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: 10.1121/1.5031112
    • External Profiles: Google Scholar   Personal Website
    CRSS Website


    Featured Publications:
  • Saba, J.N., and Hansen, J.H.L. (2022). “The effects of Lombard perturbation on speech intelligibility in noise for normal hearing and cochlear implant listeners,” Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 151: 1007-1121. doi: 10.1121/10.0009377
  • Saba J.N., and Hansen J.H.L. (2022). “Speech Modification for Intelligibility in Cochlear Implant Listeners: Individual Effects of Vowel- and Consonant-Boosting,” Proceedings from INTERSPEECH, Incheon, Korea, September 18-22, 2022. doi: 10.21437/Interspeech.2022-11131
  • 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: 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): “Non-linguistic Sound Analysis and Safety Evaluation Framework for Cochlear Implants”
    Featured Publications:
  • Shekar, R.C.M.C., Hansen, J.H.L. (2022). "A convolutional neural network-based framework for analysis and assessment of non-linguistic sound classification and enhancement for normal hearing and cochlear implant listeners," Journal of the Acoustic Society of America, 125(5): 2720-2737. doi: 10.1121/10.0014955.
  • 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: 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 (Summer 2023): “Deep Neural Network based Speech Enhancement for Cochlear Implant Recipients”
    Featured Publications:
  • Mamun, N., Ghosh, R., Hansen, J.H.L. (2023) "Familiar and unfamiliar speaker recognition assessment and system emulation for cochlear implant users," Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 153: 1293-1306. doi: 10.1121/10.0017216.
  • 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.
    • External Profiles: Google Scholar   LinkedIn   Personal Website
    Resume for Nursadul Mamun


    Dissertation Title: “Speech to Singing Conversion Using Generative Adversarial Networks”
    Featured 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
    Featured Publications:
  • Younis, H., and Hansen, J.H.L. "Challenges in real-time-embedded IoT Command Recognition," 2021 IEEE 7th World Forum on Internet of Things (WF-IoT), New Orleans, LA, USA, 2021, pp. 848-851, doi: 10.1109/WF-IoT51360.2021.9595903.

    • External Profile: LinkedIn
    Resume for Hazem Younis


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


    Dissertation Title: In Progress
    External Profile: LinkedIn
    Resume for Taylor Lawson


    CILab Alumni




    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 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: Post-doctoral Researcher




















    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: Y5 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: Y5 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: Y3 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: Y2 PhD Student



    About Tawlor Lawson

    I am a first year PhD student in computer engineering who has just started working with the CI Lab. I graduated from The University of Texas at Dallas with my master’s in applied cognition and neuroscience with a specialization in human-computer interaction. My graduate research has focused on artificial intelligence and its neurological impact on the perceiver Recently, I have worked on application development for cochlear implant users. I am excited to develop visual and technological interfaces that contribute to audio perception. I also work as a staff member for UTD in the Housing department. When I am not working, I am doing yoga, running, or spending time with my dogs.
    Current Position: Y1 PhD Student