Scott R. Ensel | Student

About Me

Hi, nice to meet you! My name is Scott.
I'm a fourth year PhD student at the University of Pittsburgh focusing in neural engineering. I am currently applying my skills in programming and bioengineering to help advance the field of spinal cord stimulation.
I hope to be at the forefront of artificial intelligence capabilities and to utilize them to make the world a better place for those who are less fortunate. My inspiration for studying bioengineering came in 2012, during my senior year of high school, when I watched Nigel Ackland showing off his new prosthetic, the "terminator" arm.

My Hobbies

- I am obsessed with weightlifting and staying active
- I enjoy painting or doing other arts and crafts projects. Some of my projects

Favorite Quotes

"Discipline creates freedom" - Jocko Willink
"This is for shaking hands. This is for being human" - Nigel Ackland

Goals

- Become fluent in a second language
-Compete in a powerlifting competition. Michigan APF meet on 3/14/2020
- Earn my blue belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu

Experience

EDUCATION

University of Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh
PhD - Biomedical Engineering: Neural Engineering
Advisor - Dr. Elvira Pirondini
September 2020 - Current

University of Michgan | Ann Arbor
M.S. - Electrical & Computer Engineering: Signal and Image Processing and Machine Learning
M.S. - Biomedical Engineering: Bioelectrics and Neural Engineering
September 2017 - December 2019

University of Maryland | College Park
B.S. - Bioengineering
September 2013 - May 2017

CAREER

Rehab Neural Engineering Laboratory | PhD Research Topics
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - September 2020 to Current
• Simultaneous brain and spine fMRI sequence and task development
• Spinal cord stimulation in Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA)
• Measuring longitudinal changes in motorneurons in the lumbar spine using fMRI in SMA
• Finding biomarkers of consciouness in transient dynamics of resting state fMRI

Cortical Neural Prosthetics Laboratory | Directed Research
Ann Arbor, Michigan - September 2018 to July 2020
• Built a custom computer to interface with simulink real-time system to run Pytorch deep learning models in real time
• Created a deep learning model that outperforms ReFIT Kalman filter for continuous decoding
• Created a function to track RPNI movement in multiple ultrasound videos
• Implemented canny edge detection and PCA to optimize movement tracking of RPNI

Terumo Heart, Inc | Optical Engineering Intern
Ann Arbor, Michigan - May 2018 to January 2019
• Performed multiple image processing techniques on OCT and IVUS images
• Created thirteen functions to automate testing of OCT and IVUS catheter imaging performance

Children's National Health System | Research Intern
Washington, D.C. - June 2016 to June 2017
• Collected, anonymized and segmented radiology data in preparation for deep learning projects
• Managed clinical and image specific databases for eight different quantitative imaging projects
• Evaluated CT, MRI, ultrasound and X-ray images for quality control

Graduate Student Instructor/Teaching Assistant
• University of Michigan - Fall 2018

- From the Big Bang to the Milky Way

• University of Maryland - Fall 2016, Fall 2015

- Computer-Aided Design in Bioengineering

- General Chemistry I Laboratory

RELEVANT CLASSES

• Machine Learning
• Deep Learning
• Deep Learning for Computer Vision
• Optimization for Signal and Image Processing
• Matrix Methods for Signal Processing, Data Analysis and Machine Learning

• Foundations of AI
• Neural Engineering
• Probability and Random Processes
• Intro to MEMS
• Human Neuroanatomy

Publications

Journal

-Marc P Powell, Nikhil Verma, Erynn Sorensen, Erick Carranza, Amy Boos, Daryl P Fields, Souvik Roy, Scott Ensel, Beatrice Barra, Jeffrey Balzer, Jeff Goldsmith, Robert M Friedlander, George F Wittenberg, Lee E Fisher, John W Krakauer, Peter C Gerszten, Elvira Pirondini, Douglas J Weber, Marco Capogrosso
"Epidural stimulation of the cervical spinal cord for post-stroke upper-limb paresis," Nat Med 29, 689–699 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-022-02202-6

-Matthew S Willsey, Samuel R Nason-Tomaszewski, Scott R Ensel, Hisham Temmar, Matthew J Mender, Joseph T Costello, Parag G Patil, Cynthia A Chestek
"Real-time brain-machine interface in non-human primates achieves high-velocity prosthetic finger movements using a shallow feedforward neural network decoder," Nat Commun 13, 6899 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-34452-w

-Antonio R Porras, Beatriz Paniagua, Scott Ensel, Robert Keating, Gary F Rogers, Andinet Enquobahrie, Marius George Linguraru
"Locally Affine Diffeomorphic Surface Registration and Its Application to Surgical Planning of Fronto-Orbital Advancement," in IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, vol. 37, no. 7, pp. 1690-1700, July 2018. doi: 10.1109/TMI.2018.2816402

Book

-Liyun Tu, Antonio R Porras, Scott Ensel, Deki Tsering, Beatriz Paniagua, Andinet Enquobahrie, Albert Oh, Robert Keating, Gary F Rogers, Marius George Linguraru
"Intracranial volume quantification from 3D photography," in Computer Assisted and Robotic Endoscopy and Clinical Image-Based Procedures, Cham, Switzerland:Springer, vol. 10550, pp. 116-123, 2017.

Conference

-Pooneh R Tabrizi, Rawad Obeid, Awais Mansoor, Scott Ensel, Juan J Cerrolaza, Anna Penn, Marius George Linguraru
"Cranial ultrasound-based prediction of post hemorrhagic hydrocephalus outcome in premature neonates with intraventricular hemorrhage," 2017 39th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC), Seogwipo, 2017, pp. 169-172. doi: 10.1109/EMBC.2017.8036789

-Antonio R Porras, Beatriz Paniagua, Andinet Enquobahrie, Scott Ensel, Hina Shah, Robert Keating, Gary F Rogers, Marius George Linguraru
"Locally affine diffeomorphic surface registration for planning of metopic craniosynostosis surgery," In: Descoteaux M., Maier-Hein L., Franz A., Jannin P., Collins D., Duchesne S. (eds) Medical Image Computing and Computer-Assisted Intervention − MICCAI 2017. MICCAI 2017. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 10434. Springer, Cham

Projects

Continuous Decoding of Myoelectric Signals using Time Latent Variable Models

-Implemented state of the art deep learning architectures to map noisy EMG signals to prosthetic movements
-Presented data to support deep learning models are more effective at predicting finger postions than previous decoding efforts

January 2019 - April 2019

More information available at:
Link to GitHub, Report and Poster

Quantitative Analysis of RPNI Movement in Ultrasound

-Used PCA and canny edge detection to outline individual RPNI's in ultrasound
-Still improving on hyperparameters and evolving the effectiveness of this strategy

September 2018 - December 2018

More information available at:
Link to Project Report

Electrochromic Light Shielding Device

- Designed a new electrochromic device for neonatal incubators
- Patent pending
- Transparency values range from 50% to 90% based on differing voltages

August 2016 - May 2017

More information available at:
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Scott Ryan Ensel

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