Keat Ghee Ong, PhD

Professor, Knight Campus

Keat Ghee Ong joined the Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact at the University of Oregon in August 2019 as a professor. Prior to that, he was the Portage Health Foundation Endowed Professor and Associate Chair of Biomedical Engineering at Michigan Technological University. Ong received his PhD in Electrical Engineering in 2000 from the University of Kentucky.

Keat Ghee Ong has an internationally recognized research program in the areas of implantable sensors, wireless sensors, and magnetoelastic materials. He was involved in the development and implementation of a number of wireless sensor technologies including the magnetoelastic resonance sensors and inductive-capacitive resonance circuit sensors for biomedical applications. Currently, Ong focuses on the development of “smart implants”, which are based on wireless sensor/actuator platforms that not only can monitor physiological conditions in real-time but also react and adapt to changes for improving treatment outcomes. Ong has over 100 publications in peer-reviewed journals, most of them in engineering-oriented journals such as IEEE Sensors and Journal of Biomedical Materials Research. Ong’s research activities are supported by a number of federal agencies, organizations, and industrial partners such as the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control, Department of Defense, etc.

Salil Sidharthan Karipott, PhD

Postdoctoral scholar
Chief Scientist, Penderia Technologies Inc.

Salil is a postdoctoral scholar in the Ong Lab at the Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact.  He is also the Chief Scientist of a biotech startup company, Penderia Technologies Inc. Karipott received his PhD in 2019 and MS in 2017 from the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the Michigan Technological University.

Salil Karipott’s research focuses on developing wireless sensors and actuators in biomedical implants. He has developed inductive-capacitive sensors and magnetoelastic actuators for improving the treatment outcomes of orthopedic injuries.

Michael McGeehan, PhD

Postdoctoral Scholar

Mike McGeehan is a postdoctoral scholar in the Ong Lab at the Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact. He completed his PhD in 2020 under the mentorship of Dr. Mike Hahn in the University of Oregon Neuromechanics Laboratory. His PhD research focused on the development and use of computational models and simulations to optimize design parameters of a novel foot-ankle prosthesis.

Mike joined the Ong Lab in January of 2021 and is working toward developing wireless sensors with orthopedic applications. Specifically, he is developing a suite of sensors for monitoring the mechanical and physiological environment inside a prosthetic socket with the goal of improving residual limb health among individuals with lower limb amputation.

William Skinner

Graduate Research Assistant
Trainee, Center for Cell Manufacturing Technologies

William Skinner is a graduate student in Dr. Keat Ghee Ong’s laboratory at the Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact. Will joined the Ong Lab in the summer of 2020. His research is focused on the development of magnetoelastic microcarrier sensors for cell manufacturing, and electrochemical technology for sensing applications.

Eyerusalem Gebreyesus

Graduate Research Assistant 

Eyerusalem Gebreyesus is a graduate student in Dr. Keat Ghee Ong’s laboratory at the Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact. Eyerusalem joined the Ong Lab in the spring of 2021. Her research is focused on the development of a bone fixation device the can provide fluid shear force to accelerate regeneration in critical size defects.

Kaylee Meyers

Graduate Research Assistant 

Kaylee Meyers is a graduate student in Dr. Keat Ghee Ong’s laboratory at the Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact. She received an undergraduate degree in biomedical engineering at Michigan Tech and joined the Ong Lab in the fall of 2021. Her research focuses on developing degradable biosensors for orthopedic and sports medicine applications. Outside the lab she enjoys outdoor activities and volunteering with STEM education programs.