New Grant
[Sep 2019]: Dr.Esfahani in collabration with Dr.Souma Chowdhury from MAE and Drs. Kathik Dantu and David Doermann from CSE has received a DARPA grant to discover/learn robust swarm tactics in complex environment using human-in-the-loop neuroevolution and reinforecement learning techniques.
New Grant
[Sep 2019]
: Dr. Esfahani has received fundings from National Science Foundation to develope cognitive-behavior model to predict human reaction to swarm AI non-compliance. The research will tackle fundamental questions regarding how humans respond to the behavior of embodied swarm agents. This is a collabrative work with Dr.Souma Chowdhury in the MAE department.
Media Coverage
[Sep 2019]
: UBNow covered an article on our adjustable stiffness gripper (Read Here) which was also featured by other news outlets such as: The Science Times, ScienceDaily, Communications of the ACM, World Economic Forum, AZO Robotics, Workforce Development Technology News Network (WDTNN), and IEEE Spectrum (Video Fridays) among others.
New Grant
[June 2019]
: Dr.Esfahani and his collabrators (Drs.Souma Chowdhury and Mostafa Nouh from MAE and Dr.Adam Sheppard from Department of Communicative Disorders and Sciences) have received phase II seed funding from UB SMART Center of Excellence to study noise regulation in drones for co-robotic environments. The study will investigate the noise impact on both human hearing and cognition.
New Grant
[April 2019]
: Dr. Esfahani has received funding from Empire State Development to commercialize his patented invention on adjustable stiffness robotic gripper for safe human-robot collaboration. Before their broad deployment, collabrative robots must be designed to assure the protection of humans working in close proximity. The award will help further refine the novel, variable stiffness robotic gripper which can detect unwanted collisions and adjust to protect humans and robot payload.
PhD Graduation
[Feb 2019]
: Amir Baghdadi successfully defended his PhD dissertation entitled "Application of Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) in Advanced Human Health and Safety Surveillance: A Data Fusion and Machine Learning Approach". He was coadvised by Dr.Lora Cavuto in ISE. He will join University of Calgary as a Postdoctoral Research Scientist.
New Grant
[Oct 2018]
: Our NVIDIA GPU Grant is approved. We received a Titan XP donation from Nvidia to support our Deep Learning reserach on Adaptive Human-Robot Interaction using Brain Computer Interfaces.
PhD Graduation
[Aug 2018]
: Amirhossein H. Memar successfully defended his PhD dissertation entitled "Enhancing Human-Robot Interaction with Passive Brain-Computer Interfaces: A Neuroergonomic Approach". He will join Facebook Reality Lab. as a Postdoctoral Research Scientist.
PhD Graduation
[Aug 2017]
: Mostafa Ghobadi successfully defended his PhD dissertation entitled "Physiological Signal Analysis for Home-based Activity Monitoring.". He will join Intune Products (a division of Calvary Robotics) as the director of Robotics.
Media Coverage
[Dec 2016]
: Our motor rehabiliation work using virtual reality and brain computer interfaces was covered by WBFO (Buffalo NPR News). Read More
New Grant
[Feb 2016]
: Dr. Esfahani has received fundings from NSF Center for eDesign to develope a Human-Centered Adaptation for Accelerated Work Force Training in Welding. This is in collabration with Dr.Karthik Dantu from CSE.
Cover Article
[Oct 2015]
: Our paper on "Undrestanding Cognitive Performance during Robot Assisted Surgery" was published and featured as the cover article for October 2015 issue in Journal of Urology. This paper demonstrates the cognitive function of an expert surgeon in various surgical scenarios while performing robot-assisted surgery. The outcome of this study will enable the development of a shared control between surgeon and the robot in the next-generation of robotic surgery systems.
New Grant
[Sep 2015]
: Dr. Esfahani has received fundings from National Science Foundation to develop cognitive haptic based rehabilitation systems for patient-centric home. The research investigates the use of home centered cognitive haptic therapy by monitoring the patient's brain activity. The proposed system uses a non-invasive brain computer interface to provide cognitive feedbacks to monitor the progress of patient and his or her engagement.
New Grant
[June 2015]
: Dr. Esfahani has received fundings from Institute for Person-Centered Care to develope a Comprehensive In-home Monitoring for Post Stroke Mobility using Single Wearbale Intertia Measurement Units (IMU).
Article of the Week
[Jan 2015]
: Our paper on "Cognitive Skill Assessment during robot-assisted surgery" is selected as the article of the week by the BJUI Editor-in-Chief on January 2015.
Read More
New Grant
[June 2014]
: Dr.Esfahani received a grant from Roswell Park Alliance to perform Cognitive Skill Assessment during Robotic-Assisted Surgery using EEG-based Brain Computer Interfaces both in Opertating Room and Practice Sessions.
Highlighted in Nature Review
[Feb 2014]
: Our paper on "Cognitive Skill Assessment during robot-assisted surgery" is featured in research highlights of Nature Review in their 2014 February issue. This study demonstrates the feasibility of brain activity monitoring to assess the skills of robotic surgeons. Read More
New Grant
[Feb 2012]
: Dr.Esfahani received an award from American Power Public Association, DEED - Demonstration of Energy & Efficiency Developments - Program to develope Wireless Sensor Network for Real-time Condition Monitoring of Industrial Motors.
HILS-Lab NEWS
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Human in the Loop System  Laboratory HILS Lab

Oct 2015

Dr. Esfahani will serve as the conference chair of the 9th Frontiers in Biomedical Devices Conference in the incoming IDETC 2016.


Sep  2015

Dr.Esfahani received funding from National Science Foundations to study cognitive home based rehabilitations.


Aug 2015

Shrey successfully defended his MS thesis. He will starts his PhD studies at UIUC.


Aug 2015

Po Sheng successfully defended his MS thesis.


Aug 2015

Amir received ASME-CIE Graduate Research Poster Award in IDETC 2015.


Aug 2015

Mostafa received ASME-VIB Graduate Research Travel Award.


June 2015

Chams received SUNY Chancellor award for student excellence.


June 2015

Brian and Maggie finished their studies at UB. They will PhD degree at  MIT and University of Florida.


March 2015

Dr.Esfahnai received funding from Institute for Person-Centered Care to develop wearable sensors for home-based monitoring of stroke patients.


Jan 2015

Our BJUI Paper is highlighted in Nature Review.


Dec 2015

Chen successfully defended his MS project.


Dec 2014

Vaibhav successfully defended his MS project. He is joining Type A Machine as an R&D Engineer.


June 2014

Somayeh received travel awards to attend IROS 2014.


June 2014

Rohit successfully defended his MS thesis. He is joining SunEdison as a project Engineer.


April 2014

Margaret received Research and Creativity Scholarship from UB Honor College to develop Spring Origami.


April 2014

Brain and Chams received Research and Creativity Scholarship from UB Honor College to develop modular snake robots.