I am a biologist and an engineer, excited about making new tools to enable faster and more accessible science. I’ve developed technologies spanning electronics, optics, microfluidics, statistics, signal processing, and algorithmic development, and applied them across areas from microbiology to neuroscience.
I gravitate towards open-source hardware and software development for biology and health-related applications, and I like learning about new projects. I may be available for consulting - please reach out to me at nate.cermak@pm.me.
expertise
Hardware: I enjoy being able to work on hardware and software simultaneously. Many of my projects have involved developing physical hardware, from an automated low-cost microscope, to an electrical stimulator for neuroscience research. I’ve developed circuits and PCBs, optical trains, and mechanical hardware for experimentation and implanted devices.
Programming: I’m a strong software developer in C, Python, R, and Labview with experience in C++, Verilog. I’ve done projects ranging from web dashboards to embedded firmware in implanted devices to FPGA real-time high-speed digital signal processing work.
Theory: I have a strong background in statistics, data analysis, and signal processing, and frequently apply this expertise to hardware and software design.
professional experience
- 2022-07 - present: Starfish Neuroscience.
- At Starfish, I’m working to develop an injectable (1-D), wireless, battery-free implant for neural recording and stimulation.
- 2020-01 - 2022-06: Neuralink. At Neuralink, I
- did the company’s first stimulation experiments visualizing neural activation in vivo and assessing behavioral responses
- built the company’s internal implant data visualization dashboard
- developed an approach for rapid impedance measurements that improved measurement speed from 30 minutes to 30 seconds.
- discovered shorting problems between electrodes and developed tests for systematically assessing shorts
- developed a hardware-in-the-loop CI/CD framework for full system testing, from firmware to neural decoding to game implementation.
- developed ultra high-throughput electrochemical test equipment (64-channel potentiometer/current-controlled stimulator)
- 2017-10 - 2019-12: Schiller lab, Technion.
- I studied dendritic dynamics using multiphoton imaging in vivo, looking for evidence of branch-specific spiking and spatially-localized computations, as might be expected for NMDA spikes.
- I built an open-source electrical stimulator that is now used by labs around the world.
- 2016-10 - 2017-09: Flavell lab, MIT:
- I studied coordination between motor behaviors in a simple model organism, C. elegans, from timescales of seconds to days.
- I built an open-source low-cost motorized microscope for long-term tracking and behavioral recording of C. elegans, used by multiple labs.
- 2010-06 - 2016-05: Manalis and Polz labs, MIT
- I developed novel high-throughput inertial mass sensors for measuring the growth of single cells, with applications from marine microbiology, antibiotic resistance, and cancer biology.
- I developed an FPGA-based hardware platform for controlling resonators and measuring their resonances rapidly and precisely in closed-loop, using digitally-implemented analog phased-locked loops.
education
- 2010-06 - 2016-05: PhD. MIT Computational and Systems Biology
- 2005-09 - 2010-03: BS, BA. University of Washington, majors in Applied Math, Biochemistry (BS), Sociology (BA), minor in Chemistry
publications
Please see my google scholar profile for the most up-to-date list. PDFs are provided here because publishers are greedy, evil corporations.
do i exist outside work?
I hope so. I enjoy running (especially trail running), bouldering, swimming (especially open water), scuba and freediving to look at critters. Some of my photos are here on instagram. I like music in most of its forms, and discovering new music is a big source of joy for me. I’m a pretty so-so cook but I also get joy out of cooking with/for people. I also really like teaching people about things I know well. I’d like to have more community in my life.
posts
last updated 2024-04-16.