Welcome to the Vision and Neural Engineering Laboratory, directed by Dr. Tara L. Alvarez, Ph.D.

IEEE VR First Auggie Award Recipient 

Lab director, lecturer, and developer of educational and medical VR experiences with over ten years of industry experience in interactive computer graphics for training, and educational applications. Possesses five years undergrad teaching experience in interactive/game design, programming, animation and graphics. Clear and concise written, verbal, and visual presentation skills. Ability to present to large groups both internally and externally. Thrives in highly collaborative team environments both as a leader and contributor. Programming proficiency with C#, and Python. Software proficiency with Adobe Suite, Maya, Houdini, Substance Designer, Unity, and Unreal.

Jessica Ross is a virtual reality designer and concept artist, along with being an adjunct in the Digital Design Program at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.  She studied fine art and illustration at Montclair State University, where she received her BFA, and is currently completing her MFA in Illustration this summer at Marywood University. She has worked as a concept, storyboard, and character artist for various productions, including an educational video game sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and an augmented reality app for a graphic novel series, Tales From The Myst.

Currently, she is working as the lead virtual reality designer and concept artist for a virtual reality vision therapy game developed by the NJIT Vision and Neural Engineering Lab. Jessica’s work has most recently been published in Infected by Art, Volume 5. She has also been published in various publications such as K.O. Jewel and Condign Art Magazine, where she won a front cover feature and a three page interview. 

Portfolio Website: artofgingerjess.com. 

Dr. Sebastian Fine and Dr. Christopher Morris graduated with their PhDs - Well done!

VNEL undergraduate researchers Ayushi Sangoi ('20) and Sebastian Fine ('20) delivered podium presentations ( at the 45th annual Northeast Bioengineering Conference at Rutgers University on March 23rd, 2019. As well, this year's VNEL Capstone team (Taiga Akiyama, Nabih Armount, Anthony Chirayath, and Christopher Morris) participated in the Business Pitch Competition with their poster, Automation of the Oculomotor Assessment Tool.

Dr. Tara Alvarez, Director of VNEL, was interviewed by NJTV News' Joanna Gagis for a segment that aired Feburary 6th 2019. 

Virtual Reality Vision Therapy, a collaboration between PI Dr. Tara Alvarez's Vision and Neural Engineering Laboratory and OculoMotor Technologies startup company, was the winner of two Auggie Breakthrough Awards at AWE EU 2018! The project was the recipient of the "Most Innovative Breakthrough" award, and Dr. Alvarez herself was the recipient of the "Women XR Laureate" award. Check out AWE's article featuring all the Auggie Award winners, as well as NJIT's article featuring the whole team. 

EduCo Global, an international post-secondary education company that provides educational services through partnerships with reputable public and not-for-profit universities and through operating our own institutions, shone the spotlight on Dr. Tara L. Alvarez, Director of VNEL, in an article titled NJIT's pride:Biomedical engineer Tara Alvarez soars with awards and research breakthroughs. From the article: Biomedical engineer Tara Alvarez was given an opportunity to shine and build a brilliant career when she joined New Jersey Institute of Technology. She soared from one research breakthrough to another, garnering awards along the way. She then steered the spotlight on an institution that values excellence, integrity, civility, social responsibility, diversity and communication as it prepares its students and graduates for positions of leadership as professionals and as citizens.

The Virtual Reality Vision Therapy Project is a finalist for the 2018 Breakthrough Auggie Awards. The Breakthrough Auggies honor academic-industry collaborations using AR, VR and MR that showcase innovation with the greatest potential to spark mass adoption and industrial use of these immersive technologies. Read more about the project on Medium. Team members Tara L. Alvarez, Ph.D., and John Vito d'Antonio-Bertagnolli, M.S., will attend the Augmented World Expo in Munich on October 18-19. Thank you to the NJIT community for a social media push to gather votes for the project, as well as to project sponsors, including the NSF I-Corps program, the NIH, The Eye Institute at Salus University, the EPICS in IEEE program, the New Jersey Health Foundation, and NJIT itself. 

Dr. Tara Alvarez, Director of VNEL, was featured in NJBIZ's 2018 Vanguard Series: Leaders in Higher Education. 

VNEL mentored four students for the 2018 NJIT Provost High School Summer Research Internship Program. These students presented their research on August 3rd 2018 as digital posters to an audience of over 200 friends, family, and faculty.

Dr. Tara Alvarez, Director of VNEL, was featured on PBS's Life & Living with Joanna Gagis on May 7, 2018.

Dr. Tara Alvarez, Director of VNEL, was inducted to the 2018 AIMBE College of Fellows on April 9, 2018.

Lab member Chang Yaramothu installed VNEL instrumentation at CHOP Specialty Care & Surgery Center, King of Prussia. This instrumentation will be used to collect eye movement data on post-concussive convergence insufficiency patients.

Lab member John Vito d'Antonio-Bertagnolli successfully completed the seven-week NSF I-Corps program on Deceember 5, 2017. Special thanks to his team members, Dr. Tara L. Alvarez and Carl L. Georgeson, as well as to the 100 optometrists he interviewed.

Lab member Chang Yaramothu successfully defended his Ph.D. Dissertation on Tuesday, October 31, 2017. Special thanks to his co-advisors, Dr. Tara L. Alvarez and Dr. Bharat B. Biswal, as well as his committee members, Dr. Mitchell Scheiman, Dr. Kevin Pang, Dr. Vijayalakshmi Santhakumar, and Dr. Xiaobo Li.

The NJIT Board of Overseers was proud to award Tara Alvarez, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, its tenth annual Excellence in Research Prize and Medal, on October 4, 2017.

NJIT News Article, NJIT Board of Overseers Announcement

Dr. Tara Alvarez, Director of VNEL, gave a two hour talk on the functional mechanism of neural control in convergence insufficiency at the 2017 Annual Conference of the Neuro-Optometric Rehabilitation Association in Buffalo, New York, on September 17, 2017.

Dr. Tara Alvarez, Director of VNEL, was featured in an NJIT article, "As Athletes Collide in Arenas This Fall, NJIT Concussion Experts Look to Assess and Heal" on Septmber 8, 2017.

Dr. Tara Alvarez, Director of VNEL, and student researchers John Vito d'Antonio-Bertagnolli and Chang Yaramothu along with Judith Sheft, NJIT Associate Vice President Technology & Enterprise Development, attended the  August 2, 2017 BIONJ Life Sciences Talent Network Summit at Kean University participating in a panel discussion of the I-Corps program.  NJIT is an NSF I-Corps site and Dr. Alavrez has received site funding for her project on vision rehabilitation therapy using video game technology for people with convergence insufficiency, 

Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) by IEEE funded VNEL's Virtual Reality Vision Therapy project in August 2015 with a $9,929.00 grant awarded to student group working on "socially innovative projects that may address local community-service needs such as access and abilities, education and outreach, environment, and human services." The project was then highlighted on the EPICS website, in an EETimes article, and in a video on IEEE.tv!

Dr. Tara Alvarez, Director of VNEL, presented a TEDx talk titled "Interdisciplinary Research to Restore BInocular Coordination" at TEDxNJIT in November, 2016.

Dr. Tara Alvarez, Director of VNEL, received a 2015 Edison Patent Award from the Research & Development Council of New Jersey for a novel test she and a colleague designed to help eye doctors predict how well their patients will adapt to progressive lenses. Check out this NJIT Newsroom article, and the video below.

Dr. Tara Alvarez, Director of VNEL, spoke about convergence insufficiency and its impact on the brain on One on One with Steve Adubato on August 15, 2014.  

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