About Rob Butera

This is my personal blog.  It is mainly to post photos, and log recreational activities. I work in Atlanta, Georgia, but my home is in Eastham, Massachusetts. I split my time between the two states.

email: rob AT butera DOT org

 

Consulting: I have offered analysis and review services for research funding organizations, reviews of technical books and articles, and intellectual property analysis for medical devices (electrophysiology, cardiac and neural). I can advise research universities and non-profit research organizations on tactics, strategies, and challenges for managing and growing the research enterprise. I am familiar with many aspects, from research development of large center proposals ($10M-$100M), to research compliance (I have served as an institutional official and research integrity officer), to the operational aspects of accepting and managing large and complex sponsored research awards. 

More professional info on my LinkedIn Profile.

As a published researcher, my ORCID profile and publications: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1806-0621

Education: BEE, Georgia Tech, 1991; PhD, Rice University, 1996

Employment: Employed at Georgia Tech since 1999. I currently serve as the Chief Research Operations Officer for the university. While that consumes most of my time, I am also a Professor in theWallace H. Coulter Dept. of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University, Atlanta, GA USA, jointly appointed in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Georgia Tech.

Besides doing the research and teaching thing, I have had a variety of previous academic and research leadership roles at Georgia Tech.  From 2019-2023, I served as the Vice President for Research Development and Operations. Prior to that (2016-2019), I served as the Associate Dean for Research and Innovation in the College of Engineering.  I was co-founder and Faculty Director of Georgia Tech’s freshmen Grand Challenges Living Learning Community (2012-2015).  I previously served as Director of the Interdisciplinary Bioengineering Graduate Program (2005-2008), and co-Director of the Neural Engineering Center.

For something completely different, I was “on loan” from Georgia Tech from August 2008 to July 2009 to serve as a Jefferson Science Fellow at the US Dept. of State, Washington, DC.  I worked in the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation on biotechnology and biosecurity issues.

I held a Professional Engineering license in Georgia from 2004 to 2023.

Expertise: neuroengineering, neuromodulation of peripheral nerve activity, neuromodulation of physiological function, neural stimulation, computational neuroscience, bioelectricity, respiratory control, modeling physiological systems, bioinstrumentation, graduate education, freshman engineering education.  Research has been sponsored by NIH, NSF, DoD, private foundations, corporations.

Professional Activities

IEEE: Senior Member

IEEE-Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society: Vice-President for Publications (2017-2019); Vice President for Finances(2011-2014) (re-elected); AdCom (Board of Directors) (2005-10); Deputy Editor-in-Chief, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and Systems (2007-10), Founding Chair, Atlanta Chapter (2006).   This professional society has over 10000 members from around the world, a $6M annual budget, and 4.5 full-time staff members.  We host several international conferences per year and publish several research journals as well as a magazine.  In my current role I oversee a portfolio of about a dozen publications and have chaired 3 editor searches. For more information, visit IEEE-EMBS.

Organization for Computational Neuroscience: Co-local organizer, 2012 annual meeting; Board of Directors, 2013-14; Sponsorship Chair, 2013-15.  This 1000+ member international professional society hosts an annual conference and its official journal is the Journal of Computational Neuroscience.

National Institute for Aerospace. I have represented Georgia Tech on the Board of Directors since 2016, Vice Chair (2018-2020), and chair (2020-2022). The National Institute for Aerospace is a non-profit research organization in Virginia that conducts aerospace-related research, both in partnership with universities as well as by its own in-house personnel.

Other Professional Activities: Past Associate Editor – Journal of Theoretical Biology, Past Associate Editor – IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, Past Deputy Editor-in-Chief, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and Systems, Reviewer on over 40 panels for NSF and NIH in a wide range of areas spanning biomedical engineering, neuroscience, and undergraduate and graduate educational initiatives, Member: Society for Neuroscience, American Society for Engineering Education, Biomedical Engineering Society, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Tech Transfer: Consultant for medical device issues (inc. patents), three patents awarded, one revenue-generating university licensing deal.

Professional Honors: Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS); Fellow, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), 2016 Georgia Tech Outstanding Senior Faculty Undergraduate Research Mentor Award, 2019 Georgia Tech ANAK award (for service to campus, awarded by a student organization)

Educational Initiatives: Co-created  in 2006 (with Doug Williams) a freshmen level Introduction to Engineering Design course in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Georgia Tech; Faculty Director of the freshmen Grand Challenges Living Learning Community (2012-present); Executive Committee, Emory/Georgia Tech Computational Neuroscience Training Grant (2011-present); Executive Committee, Emory University MD/PhD program (2010-2018); past Director of the Bioengineering Graduate Program (2005-2008);past Director, PI, and co-PI, NSF IGERT Training Program in Hybrid Neural Microsystems (2003-2011); Leadership

Personal and Miscellaneous: Past President and Past Board Member, Decatur Makers, a communicate maker space. Past raining in Wilderness First Aid, First Aid, CPR, Swiftwater Rescue, CERT community responder. 

My Publications on Google Scholar