alumni

Dr. Vincent Wallace Vince has left
Bruce Murphy Bruce is a PhD student with OBEL working in the area of diffuse reflectance spectroscopy with a skin cancer focus. He is also responsible for much of this website, and so does not feel it necessary to say more here. Bruce completed Honours in Computer Science in 1997 and Honours in Electronic Engineering in 1999. His interests outside his PhD work include, in decreasing order of expense: photography, electronic music, the consumption of vast numbers of books, and squash.
Matthew Leigh Matthew joined OBEL in December 2001, after finishing a B.Tech. Hons in Optoelectronics at the University of Auckland. After a year as a research associate, he started a PhD with OBEL.
Dr. Thomas Zander Riggs completed his PhD at the University of Freiburg, Germany. In a cooperative project of the university's Department of Microsystems Engineering and the Power and Sensor Systems research department of Siemens, Munich, Germany, he worked on systems engineering of embedded systems for localisation and tracking. At OBEL, he is currently working on angioma imaging systems with a focus on extending and improving the possibilities for treatment of e.g. port-wine stains. His spare time is mainly consumed by tennis, running, listening to music and various computer-related activities, such as maintaining several software ports for the FreeBSD operating system.
Ully Fritsch couldn't be bothered writing one
Dr. Julian Armstrong Julian has completed a PhD in OBEL on anatomical optical coherence tomography (aOCT) in the human upper airway. This involved the design, construction and initial clinical application of a high-speed optical ranging system which is suitable for endoscopic use in the human respiratory systems and eosophagus. He is currently carrying out further research into several optical imaging technologies. In his spare time he enjoys scuba diving and various sports which involve throwing objects into the air and preventing them hitting the ground (particularly volleyball).
Dr. Abhijit Patil Abhijit completed his PhD at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland in the field of design of high-resolution algorithms for the measurement of multiple displacements in a specimen through the measurement of multiple phases recorded on the CCD in a holographic moiré configuration. He has also worked on the measurement of subsurface defects in a semiconductor wafers in Singapore. He has obtained Master of Technology from Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai in Electrical Engineering. His current research focuses on synthetic aperture digital Fourier holography and in Fourier domain optical coherence tomography. Publications
Sven Becker Sven studied Electrical Engineering at the 'Technische Universitaet Muenchen', Germany and the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil. After obtaining his diploma he worked for Sendsor GmbH, a biomedical company in the field of telemedicine and for Europe's aeronautical company EADS. At OBEL he is currently working on the Hollow Organ Profiling System (HOPS) for the upper airway, which involves dealing with a wide range of different aspects such as optics, hardware-design, software engineering and carrying out clinical tests with the system at Sir Charles Gardener Hospital. In his spare time he enjoys all sorts of watersports, mainly windsurfing, and also picks up his guitar every now and then to play some rock'n'roll.
Dirk Schneiderheinze Dirk's thesis aims to develop a theoretical model to simulate optical coherence tomography of biological tissue. In his spare time he enjoys scuba diving and playing the violin and piano, having attained a licentiate diploma in performance for the latter.
Sarah Mather With a background in educational management, Sarah joined OBEL in July 2007. She provided administrative support to staff and students.
Dr. Steven Adie Steven completed a BSc(Hons) in Chemical Physics at UWA in 1997. After graduating he worked at the Lions Eye Institute and Q-Vis Ltd. before joining OBEL in September 2001 to do his PhD. At OBEL, he is working on extending the diagnostic capabilities of OCT systems, to combine functional and morphological information of tissue, with a focus on aiding skin cancer diagnosis. In his spare time, he enjoys playing music (acoustic and bass guitar) and basketball.
Christian Crozier Christian Crozier joined OBEL in June 2005 as an administrative Officer. She enjoys meeting people and working within a friendly research group. Christian's previous experience was in marketing and administration in the precious metals and mining industries. She finds working at UWA rewarding and enjoys the work-life-balance of part-time employment.
Alexandre Paduch Alexandre joined OBEL in 2005 working on the hollow organ profiling system. After completion of his engineering masters degree at the physics engineering school of Strasbourg, France in year 2000, he worked for 3 years with Agilent Technologies in Boeblingen, Germany, as an optical research and development engineer. He participated in the conception of an interferometrical amplitude and phase measurement system for the 40Gb optical telecommunication industry. In 2003 he joined Philips LCOS Microdisplay Systems as an optical test engineer. He is now willing to apply his knowledge to biophotonics research and development. Alex likes playing guitar, piano, chess and football (European rules...)
Antonio Lauto
Anita-Gai Eeles
Prof. Yong Pyung Kim Professor Kim joined OBEL as a sabbatical visitor in August 2004. He is from the School of Electronics and Information, Kyunghee University, Seoul, South Korea. He has a very strong background in the development of lasers and laser-based technologies. At OBEL he was eager to learn more about biomedical optics and to begin collaborative research in the field of optical coherence tomography. Prof. Kim's work involved developing a wavelength-swept laser system to realize a high-speed and high-resolution optical coherence tomography for in vivo imaging. His hobbies include mountain climbing, jogging, and enjoying the beautiful environment of Perth.
Dr. Andrei Zvyagin Andrei joined OBEL as a Research Fellow in 1998. His primary engagement in the group is researchon optical coherence tomography (OCT) towards realisation of very fast, very precise in vivo mapping of the surface of the human cornea. This ongoing project is a collaboration between OBEL and the Lion's Eye Institute. He is also working towards combining OCT with a parallel detection technique, which would lead to fast and robust imaging machines. His Ph.D. from the Tokyo Institute of Technology investigated theoretical and experimental aspects of near-field optics. Apart from this his research experience extends to atomic physics, particularly laser cooling and spectroscopic experiments with particles trapped in electromagnetic fields.
Renee Barnes Renee joined OBEL in March 2005 and has taken up a project developing clinical applications for Julian's high-speed optical ranging system. She intends to image inhalational burns, atrophied muscle in Muscular Dystrophy patients and lung tissue in asthmatics in the interest of improving treatments in these areas. Renee finished her BSc (Physiology) / BEng (Electrical) in 2004. In her spare time she enjoys the outdoors, playing the french horn, travelling and playing soccer.
Dilusha Silva Dilusha was a PhD student at OBEL until 2004. His research focus was the developments of techniques to improve the speed, range and resolution of Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) and its application to biological systems. Dilusha completed Honours in Physics in 1994 and Honours in Electronic Engineering in 1996, both at The University of Western Australia. Dilusha's personal intersts include meditation, reading/watching science fiction annd Chinese martial arts.
Deborah Chapman Debbie was the OBEL Administrative Officer until 2004. Debbie spent most of her time trying to bring a veneer of respectability to the OBEL mob. The phrase "herding cats" has been known to issue from her office upon occasions.
Dr. Yuhua Zhang Yuhua joined OBEL from the Physics Department of the University of Auckland in 2002. He is working on the development of a portable optical coherence tomography (OCT) system and optimising OCT signal processing technology. His background is in Optoelectronic Precision Instrumentation and Adaptive Optics Engineering, having been awarded a Ph.D. in Precision Instrument Engineering by the Tianjin University, China, in 1997, after earlier (1986) completing a B.E. in the same department. His work in Adaptive Optics was aimed at novel AO system with simplified construction and low cost, realized by utilizing nonlinear optical technology or by a feedback interferometer technique. His former biomedical studies were on the technology of ultrasound thermotherapy for cancer treatment. Yuhua's hobbies include soccer and swimming. He especially likes James Oval of UWA and the beautiful Swan River. He also likes reading history and literature books.
Simon Moore Simon became OBEL's first PhD graduate in 2002 after submitting his thesis in theoretical descriptions of OCT. He completed Honours in EE in 1997 after a Science/Engineering degree with a physics major.
Geoff Swan I am a full time physics lecturer based in an engineering school on the Joondalup Campus of ECU (Edith Cowan University) in the northern suburbs of Perth, WA. On sabbatical in semester 2, 2002, I joined OBEL to learn more about biomedical optics and to begin collaborative research in the DRS imaging area. I am currently exploring practical ways of measuring particle sizes from phase function information in the Fourier plane. With two young children (2 under 2 in 2003!) my hobbies are changing nappies and singing nursery rhymes.
Ian Walton I was at OBEL on a one year sabbatical from my job as a Project Manager at SurroMed Inc., Mountain View California. SurroMed is a new company devoted to the discovery of surrogate markers for disease. At SurroMed I have developed a second generation imaging cytometer for cell surface marker analysis. My most recent work has been focused on the development of metal particle based biochemical analytical techniques and tools. The work has involved the development of instrumentation (imaging and flow), image analysis software and particle manufacture techniques using photolithography methods. Prior to SurroMed I was an Engineer at Affymetrix Inc. where I developed fluorescence imaging instruments and software for DNA microarray analysis and lithography tools for microarray manufacture. I have an Masters degree in Engineering Physics from Cornell University and Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Toronto. Hobbies include paragliding, sailing and skiing where it is cold and bumpy (i.e. not Perth).
Dr. Paul Bond Paul completed his Ph.D, 'Optical propagation through sea-ice' at the University of Otago, New Zealand. This involved investigating the optical properties of sea ice by performing beam-spread function measurements on the ice, and their subsequent interpretation using Monte Carlo models of the ice. The aim of this research was to further the understanding of how light travels within this complex material. He has also completed an M.Sc measuring the fatigue of sea ice, a Dip.Sci in medical physics, and a B.Sc with physics/chemistry majors. He held a postdoc position with the OBEL DRS project until November 2002, with an aim to understanding tissue optics and optimising the hardware used in the system. This work included laboratory based experiments with the fibre-based data collection system, although sometimes he was permitted out to collect data from patients in a clinical setting. His interests are not very interesting.
Rebecca Webster Rebecca was employed with OBEL as a member of the Skin Cancer Analysis team until November 2002. She completed her Honours in Biomedical Engineering with OBEL in 2000. She was working on the Skin Cancer detection system, and has now moved on to a PhD project with Pharmacology. Her hobbies include swimming, keeping tropical fish, and playing the piano accordion.
Phillipe Lauper Phillipe joined OBEL from Silicon Graphics in Switzerland as a Visiting Research Engineer. He completed a masters degree in Microtechnical Engineering at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and worked on the development of portable instrumentation for Optical Coherence Tomography. Phillipe returned to Switzerland in June 2002. His other interests include windsurfing, wakeboarding, surfing soon and sushi with a good bottle of Oz wine!
Dr Elwyn Smith Elwyn joined OBEL in June 1999, and was employed as a Research Fellow until mid 2002. Elwyn's background is in engineering and optical communications, having earlier completed a Ph.D. in Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. His work at OBEL has primarily been concerned with optical coherence tomography, spectroscopy, and coherence domain-reflectometry. Elwyn's other interests include photography and outdoor pursuits such as climbing and caving, some or all of which he may be doing right now, if not taking up diving as well. Far too much gear to carry by then - maybe he should get a helo licence as well ?!
Kirrily Wong Kirrily completed her Master of Engineering Science in tissue spectroscopy. Her project involved designing and building a system to detect and identify skin cancer spectrally. Kirrily completed Honours in Computer Science in 1994 and Honours in Electronic Engineering in 1996.
Brett Patterson Brett was a postdoc at OBEL until 2001, working on numerous projects including the FBG system.
Rainer Rawer Dipl.-Ing. Rainer Rawer joined OBEL for a period of 15 months in 1998/99, starting with a three month internship as part of his studies at the University in Karlsruhe, building various bits and pieces of electronics for the Lab. After touring around throughout the beautiful deserts of Australia on a Motorbike [Rainer's Outback Guide], he decided to spend another seven months with OBEL working on an erly version of the Optical Ranging System. He finished his degree in Germany in 2000 and joined the Laboratory for Information Processing Technology (ITIV) [www.itiv.uni-karlsruhe.de] at the University of Karlsruhe as a research staff member. He is now working on his PhD project developing a Non Invasive Glucose Monitor for Diabetes Treatment within the Personal Health Monitoring Project (PHMon) [www.phmon.de]. Since joining the ITIV he initiated a collaboration between ITIV and OBEL and as well accepted an exchange scheme for visiting students at both Labs. He visits OBEL every once in a while and maintains a much commented-upon legacy in many electronic systems to be found around OBEL.