JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
Grant: $556,421 - National Science Foundation - Jun. 26, 2009
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Award Description: 'The project outlines a comprehensive career plan for advancement of research and education in the field of active and cognitive hearing and speech technologies. The proposed research focuses on four main goals: (I) to design a novel architecture for cortical processing whose structure (e.g. selectivity, connectivity) and computational strategies (e.g. feature extraction, information integration) synergistically integrate bottom-up sensory information with top-down contextual and cognitive controls, mediated by mechanisms of synaptic and cortical plasticity; (II) to further our understanding of the role of cortical plasticity in auditory perception with a series of experiments with human subjects (using psychoacoustics and Magnetoencephalography -MEG-) aimed at exploring the neural correlates, time course and role of these adaptive processes; (III) to thoroughly assess the computational and experimental findings in a range of engineering applications such as auditory scene analysis and speaker separation, automatic speech recognition, automatic surveillance of auditory soundscapes, diagnostic systems, robotics, detection and classification of target and rare events in sensor networks; (IV) to fine-tune the model to explore the integration of higher cortical processing capabilities in hearing prostheses. The above research plan is complemented by a detailed educational plan involving three major components: (I) to develop a new undergraduate and graduate curriculum in cognitive engineering systems; (II) to engage into outreach activities among undergraduate and K-12 students to attract and retain talented qualified individuals in the field of cognitive engineering. A major part of this effort is focused on attracting and mentoring underrepresented groups within engineering education, particularly females; (III) to introduce new pedagogical tools currently lacking in our engineering education (e.g. hands-on competitions, scientific writing and critical review); and continuously monitor and gauge students’ learning and education focusing on ‘achievement’ rather than ‘satisfaction’ as assessment tool.'
Project Description: This project aims to develop novel algorithmic implementations to incorporate adaptive and cognitive capabilities to speech and hearing technologies; as well as promote educational activities in this area. This career effort promises truly transformative advances to a range of fields of immediate benefits to society, covering the medical, industrial, military and robotics domains. Also, it aims to push forth new advances in the human-machine interface, as well as new visions for adaptive communication aids for the sensory-impaired. Over and above its engineering objective, this proposal also seeks to push the scientific knowledge about brain mechanisms of adaptation and plasticity, as well as the role of cognitive control in guiding cortical sound processing.
Jobs Summary: There were no jobs created. (Total jobs reported: 0)
Project Status: Less Than 50% Completed
This award's data was last updated on Jun. 26, 2009. Help expand these official descriptions using the wiki below.
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