Technical Services Core

McCourt, Mark

Abstract

The Technical Services Core (TSC) provides advanced computer programming support for real-time applications, electronics design and fabrication, custom EEG recording and analysis software, and web development and maintenance support for the faculty and students of the CVCN, for the Department of Psycholoyg, for NDSU as a whole, for visual and cognitive neuroscience researchers in the region, and for COBRE investigators in other IDeA states. The TSC also includes two subcomponents: Electro-Optical Instrumentation and Eye Tacking. The TSC is comprised of four key personnel, including the Core Director, Dr. Mark McCourt (PI/PD). The staff are Huanzhong ?Dan? Gu, M.S. (Senior Software Engineer), Enrique Alvarez Vazquez, M.S. (Electronics and Software Engineer), and Ganesh Padmanabhan, B.S. (Software Engineer). These three programmer/ engineers have been recognized for their contributions to the research of CVCN students and faculty by sharing authorship on over 36 conference presentations and 13 peer-reviewed publications, to date. Advancing knowledge in modern systems neuroscience requires intimate familiarity with computers, stimulus presentation and response collection devices, calibration equipment, and software tools. The TSC makes an essential contribution to nearly every project that CVCN researchers have conducted (over 450 projects which have resulted in 142 cited peer-reviewed publications). The TSC will routinely advertise the availability of programming and engineering services that they provide, and consult with prospective users concerning how their needs might be accommodated on a fee-for-service or fee-waived basis. In cooperation with the faculty of the CVCN and the NDSU Department of Psychology the TSC will offer an undergraduate/graduate course in computer programming for neuroscience reserarch which will meet the needs of the students and faculty alike, and will include training using MATLAB, PsychToolBox, VisualStudio.NET, NBS Presentation, Python, and Mobile app development (for iOS and Android devices). The TSC also offers the design of custom electronics and hardware devices frequently used in visual and cognitive neuroscience research (interfacing eyetrackers and other instrumentation with computers), digital-to-analog and analog-to-digital cards, programming in C/C++ for embedded systems (i.e., micro-controllers), and the programming and control of 3D printing devices.