Banu Onaral

Who is Banu Onaral?

Banu Onaral is H.H. Sun Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Electrical Engineering at Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She holds a Ph.D. 1978 in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and BSEE 1973 and MSEE [1974] in Electrical Engineering from Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey. Dr. Onaral joined the faculty of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Biomedical Engineering and Science Institute in 1981. She held two sabbatical leaves at Bogazici University in the academic years 1980-81 and 1987-88. Since 1997, she has served as the founding Director of the School of Biomedical Engineering Science and Health Systems.

Her academic focus both in research and teaching is centered on information engineering with special emphasis on complex systems and biomedical signal processing in ultrasound and optics. She has led major research and development projects sponsored by the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Office of Naval Research, DARPA and Department of Homeland Security. She supervised a large number of graduate students to degree completion and has an extensive publication record in biomedical signals and systems. She is the recipient of a number of faculty excellence awards including the 1990 Lindback Distinguished Teaching Award of Drexel University, the EDUCOM Best educational Software award and the NSF Faculty Achievement Award.