Pamela Bhatti’s research broadly covers neural interface technologies to overcome sensory loss in hearing and balance systems, cardiac imaging for assessing and monitoring cardiovascular disease, and entrepreneurship. She is involved with CREATE-X, a program designed to instill entrepreneurial confidence in undergraduate and graduate students, and is ECE’s associate chair for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
While a biomedical engineer at her core, Bhatti decided to study additional engineering disciplines and chose electrical engineering, with a focus on sensor development and signal processing. In pursuing her M.S.E.E., Bhatti liked the freedom and risk in academia, but decided to pursue a career in industry to prove that she could work as an electronics engineer. However, the call to research and teaching was compelling, and in the last two years of her doctorate, she knew her passion was research.
A self-described “so-so” student in her undergraduate electrical engineering classes, Bhatti excelled in biophysics and biophysical chemistry. She strived toward being the best, maintained high standards, and hoped that her lab’s work would be transformative. “It was a blow to the ego to feel mediocre at times, but it taught me to be resilient and not to expect perfection,” Bhatti said. “Another really important outcome from that experience is knowing what it feels like to struggle as a student. It is what compelled me to teach electrical engineering.”