Nathan Shepard

Desired Job Description

Objective

While my education and experience lead me toward a research or product development position, I also enjoy the personal interaction of consulting and sales. To that end, I am looking for a position either in a research and development group or in a technical sales environment.

Statement of Purpose

It was during my sophomore year at UT that I read an article in Scientific American on epiretinal implants that inspired my interest in visual prosthesis. Upon further research of neuroprosthesis work in progress at Johns Hopkins, USC, and UCSD, I decided to pursue this admittedly narrow field as a career goal. I graduated UT with an emphasis in biomedical engineering and in high-speed digital signal and image processing.

My education at UT afforded me relevant experience in designing and building high-gain, high-SNR biomedical devices from components, including an electromyogram, an electrocardiogram, an electrooculogram, and an electroencephalogram. Successes with these devices interested me further, but my electrical engineering education lacked an in-depth study of physiology. In order to meet this need, I applied for a rigorous masters program in bioengineering at UCSD working in the Jacobs Retina Center under Dr. Gabe Silva.

At UCSD, I have been exposed to the relevant neurophysiology of the eye, and have been fortunate in my research with the Silva Research Group, imaging and quantifying the neural retina. I defended my thesis in September, 2007, and have recently graduated UCSD with a MS degree. It is my intension, having graduated UCSD, to commit to a long-term engineering position at a biomedical device firm and to pursue a doctorate degree in biomedical engineering part-time developing a visual prosthesis.