Bio of Hasan Ayaz

Hasan Ayaz is an Associate Professor at Drexel University, School of Biomedical Engineering, Science & Health Systems, with adjunct affiliations the University of Pennsylvania and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia; and a core member of the Cognitive Neuroengineering and Quantitative Experimental Research Collaborative. He received his BSc. in Electrical and Electronics Engineering at Boğaziçi University and received Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering in 2010 from Drexel University. For more than 17 years, he worked on the development of miniaturized continuous wave near infrared spectroscopy systems focusing on neuroimaging. He has developed tools for monitoring brain that are now utilized routinely for clinical and field research in university, governmental and corporate labs. He also led the software development of the first optical-brain-monitoring medical device, Infrascanner, which is a portable-handheld instrument that utilizes near infrared to detect hematoma in head trauma patients. Dr. Ayaz’s research involves understanding the neural mechanisms related to human cognitive, and motor functioning with a focus on real-world contexts, mobile neuroimaging, and neuroengineering approaches for neuroergonomics applications. His research has been funded by federal agencies, corporate partners and foundations, and output 200+ publications.

Dr. Ayaz’s volunteer services to Turkish American community started in his first years as a Ph.D. student. He has co-founded Drexel Turkish Student Association and served as its first president in 2006-2007.  He has been serving TASSA in various capacities, as the student representative at the board from 2007 to 2009, later in technical committees and IT committee chair; and currently as Vice-President of TASSA.