EECS Graduate Student Awarded Beall Applied Innovation Fellowship

June 28, 2022 – Ahmadreza Danesh, a doctoral student in electrical engineering and computer science, has been awarded a 2022 UCI Beall Applied Innovation Graduate Fellowship.

The program offers UCI graduate and doctoral students, as well as postdocs, opportunities related to innovation, entrepreneurship, and the translation and commercialization of university research. It also includes a $5,000 stipend and access to special events and networking opportunities. Fellows are encouraged to work on the commercialization of their research. This dovetails well with Danesh’s goals as he works on an innovative process to significantly improve the sensitivity and usability of noninvasive brain signal acquisition systems.

Danesh’s work, which has been officially submitted to both the UCI Beall Applied Innovation Office and the U.S. Patent Office, pertains to brain-computer interface systems used primarily to restore motor function in patients affected by paralysis, spinal cord injury or other neurological diseases. His work is done in the Nanoscale Communication Integrated Circuits Labs led by Payam Heydari, Chancellor’s Professor of electrical engineering and computer science. “In addition,” said Danesh, “this invention has major impacts far beyond applications revolving around motor function restoration. It will potentially transform health-monitoring wearable sensors and revolutionize the game and automotive industries.”

Danesh shared, “Receiving the Graduate Innovation Fellowship is a great honor and opportunity for me to take a step further in the path of finalizing the design, fabricating the prototype and eventually commercializing the proposed system. This prestigious fellowship not only supports the progress of this innovation, but also bolsters the opportunity to reach out to potential customers in the medical device field.”

– Rachel Karas