedings from the Inernational Conference on Speech Communication (INTERSPEECH), Gratz, Austria. arXiv:1908.00031v1
    • External Profiles: Personal Website   LinkedIn  
    Resume for Ria Ghosh


    Dissertation Title (Fall 2021): “Non-linguistic Sound Analysis and Safety Evaluation Framework for Cochlear Implants”
    Featured Publications:
  • Shekar, R.C.M.C., Hansen, J.H.L. (2021) “An evaluation framework for research platforms to advance cochlear implant/hearing aid technology: A case study with CCi-MOBILE,” The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 149(1): 229-245. doi: https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0002989
  • Charan, R.M.C., Ali, H., Hansen, J.H.L. (2018) “Testing paradigms for assistive hearing devices in diverse acoustic environments,” in Proceedings from Annual Conference of the International Speech Communication Association (INTERSPEECH), Hyderabad, India, pp. 1686-1690. doi: 10.21437/interspeech.2018-1471
    • External Profiles: ResearchGate   LinkedIn
    Resume for Ram Charan Shekar


    Dissertation Title: “Deep Neural Network based Speech Enhancement for Cochlear Implant Recipients”
    Featured Publications:
  • Mamun, N., Zilany, S.A. (2021) "An intrusive method for estimating speech intelligibility from noisy and distorted signals". The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 150:1762-1778.
  • Mamun, N., Khorram, S., Hansen, J.H.L. (2019) “Convolutional Neural Network-based Speech Enhancement for Cochlear Implant Recipients, INTERSPEECH 2019, 15-19 September 2019, Graz, Austria.
  • Mamun, N., Ghosh, R., Hansen, J.H.L. (2019) “Quantifying Cochlear Implant Users’ Ability for Speaker Identification using CI Auditory Stimuli, INTERSPEECH 2019, 15-19 September 2019, Graz, Austria.
    • External Profiles: Google Scholar   LinkedIn   Personal Website
    Resume for Nursadul Mamun


    Dissertation Title: “Speech to Singing Conversion Using Generative Adversarial Networks”
    Publications:
  • Brueggeman, A., Hansen, J.H.L. (2020) "Effect of spectral complexity reduction and number of instruments on musical enjoyment with cochlear implants." Proceedings from Interspeech 2020, 4636-4640, doi: 10.21437/Interspeech.2020-3034
    • External Profile: LinkedIn
    Resume for Ava Brueggeman


    Dissertation Title: In Progress
    External Profile: LinkedIn

    Dissertation Title: In Progress
    External Profile: LinkedIn
    Resume for Samuel Okei


    Join Our Team

    The Cochlear Implant Processing Laboratory at UT-Dallas currently has a post-doctoral position avaliable in the area of assistive hearing devices and signal processing algorithmic development. For more information about the position, see the posting below or email [email protected] Eligible canidiates should email their CV and areas of interest to Dr. John Hansen.
  • CILab Post-Doctoral Posting
  • Posted May 20, 2020 (Active as of September 2021)

    • Team Bios

    About Dr. John H.L. Hansen

    Dr. Hansen has served as the principal investigator of the CILab taking over for Dr. Philip Loizou in 2012. He currently carries the following distinguishments: Associate Dean for Research, Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science, Distinguished University Chair in Telecommunications Engineering, Professor, Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Erik Jonsson School, Professor, School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences (Speech and Hearing), Center for Robust Speech Systems, Coordinator, IEEE Fellow, ISCA Fellow, IEEE SLTC Past TC Chair, OSAC-SPEAKER (Vice-Chair), ISCA President (2017-19, 2019-22)
    Current Position: Center Director/Lab Director










    About Dr. Juliana N. Angell (Saba)

    Recently graduated from the CILab in May of 2021, I am continuing my academic journey as a post-doctoral researcher and lab manager. My research includes developing sound coding strategies for cochlear implants that deliver enhanced stimuli for individual components of speech known to provide intelligibility benefits and incorporate Lombard Effect pre-processing strategies and perturbation algorithms. Prior to the CILab, I received my BS and MS in Bioengineering at UT-Dallas working in the BONE Lab with Dr. Danieli Rodrigues developing dental implant systems to reduce the negative effects of bone cement as well as investigating the rheological, cytotoxicity, and electrochemical nature of cement and titanium interactions. When I am not in the lab, I am usually running around North Dallas (literally running), spending quality time outside with my husband and our cattle-lab, or serving at Watermark.
    Current Position: Post-doctoral Researcher/Lab Manager




    About Ria Ghosh

    I am a Computer/Hardware Engineer, passionate about making micro-controllers, FPGAs and Printed circuit boards function in a way that my creative mind wishes them to, by programming them mostly in C, VHDL and Arduino. When 'not breaking parts down' I like to do a bit of everything- be it singing, dancing, playing the guitar, sports and what not!, mostly because everyone and everything around me amuses me so much that I have visions of 'what-if' I had that talent. I also love organizing get-togethers and networking with all kinds of people which helps me get a broader perspective of what all is happening in the world, outside my own small shell. I came to U.S. 5 years ago, from India, started with a master's at UT-Dallas, and continued with my PhD as a Research Assistant at the CRSS-CI Lab to support the hearing-impaired community in the smallest way possible. 😊
    Current Position: Y4 PhD Student













    About Ram Charan M.C. Shekar

    I am Ram Charan M C and I am from India. CI Lab has been my home and UT-Dallas is one of the best universities! I am passionate about cooking/nutrition/food, travel & lifestyle, gaming, astronomy, science & tech, decoloniality and civilizational memories! Not confined to LABELs 😜 I am currently a research assistant in the CILab working on non-linguistic sounds as it pertains to cochlear implant listeners, things such as alarms, pets, household noises (door hinge, water faucet, etc.).
    Current Position: Y5 PhD Student















    About Nursadul Mamun

    I, Nursadul Mamun, am a researcher in the field of Electrical Engineering and my research, more specifically, is focused on audio, signal, and language processing with the help of human auditory systems to improve speech understanding for cochlear implant users and listeners with hearing loss. This includes formulating speech enhancement algorithms for cochlear implant users and designing research platforms for cochlear implant researchers. I also contribute to developing algorithms in speech intelligibility, quality metrics, and speaker identification systems in naturalistic environments. I was born in Chittagong, Bangladesh. I received B.Sc. in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from CUET, Bangladesh and M.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering from University of Malaya, Malaysia. Currently, I am a PhD candidate in Electrical Engineering at The University of Texas at Dallas and working as a research assistant at the CRSS-CILab. I enjoy travelling, cooking, and playing soccer and tennis in my spare time.
    Current Position: Y3 PhD Student




    About Avamarie (Ava) Brueggeman

    I'm starting my 4th year as an electrical engineering PhD student at UT Dallas. I'm from Reedsburg, Wisconsin, and got my bachelor's in electrical engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville in 2018 and my master's in computer science at UT Dallas in 2021. I chose UT Dallas after being connected to Dr. John Hansen by my college research advisor, Dr. Hynek Boril, and being drawn to the Center for Robust Speech Systems and Cochlear Implant Laboratory. In my free time I like reading, playing video games, and hanging out with my husband and our cat Marbles.
    Current Position: Y4 PhD Student







    About Hazem (Haz) Younis

    I’m Hazem Younis from Egypt. I graduated from UW-Platteville WI in 2019 with a Bachelors in Electrical Engineering & emphases in computer and communications. I am now a 2nd year PhD student working on an IoT project to help expand the accessibility of current Signal Processing hardware for the researchers in the field of cochlear implants, hearing aid, and speech community. When I’m not working on projects I’m usually cooking meals, at the gym, gaming, or socializing with friends.
    Current Position: Y2 PhD Student



    About Samuel O. Okei

    My name is Samuel Oghenetega Okei. I am from Nigeria, and I am computer engineering graduate from Texas Tech University. My research is on machine learning and embedded system programming. I am a big fan of Japanese animations and American sitcoms. I am also an Artificial Intelligence fanatic. I chose UT Dallas for a number of reasons, but the most important is the fact that the school started out as a research institute and have more facilities for graduate students than most other schools.
    Current Position: Y1 PhD Student