Analog Circuits and Biological Systems Group

Professor Rahul Sarpeshkar

People

Professor Rahul Sarpeshkar is a tenured professor at MIT. His longstanding and frequent work in analog and biological computation, his recent book, Ultra Low Power Bioelectronics: Fundamentals, Biomedical Applications, and Bio-inspired Systems, and his recent NATURE paper “Synthetic Analog Computation in Living Cells” have pioneered the use of analog circuits in synthetic and systems biology: Analog Synthetic Biology. His unique Analog Circuits and Biological Systems lab creates both wet DNA-protein and dry electronic analog circuits, many of which have achieved world records. He holds over 30 patents and has authored more than 125 publications, including one that was featured on the cover of Nature.
He has won several awards for his interdisciplinary analog computation, bio-inspired, and biomedical research including the NSF Career award, the ONR Young Investigator award, and the Packard Fellow award given to outstanding faculty. He was a speaker at the 2011 ‘Frontiers of Engineering’ conference hosted by the National Academy of Engineering. His recent work on a glucose fuel cell for medical implants was featured by BBC Radio, the Economist, and listed among Scientific American’s top ten breakthroughs of 2012. Professor Sarpeshkar obtained Bachelor’s degrees in Electrical Engineering and Physics at MIT. After completing his PhD at CalTech, he joined Bell Labs as a physics member of technical staff in their department of biological computation. He then joined MIT as a faculty member.

CURRENT MEMBERS

	Ramiz Daniel Postdoctoral Research Fellow Ramiz Daniel works on analog synthetic biology. He is the first author of the NATURE paper on synthetic analog computation in living cells (doi:10.1038/nature12148).
	Jaewook Kim Postdoctoral Research Fellow Jaewook Kim works on analog circuits for electrochemistry and synthetic biology.
	Ji Zeng Postdoctoral Research Fellow Ji Zeng is a microbiologist who works on electrochemistry and synthetic biology.
	Areen Banerjee Postdoctoral Research Fellow Areen Banerjee is a microbiologist who works on electrochemistry and synthetic biology.
	Sung Sik Woo Graduate Student Sung Sik Woo works on analog supercomputing chips for synthetic and systems biology.
	Jonathan Teo Graduate Student Jonathan Teo is a computational biologist who works on analog computation.
	Benjamin Rapoport Graduate Student Ben works on glucose fuel cells for brain implants and on novel analog computing algorithms.
	Woradorn Wattanapanitch Graduate Student Woradorn works on analog electronic chips for brain implants.
	Isaac Weaver Undergraduate in Physics and Biophysics Isaac Weaver works on various lab projects involving fuel cells and microfluidics.

FORMER MEMBERS

	Anne Ziegler Anne worked on analog circuit models of metabolism in living cells.
	Soumyajit Mandal Soumyajit Mandal worked on analog supercomputing chips for systems and synthetic biology.
	Tim Lu Tim Lu worked on a model of the cochlea that showed how it performed fast amplification with slow outer hair cells. He also worked on gain control circuits in a cochlear-implant processor.
	Scott Arfin Scott worked on energy-recycling nerve stimulation and on analog circuits for wireless brain-machine interfaces.
	Serhii Zhak Serhii M. Zhak worked on low-power analog and bio-inspired circuits for hearing and cochlear implants.
	Keng-Hoong Wee Keng Hoong worked on analog and bio-inspired circuits for creating the first-ever analog silicon vocal tract.
	Lorenzo Turicchia Lorenzo Turicchia worked on algorithms for noise reduction in hearing, cochlear implants, cardiac monitoring, and brain-machine interfaces.
	Micah O’Halloran Micah O’Halloran worked on analog-memory and ultra-low-power imager circuits.
	Alex Mevay Alex Mevay worked on a predictive comparator with adaptive control to vastly improve energy efficiency.
	Maziar Tavakoli-Dastjerdi Maziar Tavakoli-Dastjerdi worked on an ultra-sensitive MEMS capacitance sensor and on high-performance photoreceptors and pulse oximeter circuits.
	Heemin Yang Heemin worked on an ultra-energy-efficient time-based analog-to-digital converter inspired by the operation of spiking neurons.
	Chris Salthouse Chris worked on low-power linear and nonlinear filter and spectral analysis architectures for cochlear implants.
	Michael Baker Michael worked on low-power microphone and AGC circuits for cochlear implants and on ultra-energy-efficient wireless power links for bionic implants.
	Ji-Jon Sit Jijon worked on an asynchronous interleaved algorithm and chip for encoding music and lowering stimulation power in cochlear implants.
	Mary O’Malley Mary O’Malley was a former administrative assistant for the group.

Current Members

Former Members