Nick Tacca

About Nick Tacca

I\'m interested in cognitive systems, human robot interaction, and neurotech. Coming from…

Experience

1. Neuroengineer

   Battelle

   Jul 2021 — Present · Columbus, OH, US

   EMG algorithm development for the Battelle NeuroLife System• Leading the interface between the data science and clinical teams to streamline clinical sessions• Developed algorithms to decode motor intention with interleaved FES pulses from stroke and SCI participants• Led development of domain adaptation models and spatial features to significantly improve model generalization and decoding performance• Developed multiple artifact correction methods used in clinical sessions to remove FES artifact from EMG signalHuman-robot interaction using EMG sleeve• Led project in conjunction with the Air Force Research Laboratory to use our EMG sleeve to enhance human-robot interaction during airplane manufacturing• Developed algorithms to decode discrete gestures, continuous joint angles, and force generationEMG biomarker analysis• Leading investigation into using biomarkers extracted from HD-EMG sleeve to monitor recovery and predict responsiveness to therapy• Developed new iterative blind source separation motor unit decomposition algorithm to speed up extraction and neural drive estimationDARPA Triage Challenge• Developing algorithms to predict the need for life saving interventions from electronic health record information and biosignals• Leading the physiological feature extraction and built LLM pipeline to embed structurally inconsistent electronic health record informationInternal R&D Projects• Won over 100K in funding for 3 separate R&D projects to enhance our neurotechnology portfolio• Developed neuro-inspired algorithms using spiking neural networks to decode intention from motor unit spike trains for a low-power edge-based EMG system• Two first author papers accepted in the Journal of Neural Engineering and Nature Scientific ReportsClient Engagement• Built real-time demos showcasing human-robot interaction scenarios• Presented technology and algorithm advancements at multiple engineering and neuroscience conferences

Education

• Technical University of Munich

  Master of Science - MS

• Bucknell University

  Bachelor of Science - BS

Skills

• Ptc Creo
• Rapid Prototyping
• Rhinoceros
• Comsol
• Labview
• Minitab
• Matlab
• Medical Devices
• Tissue Culture
• Statistics
• Solidworks
• Inventor
• Biomaterials
• Mechanical Product Design
• Biomedical Engineering
• Microsoft Office
• Data Analysis