Degrees
| Ph.D. | University of Cambridge | Information Engineering | 1998 |
| M.Eng. | McGill University | Biomedical/Mechanical Engineering | 1993 |
| B.A.Sc. (honours) | University of British Columbia | Engineering Physics | 1991 |
Professional Positions
| Director, Institute for Computing, Information and Cognitive Systems, UBC | 2011-present |
| Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering & Mechanical Engineering, UBC | 2011-present |
| Associate Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering & Mechanical Engineering, UBC | 2006-2011 |
| Assistant Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering & Mechanical Engineering, UBC | 2001-2006 |
| Coordinator, Biomedical Option, Electrical Engineering | 2006-2015 |
| Coordinator, Biomedical Option, Mechanical Engineering | 2010-2014 |
| Co-coordinator of Mechatronics option, Mechanical Engineering | 2008-2014 |
| Co-coordinator of EMEC (Electro-Mechanical Engineering), Mechanical Engineering | 2001-2006 |
| Member, Working Group 17, DICOM | 1999-present |
| Fellow, British Columbia Advanced Systems Institute | 2001-present |
| Professional Engineer, APEGBC | 2003-present |
| Senior Member, IEEE | 2010-present |
| Project Manager, McKesson Medical Imaging Solutions (formerly ALI Technologies, Inc.), Richmond, B.C., Canada | 1999-2000 |
| Software Engineer, CAE Electronics, St. Laurent, Quebec, Canada | 1994-1995 |
Awards |
|
| Teaching Awards | |
| Killam Teaching Prize | 2007 |
| Scholarship Awards | |
| Young Scientist Award, MICCAI 2014 (Medical Imaging Computing and Computer Assisted Intervention). Five awards are given per conference by vote from a panel. This conference had a 30% acceptance rate. The paper was “Pico-lantern: a pick-up projector for augmented reality in laparoscopic surgery” P. Edgcumbe, R. Rohling, C. Nguan, P. Pratt, G-Z Yang. (P. Edgcumbe is a PhD student). | 2014 |
| Best Presentation Award, IPCAI 2014 (International Conference on Information Processing in Computer-Assisted Interventions). One award is given per conference by vote from the audience. The paper was “A system for ultrasound-guided spinal injections” A. Rasoulian, J. Osborne, S. Sojoudi, S. Nouranian, V. Lessoway, R. Rohling, P. Abolmaesumi. (A. Rasoulian is a PhD student). | 2014 |
| Best Presentation Award, IPCAI 2013 (International Conference on Information Processing in Computer-Assisted Interventions). One award is given per conference by vote from the audience. The paper was “Augmentation of paramedian 3D ultrasound images of the spine” A. Rasoulian, R. Rohling, P. Abolmaesumi. (A. Rasoulian is a PhD student). | 2013 |
| Best Student Paper Award: 3rd place, ITEC 2012 (International Tissue Elasticity Conference), The paper was “Shear modulus reconstruction without homogeneity assumptions: a new curl-based finite element formulation” M. Honarvar, R.S. Sahebjavaher, R. Rohling, S.E. Salcudean. (M. Honarvar and R.S. Sahebjavaher are PhD students). | 2012 |
| Best Paper Award, IPCAI 2012 (International Conference on Information Processing in Computer-Assisted Interventions), The paper was “A closed-form differential formulation for ultrasound spatial calibration” M. Najafi, N. Afsham, P. Abolmaesumi, R. Rohling. (M. Najafi and N. Afsham are PhD students). | 2012 |
| Cum Laude award at the Ultrasonic Imaging and Signal Processing conference, as part of Medical Imaging 2012 – a meeting held by the International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE). One award is given per conference for the best poster presentation. The poster was titled “Out-of-plane motion estimation based on a Rician-Inverse Gaussian model of RF ultrasound signals: speckle tracking without fully developed speckle”, N. Afsham, M. Najafi, P. Abolmaesumi, R. Rohling. (N. Afsham and M. Najafi are PhD students). | 2012 |
| Best Oral Presentation Award. IPCAI: International Conference on Information Processing in Computer-Assisted Interventions, “Intra-operative pick-up ultrasound for robot assisted surgery with vessel extraction and registration: a feasibility study” C. Schneider (MASc student) | 2011 |
| 1st Place Oral Presentation. UBC Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology and Therapeutics Research Competition and Awards Night, “Porcine thoracic epidural depth measurement using 3D ultrasound resliced images” D. Tran and A. Rasoulian (PhD students) | 2010 |
| 2nd Place Oral Presentation. UBC Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology and Therapeutics Research Competition and Awards Night, “Automatic detection of the ligamentum flavum on ultrasound images of the lumbar spine” D. Tran (PhD student) | 2010 |
| NSERC Synergy Award. For the longstanding collaobration of S. Salcudean, R. Rohling of UBC, and Ultrasonix Medical Corporation, Richmond, BC. This award supports students and post-doctoral fellows at UBC, and a research fellow at Ultrasonix. | 2009 |
| 1st Place Poster, 37th Annual UBC Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology and Therapeutics Research Competition and Awards Night, “Comparison of loss-of-resistance along midline versus paramedian approach for loss-of-resistance in epidural needle insertion in porcine subjects” D. Tran (PhD student) | 2008 |
| 2nd Place Oral Presentation, 36th Annual UBC Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology and Therapeutics Research Competition and Awards Night, “Ultrasonography of the lumbar spine and instrumentation of the loss-of-resistance technique for epidural anesthesia” C. Peterson (MD Resident) | 2007 |
| 1st Place, Student Paper Competition at the Canadian Medical and Biological Engineering Conference. “Image Synthesis of Deformed Tissue with Application to Ultrasound for Prostate Brachytherapy”, O. Goksel (Ph.D. student), S.E. Salcudean, R. Rohling. | 2006 |
| Best Poster Award (gold medal level) at IS 2005:15th Annual Canadian Conf. on Intelligent Systems – “3D Needle-Tissue Interaction for Prostate Brachytherapy”, O. Goksel (M.A.Sc. student), S.E. Salcudean, R. Rohling. | 2005 |
| Innovation Award at the 2004 ASI Exchange – Orcun Goksel, M.A.Sc student | 2004 |
| Communications Award at the 2004 ASI Exchange – Orcun Goksel, M.A.Sc student | 2004 |
| Cum Laude award at the Ultrasonic Imaging and Signal Processing conference, as part of Medical Imaging 2004 – a meeting held by the International Society for Optical Engineering(SPIE). One award is given per conference for the best poster presentation. The poster was titled “Real-time spatial compounding with warping”, A. Groves and R. Rohling. | 2004 |
| Fellow of the British Columbia Advanced Systems Institute | 2001 |
| Churchill College Studentship, Cambridge, UK | 1995 |
| Overseas Research Student Award, Cambridge, UK | 1995 |
| Fellow of the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust, Cambridge, UK | 1995 |
| Best Student Paper at IEEE Intl. Conf. on Robotics and Automation, San Diego, CA | 1994 |
| Prize for “Best M.Eng. Thesis in Mechanical Eng.”, McGill University, QC | 1994 |
| N.S.E.R.C. post-graduate scholarship, McGill University, QC | 1991-1993 |
| Several undergraduate awards including Sopron Memorial; Expo 86; Capt. C.Y. Wu; Province of B.C.; Lions Club; U.B.C. entrance scholarships; Student Design Award |
1986-1991 |
| Service Awards | |
| Faculty Recognition Award: “Provided an outstanding contribution to the success of the UBC Engineering Co-op Program in 2003/2004” | 2004 |
My general area of interest is biomedical engineering with specific interests in ultrasound imaging, surgical robotics and medical information systems. In ultrasound imaging, I am developing new acquisition techniques for both accurate diagnosis and successful therapy. In surgical robotics, I am working on the integration of ultrasound guidance. In medical information systems, I am working with industry to improve the timely dissemination of digital medical images and associated data to health care providers. In particular I am currently working on new methods for radiologists to navigate large image sets. This is in response to the growing size of studies produced by modern scanners.
All of these topics are highly collaborative in nature, as seen in the individual research topics. I hold a joint appointment with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Department of Mechanical Engineering to conduct this research.
A sample of the research topics is provided as sub-sections. A more complete list of research can be found in the Publications.
For a complete list of publications, as seen by Google, please click here.
ELEC 471: Medical Imaging
Physical principles of ultrasound, magnetic resonance, computed tomography and X-ray projection imaging. Methods of feature detection, segmentation, registration and visualization of 2D and 3D images. Applications in diagnostics, therapeutics and interventions.
This is a Connect course
ELEC 271: Selected Topics in Biomedical Engineering
Effective communication in a multidisciplinary environment, introduction to emerging areas of biomedical engineering and biotechnology, ethics, and responsibility. Restricted to students admitted to the Biomedical Engineering program in Electrical Engineering.
This is a Connect course
I am currently recruiting new MASc and PhD students in the field of medical imaging and biomedical devices. Full research assistantship support is available. Students holding major scholarships, e.g. NSERC or other national scholarships, are urged to apply at any time, and should indicate this in their communication. NSERC students are eligible for top up scholarships. Students from EE, MECH and PHYS are encouraged to apply. Previous background in biomedical engineering is less important than academic quality. In order to be considered for graduate studies you must formally apply to either the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, or the Department of Mechanical Engineering at UBC. I accept students from both departments so you can choose the one that fits your background and research interests. Another option is the Biomedical Engineering program. All applications are carefully reviewed by staff and faculty in the respective department to which you apply. The formal application process is via the Internet http://www.grad.ubc.ca/application.
I receive a large number of e-mails requesting acceptance to UBC or advice on academic careers. It is not possible for me to respond to all of these emails, so accept my apology if I do not respond to your email. Students with strong academic qualifications are encouraged to submit formal applications to UBC. I will review formal applications to our department that meet UBC Graduate Studies requirements and indicate interest in studying in my lab. If you wish to study with me, please add my name as a potential supervisor to your application so that it will be flagged to my attention. Feel free to e-mail me that you have done so, and add a short description of why you wish to study in my research area.
I accept a combination of Canadian and international students. I look closely at applicants with good grades from an IIT (India), Sharif or Tehran University (Iran), Tsinghua University (China), and good universities in Europe and Canada.