Principal Investigator

Professor, Department of Bioengineering

Keat Ghee Ong joined the Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact at the University of Oregon in August 2019 as a professor. Prior to that, he was the Portage Health Foundation Endowed Professor and Associate Chair of Biomedical Engineering at Michigan Technological University. Ong received his PhD in Electrical Engineering in 2000 from the University of Kentucky.

Keat Ghee Ong has an internationally recognized research program in the areas of implantable sensors, wireless sensors, and magnetoelastic materials. He was involved in the development and implementation of a number of wireless sensor technologies including the magnetoelastic resonance sensors and inductive-capacitive resonance circuit sensors for biomedical applications. Currently, Ong focuses on the development of “smart implants”, which are based on wireless sensor/actuator platforms that not only can monitor physiological conditions in real-time but also react and adapt to changes for improving treatment outcomes. Ong has over 100 publications in peer-reviewed journals, most of them in engineering-oriented journals such as IEEE Sensors and Journal of Biomedical Materials Research. Ong’s research activities are supported by a number of federal agencies, organizations, and industrial partners such as the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control, Department of Defense, etc.

Research Associate

Salil is a Research Associate in the Ong Lab at the Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact.  He is also the Chief Scientist of a biotech startup company, Penderia Technologies Inc. Karipott received his PhD in 2019 and MS in 2017 from the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the Michigan Technological University.

Salil Karipott’s research focuses on developing wireless sensors and actuators in biomedical implants. He has developed inductive-capacitive sensors and magnetoelastic actuators for improving the treatment outcomes of orthopedic injuries.

Research Associate

Mike McGeehan is a postdoctoral scholar in the Ong Lab at the Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact. He completed his PhD in 2020 under the mentorship of Dr. Mike Hahn in the University of Oregon Neuromechanics Laboratory. His PhD research focused on the development and use of computational models and simulations to optimize design parameters of a novel foot-ankle prosthesis.

Mike joined the Ong Lab in January of 2021 and is working toward developing wireless sensors with orthopedic applications. Specifically, he is developing a suite of sensors for monitoring the mechanical and physiological environment inside a prosthetic socket with the goal of improving residual limb health among individuals with lower limb amputation. 

William Skinner

Fifth Year 

B.S. Chemistry, Troy University, 2019

William Skinner is a graduate student in Dr. Keat Ghee Ong’s laboratory at the Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact. Will joined the Ong Lab in the summer of 2020. His research is focused on the development of magnetoelastic sensors for monitoring critical process parameters inside bioreactors for cell and biologic manufacturing.

Funding: 

National Science Foundation (NSF)

Cell Manufacturing Technology (CMaT)

Engineering Research Center (ERC) Trainee

Eyerusalem Gebreyesus

Fourth Year

B.S. Biomedical Engineering, Addis Ababa University

M.S. Biomedical Engineering, Michigan Tech

Eyerusalem joined the Ong Lab in the Spring of 2021. Her research is focused on the development of a bone fixation device the can provide fluid shear force to accelerate regeneration in critical size defects.

Funding: 

Department of Defense, Peer-Reviewed Medical Research Program

Kaylee Meyers

Fourth Year 

B.S. Biomedical Engineering, Michigan Tech, 2021

MS Bioengineering, University of Oregon, 2023

Kaylee Meyers is a graduate student in Dr. Keat Ghee Ong’s laboratory at the Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact. Her research focuses on developing biosensors for orthopedic and sports medicine applications. Outside the lab she enjoys outdoor activities and volunteering with STEM education programs.

Funding: 

Barry Goldwater Scholar

NSF Graduate Research Fellow

Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance Trainee

Suhana Ahamed

Second Year

Bachelor of Physical Therapy, HNB University, Garhwal, India, 2014

M.S. Kinesiology, UT Austin, 2021

Suhana joined Ong Lab at the Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact, as a graduate student in Spring 2023. Suhana has also worked as a Physical Therapist in various clinical set-ups in India, and as a Research Coordinator at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Her PhD research focuses on developing a shear force sensor that has the potential to be used for various clinical applications.

Xun Yu

Second Year

B.S in Biomedical Engineering, University of Utah,  2020 

    Specialty in biological response of lower-limb prosthetic interface.

M.S in Biomedical Engineering, Arizona State University, 2022

    Specialty in dynamic stability assessment and gait analysis.

Yu is currently working with Mike and Eyerusalem. In his free time, Yu likes to take his dog Momo out to explore different dog parks and ride their motorcycle to the coast.

Anika Moorjani

First Year

B.S in Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Tech

Anika is in Dr. Ong and Dr. Guldberg’s laboratories at the Knight Campus. Her research intrests are in implantable sensors and regenerative rehabilitation. Outside of the lab, Anika enjoys hiking and climbing.

Camilla Der

Fourth Year, Clark Honors College

Major: Biology

Minor: Bioengineering

2024 Knight Campus Undergraduate Scholar

Camilla’s current project focuses on designing a sensing accessory device to develop and validate a pediatric breathing model system for stimulating tracheostomy tube emergency events in children.

Lucas Bambaren

Fourth Year

Major: Human Physiology and Neuroscience

Minor: Chemistry

2024 Knight Campus Undergraduate Scholar

Lucas is currently working with Salil on sensorized Bone fixation plates that measure the mechanical strain at the site of a bone fracture. These plates can help us develop novel rehabilitation techniques for better orthopedic care and may lead to faster recovery times after severe injuries.

Megan Adamec

Fourth Year, Clark Honors College

Major: Biochemistry

Minor: Art History

2024 Hui Undergraduate Research Scholar

2023 Knight Campus Undergraduate Scholar

Megan is currently working to validate a capacitive sensor for in vitro monitoring of adherent cells, for future use in detecting osseointegration.

Alex McCaslin

Third Year

Major: Human Physiology 

Minor: Chemistry

Alex is assisting in the development of a bone fixation device to accelerate regeneration in critical size defects. 

Drew Hampson

Third Year

Major: Human Physiology 

Minor: Chemistry 

Drew is currently working to help develop bone implantation devices in order to monitor and amplify the growth of long bone fractures. 

Samantha Tan

Second Year

Majors: Neuroscience and Data Science

Minor: Bioengineering

Sam is currently working with Will to help develop a magnetoelastic sensor to monitor cell growth non-invasively.  

Undergraduates

Jeff Plumley – B.S. in Biology with a minor in Bioengineering, Winter 2024

Sophia Guitteau – B.S. in Human Physiology with a minor in Chemistry, Clark Honors College, 2024

Zach Pennel – B.S. in Physics, Clark Honors College, 2024

Tulsi Patel – B.S. in Human Physiology with a minor in Chemistry, Clark Honors College, 2024

Lyla Balthazaar – B.S. Neuroscience with minors in Chemistry and Biology, Clark Honors College, 2023

Sunny Zhang – B.S. Biology, Clark Honors College, 2022