Dr. Banu Onaral
H. H. Sun Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Electrical Engineering
Director, School of Biomedical Engineering, Science & Health Systems
Focus Area: Biomedical Device Development Intitiative

Dr. Onaral is H. H. Sun Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Electrical Engineering at Drexel University. She holds a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and BSEE and MSEE in Electrical Engineering from Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey. Dr. Onaral joined the faculty of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department and the Biomedical Engineering and Science Institute in 1981. She has served as the founding Director of the School of Biomedical Engineering Science and Health Systems since 1997.

Dr. Onaral's academic focus both in research and teaching is centered on signals and systems engineering with special emphasis on complex systems and biomedical signal processing in ultrasound and optics. She has led major research and development projects sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Office of Naval Research (ONR), DARPA and Department of Homeland Security (DHS). She supervised many graduate students and has an extensive publication record in biomedical signals and systems. She is the recipient of a number of faculty excellence awards including the 1990 Lindback Distinguished Teaching Award of Drexel University, the EDUCOM Best educational Software award and the NSF Faculty Achievement Award.

Her translational research efforts for rapid commercialization of biomedical technologies developed at Drexel have resulted in the creation of the Biomedical Device Development Initiative (BioMedDev), a 'start-up of start-ups,' which brings together academic technology developers with entrepreneurs, economic development agencies, local legal, business and investment communities.

Dr. Onaral's professional services include chair and membership on advisory boards and strategic planning bodies of several universities and funding agencies, including service on the National Science Foundation's Engineering Advisory Board for a period of three years, and on the proposal review panels and study sections. Her editorial responsibilities have included service on the Editorial Board of journals and the CRC Biomedical Engineering Handbook as Section Editor for Biomedical Signal Analysis. She served as an officer and the President of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS), the largest member-based biomedical engineering society in the world. She organized and chaired the 1990 Annual International Conference of the EMBS and Co-Chaired the 2004 Annual Conference of the Biomedical Engineering Society. She is a fellow of the IEEE, the AAAS and a Founding Fellow of American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE). She served on the inaugural Board of the AIMBE.