UNB Engineering News

Dr. Erik Scheme, an associate professor in Electrical Engineering and the Associate Director of the Institute of Biomedical Engineering at UNB, has recently been nominated for a University Research Award.

Reflecting on his journey from UNB to where he is now, Dr. Scheme shares, "I finished in 2003 and then worked in Halifax for a little while through the professional experience program for a company called Amirix Systems."

After completing his master's degree at UNB's Institute of Biomedical Engineering, he ventured into voice biometrics research before returning to UNB to work on prosthetics projects and pursue a part-time PhD, which he completed in 2013.

Dr. Scheme's academic path led him to the role of assistant professor and eventually to his current position.

Appreciative of the nomination, he acknowledges, "the work that we are doing here is based on a team."

He extends his gratitude to Dr. Jon Sensinger and others involved in the nomination process, emphasizing the collective effort behind his research endeavors.

Dr. Scheme's research spans various fields, including rehabilitation engineering, human-machine interaction and aging in place.

“We’re very well known around the world in the area of prosthetics, particularly an area called electric control, where we use muscle signals to control the prosthetics. We use machine learning to interpret how the muscles contract and then we use that to control those devices.”

Dr. Scheme is also leading research on gait biometrics and technology to support seniors in living independently. Alongside his team, he is doing research on technological development to understand how they can better support people living in the community.

By collaborating with different companies, such as Breath Biomedical, Dr. Scheme’s projects extend to cancer diagnostics and digital health.

In addition to his research, Dr. Scheme is actively involved in mentoring students and fostering collaboration within the academic community; he is this year’s MEC conference Co-chair, taking place from August 12 to August 15, 2024.

With a passion for both teaching and research, he continues to inspire the next generation of engineers and researchers at UNB.

As he reflects on his journey, Dr. Scheme remains committed to pushing the boundaries of knowledge and making a positive impact in his field.

With his innovative approach and collaborative spirit, he embodies the spirit of excellence and dedication that defines UNB's research community.