Kate D. Fischl
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Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Barton 400 CV | Google Scholar | LinkedIn |
About
I am a PhD candidate in Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. I am a member of the Andreou Lab, advised by Andreas Andreou. I earned my undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from Princeton University and then worked at MIT Lincoln Laboratory before coming to Johns Hopkins to pursue my PhD.
In addition to my research, I co-founded GRACE, a community for graduate women in the Electrical and Computer Engineering & Computer Science departments at Johns Hopkins. I also designed and orchestrated a wearable electronics after-school workshop to teach students at Baltimore's Western High School the skills needed to solder, program, and assemble an Arduino-based light-up necklace. To date, we have run the workshop four times, recently funded by a Baltimore Women in Tech Micro-Grant.
When I am not in the lab I like to cook, travel, bike, and swim outside.
Research
My research is focused in the field of neuromorphic engineering, a field that abstracts the architecture and processing methodology of the brain to build post-Moore's law computer hardware and algorithms. By borrowing from the brain, this field hopes to engineer solutions that consume less power and operate with increased computational efficiency. Within this field my research has two main efforts: 1) to create computational spiking-neuron models to understand how our brains process social and emotional stimuli, and 2) to understand the tradeoffs and benefits of mapping these models and algorithms to neuromorphic hardware.
Education
Ph.D., Electrical and Computer Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Defense Expected May 2019
M.S.E., Electrical and Computer Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, June 2016
B.S.E. Electrical Engineering, Princeton University, June 2011
Papers
Fischl, Kate D., et al. “Neural Modeling on the TrueNorth Neurosynaptic System Using the Neural Engineering Framework.” Circuits and Systems (ISCAS), 2019 IEEE International Symposium on. IEEE, 2019. Submitted.
Fischl, Kate D., et al. “Socio-Emotional Robot with Distributed Multi-Platform Neuromorphic Processing.” Circuits and Systems (ISCAS), 2019 IEEE International Symposium on. IEEE, 2019. Submitted.
Fischl, Kate D., et al. “Implementation of the neural engineering framework on the TrueNorth neurosynaptic system.” 2018 IEEE Biomedical Circuits and Systems Conference (BioCAS). IEEE, 2018.
Fischl, K. D., et al. “Spike propagation path planning on IBM TrueNorth neurosynaptic system.” Electronics Letters 53.15 (2017): 1023-1025.
Fischl, Kate D., et al. “Neuromorphic self-driving robot with retinomorphic vision and spike-based processing/closed-loop control.” Information Sciences and Systems (CISS), 2017 51st Annual Conference on. IEEE, 2017.
Ballesta, Sébastien, Clayton P. Mosher, Jeno Szep, Kate D. Fischl, and Katalin M. Gothard. “Social determinants of eyeblinks in adult male macaques.” Scientific Reports 6 (2016).
Andreou, Andreas G., Andrew A. Dykman, Kate D. Fischl, Guillaume Garreau, Daniel R. Mendat, Garrick Orchard, Andrew S. Cassidy et al. “Real-time sensory information processing using the TrueNorth neurosynaptic system.” In Circuits and Systems (ISCAS), 2016 IEEE International Symposium on, pp. 2911-2911. IEEE, 2016.
Williamson, J R; Dumas, A; Hess, A R; Patel, T; Telfer, B A; Fischl, K; Butler, M J, “Detecting Gait Asymmetry with Wearable Accelerometers”, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Lexington, MA, Rep. PSM-3, 18 Mar 2015.
Jerome J. Braun; Marianne A. DeAngelus; Kate D. Fischl; Austin R. Hess; Danelle C. Shah; Building animats: neurobiomimetic approach for cognitive systems. Proc. SPIE 9121, Multisensor, Multisource Information Fusion: Architectures, Algorithms, and Applications 2014, 91210M (May 22, 2014).
Hughes, T.B., Willimason, J.R., Hess, A.R., Young, W.T., Dumas, A., Fischl, K. D., and B.D. Telfer. Solider Projection Benchmark Evaluation (SPBE) Physiological Data Collection and Analysis. Rep. no. 1174. Lexington: MIT Lincoln Laboratory, 2013. Print.
Williamson, James R.; Fischl, Kate; Dumas, Andrew; Hess, Austin; Hughes, Tadd; Buller, Mark J., “Individualized detection of ambulatory distress in the field using wearable sensors,” Body Sensor Networks (BSN), 2013 IEEE International Conference on, 6-9 May 2013.
Fischl K. “A Smart Health News Update Application.” Princeton University Senior Independent Project. January 2011.
Patents
Lacirignola, Joseph J.; Vian, Trina Rae; Aubin Jr., David F.; Quatieri, Thomas F.; Fischl, Kate D.; Collins, Paula P.; Smalt, Christopher J.; Gatewood, Paul D.; Malyska, Nicolas; Maurer, David C., Methods and Apparatus For Recording Impulsive Sounds. Patent Application No. 20150162047. June 2015.
Presentations & Posters
“Exploring Nuclear Connectivity and Function Within the Primate Amygdala Using the Neural Engineering Framework.” Kate D. Fischl, Terrence C. Stewart, Katalin M. Gothard, Andreas G. Andreou. Conference poster presented at: Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, November 6, 2018.
“Implementation of the neural engineering framework on the TrueNorth neurosynaptic system”. Kate D. Fischl, Kaitlin Fair, Terrence C. Stewart, Andreas G. Andreou. Conference poster presented at: 2018 IEEE Biomedical Circuits and Systems Conference (BioCAS), Cleveland, OH, October 19, 2018.
“Machine Learning and Graph Analytics using Neuromorphic Multiprocessor Architectures”. Dan R. Mendat, Kate D. Fischl, Martin Villemur, Andreas G. Andreou, Pedro Julian. Poster presented at: 2018 Northrop Grumman Mission System University Research Symposium, Baltimore, MD, April 17-18, 2018.
“Path Planning on the TrueNorth Neurosynaptic System”. Kate Fischl, Kaitlin Fair, Wei-Yu Tsai, Jack Sampson, Andreas G. Andreou. Conference talk presented at: IEEE International Symposium on Circuits & Systems, Baltimore, MD, May 31, 2017.
“Neuromorphic Self-Driving Robot Platform”. Kate Fischl. Presented as a subsection of “Cognitive Computing Architecture for Machine Learning, Data Center Processing and Internet of Things”. Conference tutorial presented at: IEEE International Symposium on Circuits & Systems, Baltimore, MD, May 28, 2017.
“Women in ECE & CS Mentoring Dinner”. Moderated panel discussion on personal experiences as women within ECE & CS at varying career stages. Attended by 90+ faculty and students. Johns Hopkins University, December 5, 2016.
“Open Body Area Network (OBAN): An Open Architecture Prototype for a tactical body sensor network”. Anthony L, Lacirignola J, Aguilar C, Aubin D, Biddle J, Brigada D, Merfeld M, Fischl K, Maurer D, Telfer B, Palmer J, Buller M, Mullen S, Tharion W, Hoyt R. Poster Presented at: Body Sensor Networks (BSN) 2013 IEEE International Conference, Cambridge, MA, May 6-9, 2013.
“Individualized Detection of Ambulatory Distress in the Field using Wearable Sensors”. Williamson J, Fischl K, Dumas A, Hess A, Hughes T, Buller M. Poster Session Presented at: Body Sensor Networks (BSN) 2013 IEEE International Conference, Cambridge, MA, May 6-9, 2013.
“Comparison of Histone Protein Locating Algorithms”. Fischl, K. Poster presented at: MERIT-BIEN NSF Fair, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, August 6, 2010.
Awards
Rising Star in Biomedical, November 2018
Grace Hopper Celebration Scholar, September 2018
Baltimore Women in Tech Micro-Grant Recipient, May 2017
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, April 2016
Dean’s Fellowship, Johns Hopkins University, September 2014
Teaching
Course Co-Instructor, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, Fall 2017
Developed and presented lectures for graduate course entitled Sensory Information Processing.
STEM Mentor, Western High School, Baltimore, MD, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Spring 2018, Fall 2018
Designed and orchestrated a wearable electronics after-school workshop to teach students the skills needed to solder, program, and assemble an Arduino-based light-up necklace. In the fall we plan to expand the workshop with funding from a Baltimore Women in Tech Micro-Grant.
Teaching Assistant, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, Fall 2015
Facilitated laboratory section for a course on VHSIC Hardware Description Language (VHDL) in which students are required to complete ten different projects, including implementing a finite state machine, frequency-shift keying, phase locked loop, and tone detection, among others.
Undergraduate Teaching Assistant, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, Spring 2011
Facilitated laboratory section of the electrical engineering design course in which students designed and built an autonomous camera-driven model car.
Related Projects
Architected and Implemented an Operating System, Harvard University, Fall 2012
Designed and implemented a functional operating system that performs memory management, spawns and kills processes, separates user and supervisor space, and employs interrupt priorities.
Created Smart Health News Update Application, Princeton University, Spring 2011
Programmed an application that provides a user with the most relevant and current health news updates based upon the interests indicated in a user profile.
Designed/Created Autonomous Camera-Driven Model Car, Princeton University, Spring 2010
Integrated microprocessors, communications, control and circuitry to create a model car, which followed a black line around a course at a constant speed and avoided obstacles.