I'm a PhD student in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University at Buffalo, working with Dr. Wenyao Xu in the Embedded Sensing and Computing (ESC) Group.
Before starting my PhD, I spent several years as a biomedical product development engineer, working at the intersection of design, engineering, and health equity. I've led early-stage prototyping and clinical-needs work with UCSF surgeons, medical device teams, and university research groups, and I still take on freelance CAD and prototyping projects through my own practice, Across Consulting LLC.
I'm equal parts creative and analytical, and what I keep coming back to is being the bridge: between design and engineering, between a technical team and the people who'll actually use what they build, between a clinical need and a working prototype. That comes from an interdisciplinary background, a BA in Film & Digital Media, a BA in Visual Arts, and an MS in Biomedical Engineering, and it's what pulls me toward building technology that is as carefully designed for the people using it as it is technically sound.
My PhD research is on AI-enabled clinical and health systems in the ESC Group. I'm interested in embedded sensing, human-in-the-loop AI, and bringing formal medical device design processes into research prototypes so that what we build can realistically move toward clinical use.
I contribute to SATE (Speech Annotation and Transcription Enhancer), an automated, human-centered system built in the ESC Group with Auspex Medix and speech-language pathology collaborators at UB. Language sample analysis is the clinical gold standard for diagnosing developmental language disorder, but a 15 to 20 minute recording can take a clinician one to three hours to transcribe and code by hand, which keeps it out of routine practice. SATE pairs a domain-adapted ML pipeline (transcription, segmentation, speaker identification, and clinical metrics) with an audio-synchronized review interface that keeps a clinician in the loop at every step, cutting analysis time by more than half in pilot testing while holding accuracy steady. I work on the human factors side, end-user testing and the outreach and product materials that introduce the system to clinicians and families as it moves from a validated pilot toward real-world deployment.
Designed a custom, two-piece, UV-resistant prosthetic for a Texas tortoise with chronic beak malocclusion, using 3D printing, biocompatible materials, and magnetic components, balancing anatomical constraints against caregiver usability. (San Jose State University)
A modular, biosafe, adjustable climbing structure designed to reduce stress in koalas during veterinary rehabilitation, aimed at the Australian veterinary market.
Research Associate, Eisen Lab, UC Berkeley (E3S TTE REU). Conducted foundational research on intrinsically disordered transcription factors and presented results at SACNAS, the largest national conference supporting diversity in STEM.
Vice President, SJCC Robotics & Automation Club. Directed club programs including 3D bioprinting workshops, robotics competitions, and AI forums.
SolidWorks (CSWA) · Autodesk Inventor · AutoCAD · Blender · 3D Printing · Arduino · Instron & Uson Leak Testing · Microscopy · FIJI/ImageJ · RStudio · JASP · Minitab · Adobe Creative Suite · Filmmaking & Photography
Email: aross7@buffalo.edu
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/amandacmross
Davis Hall, University at Buffalo