Karen J Coulter
Program Manager

Center for Neural Communication Technology
Neural Engineering Laboratory
Department of Biomedical Engineering

Address: 1101 Beal Ave / 2125 LBME , Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2110

B.S. in Physics, The University of Michigan
M.S. in Computer Science, Illinois Institute of Technology

Areas of Interest

I am the Program Manager for the Center for Neural Communication Technology, and manage the Neural Engineering Lab (Prof. Daryl Kipke) in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Michigan. The CNCT is a P41 NIH Center supported by the NIBIB. The mission of the CNCT is to develop and provide microscale implantable devices that offer long-term, high-fidelity interfaces to the nervous system. We provide Service, Training and Dissemination to a broad community of neuroscientists, surgeons, and industry leaders, pursuing research, clinical and commercial applications.

The Neural Engineering Laboratory is focused on basic and applied research in the treatment of neurological injury and disease. The aim is to develop small-scale, multi-function (electrical and chemical) devices that will interface with the brain and/or nervous system, creating opportunities for scientific discovery and ushering in revolutionary treatments, therapies, and neural repair. Current research includes efforts to investigate treatment for Parkinson's Disease, development of fully integrated prosthetic limbs, and a better understanding of cortical feedback loops.

From 1995 to 2007 I was a research programmer and project manager at the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory of the University of Michigan and have worked in private industry, at national laboratories, and in the university research community. While at the AI Lab, I was a principle maintainer of Soar,, an architecture for modeling general human cognition, integrating architectural changes, refining the user interface and assisting many students with their graduate research work in Soar. I am a co-founder of Soar Technology Inc., a company focused on applications that use Soar to provide intelligent agents and model human behavior. I also provided project management and engineering support for RiSE (Robotics in Scansorial Environments), The Robotic Hexapod, and Brain-Machine Interface projects, and mentored graduate and undergraduate students in the construction and maintenance of RHex, a complex, six-legged robot that runs, climbs stairs, leaps and swims.

I try to keep up with developments in SiteMaker and regularly participate in the SiteMaker Special Interest Group on campus.

I have many outside interests including family, friends, quilting, hockey, gardening, and do-it-yourself home projects that seem to take forever.

The BB HelmetCam video is available here.