Positions

Openings

Last updated 10 September 2026

Who the lab is looking for

The work is bench, hardware and instrumentation focused. Every instrument the lab builds depends on people who are comfortable with hands on hardware: optical setups, data acquisition, electronics and mechanical design. A purely computational background without laboratory experience is unlikely to fit, and it is fairer to say so here than after an interview.

Open roles

Paid research assistant positions for ECE, BME, ME and Physics students

Undergraduate and MS students, paid hourly. The lab builds noninvasive optical instruments for brain monitoring, from benchtop systems to bedside and wearable devices.

Current projects. Bedside cerebral blood flow monitors based on diffuse correlation spectroscopy and speckle contrast imaging. A portable FPGA based brain monitor for traumatic brain injury. A wearable forehead headband under development for overnight brain monitoring at home. Quantum enabled photon counting with Brookhaven National Laboratory, with time on site at BNL. Laser speckle rheology, a noncontact measurement of tissue viscoelasticity.

Where you fit.

  • ECE. Hardware control and data acquisition, analog front ends, PCB design, embedded firmware, FPGA, signal processing.
  • BME. Tissue optics and phantoms, instrument validation, human subject measurements, physiological signal analysis, bedside and clinical translation.
  • ME. CAD and 3D printing, optomechanics, probe holders and headbands, wearable device design, thermal and structural analysis.
  • Physics. Speckle statistics, coherence, photon counting, Monte Carlo photon transport, optical system integration.

Students are matched to a project by interest and join a team of engineers, physicists and clinicians. No one is expected to have every skill listed, and a good senior design or hobby project counts.

Postings as PDF: ECE, ME, Physics. BME students who have strong interests in biomedical imaging and instrumentation apply with the same materials. Stony Brook students can also apply through Handshake under Research Assistant Positions in Optical Imaging Instrumentation.

Research assistant or research engineer, optical imaging for medical devices

Working on time gated diffuse correlation spectroscopy, speckle contrast optical spectroscopy and microvascular blood flow quantification for neuroimaging.

Background sought. Electrical, biomedical or mechanical engineering, or applied physics, with demonstrated skill in instrumentation and hardware development.

Useful skills.

  • Optical system integration and alignment
  • Hardware control with NI DAQ or LabVIEW
  • FPGA development
  • MATLAB or Python for signal processing

How to apply

Send 1 PDF containing your CV and a statement of interest of no more than 1 page to ulas.sunar [at] stonybrook.edu. Please put the role you are applying for in the subject line, and for the student positions name your major and the project that draws you.

If you are already working in a research group, please discuss this with your current advisor before applying. Applications are read on a rolling basis and positions are available immediately.