Electrical and Electronic Engineering
James Cook University
How does the brain, which consumes less power than a light bulb and occupies the volume of a grapefruit, enable humans to perform challenging tasks such as driving, while it takes a supercomputer to carry out the same task, not nearly as accurately or efficiently? To reach brain-like performance, one approach is to build brain-like systems. Dr Rahimi Azghadi’s research is on the design and implementation of systems, which perform tasks in a similar way to the brain. Firstly, developing models of basic building blocks of the brain called neurons and synapses, then they are then able to mimic parts of the brain, by implementing neurons and synapses on extremely tiny, low-power electronic chips. These chips are aimed at various applications, such as human-like robots, self-driving cars, and running experiments to learn how to cure brain diseases.
Mostafa presented a seminar to around 100 students on neuromorphic computation and nanoelectronics. He has also led a group of students in a one-day science-engineering project for the Aboriginal Summer School for Excellence in Technology and Science and visited students individually as part of “Meet an STEM Professional” program to help them choose a career path, and to inspire them about Science and Engineering Education.