September 16, 2026
Prof. Blake Hannaford <blake@uw.edu>The UW Biorobotics Lab is seeking a 50% MS student Research Assistant to rapidly advance a multi-sensing biomedical instrument design. (as of Aug ’26 the amount of funding/# of quarters of support is not yet determined. If funding works out, position will start either Autumn quarter ’26 or Winter ’27) The “TPT-Finder” will be a pen-shaped surgical device that is brought into contact with surgical tissues and makes multiple analog physical measurements to distinguish the parathyroid gland from other surrounding neck tissues that are easily confused with it. Today, surgeons must send samples to the pathology lab DURING an operation and wait ~45 min for results.
The selected student will work on analog interface circuits, sensor calibration experiments, and interfaces to existing embedded software for the ESP-32. The three sensor modalities are Bio-Impedance, Autofluorescence excitation and detection, and non-imaging Ultrasound. Initial prototypes exist for all three of these circuits. Remaining work includes: validation on biological tissue samples, improvement of signal-to-noise ratio, and data collection for machine learning projects (other students). It is recognized that no student is an expert in all of these areas.
Required qualifications:
* Senior-level coursework in analog circuit design and one or more of the above three sensing areas.
* Completion of at least one tested hardware design project involving low level analog signal instrumentation.
* Completion of multiple projects involving PCB design, discrete and integrated circuits, SMD device debugging.
Desired qualifications:
* Research experience and publications in at least one of the above areas.
* Industry experience involving circuits, instrumentation, analog, low-level signals, biomedical instrumentation.
* Experience in student-clubs involving hardware design and analog signals.
Application materials:
Please send
1. Resume/CV
2. Publications or project reports relevant to the qualifications above.
3. 1/2 page statement of how your background fits the position.
—