Education
| 2011- 2017 | Ph.D., Neuroscience, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana- Champaign, IL. |
| 1996 – 1999 | M. S. Engineering and Applied Science, Yale University, New Haven, CT. |
| 1995-1996 | Attended University of Houston, Houston TX for a year (transferred to Yale). |
| 1988 – 1992 | B. Tech. Mechanical Engineering, IIT BHU (formerly ITBHU), Varanasi, India. |
Skills
| Methods |
Neuroscience related: fMRI, Multi-Voxel Pattern Analysis, Signal Processing, EEG and ERPs, Machine Learning, Computer Vision Methods, Bayesian Statistics, Research Methods Best Practices, Deep Learning |
| Software | Neuroscience related: Matlab, R, Python, PsychToolbox, AFNI, Freesurfer, Kutas Lab ERP Pipeline, Caffe
Other: SQL, Project Management, Oracle Databases, HP and Mercury Testing tools, Enterprise Software Applications |
Research Experience: Neuroscience
| 2011 – 2017 | Graduate Student, Attention, Perception and Awareness Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL
Thesis: The Influence of Semantics on the Visual Processing of Natural Scenes Advisors: Diane M. Beck and Kara D. Federmeier |
| 2009 – 2011 | Visitor, Vestibular and Oculomotor Laboratory, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
My first foray into Neuroscience. Moonlighted and programmed experiments to study visual smooth pursuit eye movements under head free conditions. |
Research Experience: Engineering
| 1997 – 1998 | Research Assistant, Yale University, New Haven, CT. |
| 1993 – 1995 | Research Fellow, Computational and Theoretical Fluid Dynamics Division, National Aerospace Laboratories, Bangalore, India |
Industry Experience: Software Consulting
| 2001 – 2011
2000 – 2001 |
Computer Sciences Corporation/ (Covansys), MI.
Youngsoft Inc, MI. I took on diverse roles in these organizations with increasing levels of responsibility, starting as a technical software developer and going on to senior leadership roles. I led large teams, distributed across continents, while implementing software solutions for clients. Mentored team members and helped nurture team work, collaboration and excellence. Demonstrated expertise in project management, risk mitigation and change management skills, in addition to software development and testing. |
Manuscripts in preparation
Dickson, D., Kumar M., Laszlo, S., Beck, D.M and Federmeier K. D. (in prep), “Multivoxel pattern analysis reveals the processing abilities of the (left) Visual Word Form Area and its right hemisphere counterpart”.
Kumar, M., Zhang, Y., Beck, D. M., and Federmeier, K. D., (in prep), “Learned Statistical Regularities Facilitate the Processing of Good Exemplars”.
Publications
Cognitive Neuroscience
Kumar, M., Ellis, C. T., Lu, Q., Zhang, H., Capota, M., Willke, T. L., Ramadge, P. J., Turk-Browne, Norman, K. (2020). BrainIAK tutorials: User-friendly learning materials for advanced fMRI analysis. PLOS Computational Biology. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1007549
Kumar, M., Federmeier, K. D., Fei-Fei, L., & Beck, D. M. (2017). Evidence For Similar Patterns of Neural Activity Elicited by Picture- and Word-based Representations of Natural Scenes. NeuroImage. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.03.037
Engineering
Shankar, P.N. and Manoj Kumar, 1995 “Vortex Rings Generated by Drops Just Coalescing With A Pool”, Physics of Fluids 7, p. 737.
Manoj Kumar, Arakeri J.H. and Shankar, P.N., 1995 “A Note On Translational Velocity Oscillations Of Piston Generated Vortex Rings”, Physics of Fluids 7, p. 2751.
Shankar, P.N. and Manoj Kumar, 1994 “Experimental Determination of the Kinematic Viscosities of Glycerol Water Mixtures”, Proceedings of the Royal Society London A 444, p. 573.
Shankar, P.N. and Manoj Kumar, 1994 “Toroidal Vortex Rings”, Current Science 66, p. 151.
Manoj Kumar and Shankar, P.N., 1993 “The Kinematic Viscosities of Ethylene Glycol and Castor Oil”, Current Science 65, p. 983.
Conference Abstracts
Kumar, M., Zhang, S., and Beck, D. M., 2017 “Similarities Between Deep Neural Networks and Brain Regions In Processing Good and Bad Exemplars of Natural Scenes”, Vision Sciences Society Meeting, St. Petersburg, FL.
Kumar, M., Zhang, Y., Beck, D. M., and Federmeier, K. D., 2017 “It’s the Right Cue: Hemispheric Differences in Predictive Processing of Natural Scenes”, Cognitive
Neuroscience Society, San Francisco, CA.
Kumar, M., Federmeier, K. D, Fei-Fei, L. and Beck, D. M., 2016 “Visual and Semantic Neural Representations For Animate and Inanimate Objects”, Vision Sciences Society Meeting, St. Petersburg, FL.
Kumar, M., Zhang, Y., Beck, D. M., and Federmeier, K. D., 2015 “The good, the bad and the early: top-down influence on scene categorization”, Oral Presentation at the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL.
Kumar, M., Zhang, Y., Beck, D. M., and Federmeier, K. D., 2015 “Scene Categorization: The Good, The Bad And The Early”, Society for Psychophysiological Research Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA.
Kumar, M., Zhang, Y., Beck, D. M., and Federmeier, K. D., 2015 “Scene Categorization: The Good, The Bad And The Early”, Cognitive Neuroscience Society, San Francisco, CA.
Kumar, M., Zhang, Y., Beck, D. M., and Federmeier, K. D., 2015 “Scene Categorization: The Good, The Bad And The Early”, Vision Sciences Society Meeting, St. Petersburg, FL.
Kumar, M., Federmeier, K. D, Fei-Fei, L. and Beck, D. M., 2014 “Evidence For A Common Semantic Representation For Pictures And Words”, Cognitive Neuroscience Society, Boston, MA.
Kumar, M., Fei-Fei, L. and Beck, D. M., 2013 “Frontal Contributions to Natural Scene Processing”, Vision Sciences Society Meeting, Naples, FL.
Marc Massot, Manoj Kumar, Smooke M.D. and Gomez A., 1998 “Spray Counter Flow Diffusion Flames of Heptane: Experiments and Computations with Detailed Kinetics and Transport”, Twenty Seventh Symposium (International) on Combustion, p. 1975.
Manoj Kumar and Shankar, P.N., 1995 “A New Vortex Ring Translational Instability”, Proceedings of the 6th Asian Congress of Fluid Mechanics, p. 1576.
Talks
| 2016 | Guest Lecture, Core Neuroscience Course, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Cognitive Neuroscience Brown Bag, Dept. of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Center for Neural Science, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India. |
| 2015 | Guest Lecture, Core Neuroscience Course, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Kumar, M., Zhang, Y., Beck, D. M., and Federmeier, K. D., 2015 “The good, the bad and the early: top-down influence on scene categorization”, Oral Presentation at the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL. Spring Seminar Series, Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Cognitive Brown Bag, Dept. of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Visual Cognition and Human Performance Brown Bag, Dept. of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. |
| 2014 | Kumar, M., Federmeier, K. D, Fei-Fei, L. and Beck, D. M., 2014 “Visual and Semantic Similarities Across Pictures and Words”, Oral Presentation at the Vision Sciences Society Meeting, St. Petersburg, FL.
Cognitive Neuroscience Brown Bag, Dept. of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. |
| 2013 | Visual Cognition and Human Performace Brown Bag, Dept. of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Neuroscience Seminar, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Vision Lab Meeting, Center for Neural Science, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India. |
| 2012 | Neuro-Engineering IGERT Meeting, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. |
| 1995 | Manoj Kumar and Shankar, P.N., 1995 “A New Vortex Ring Translational Instability” Oral Presentation at the 6th Asian Congress of Fluid Mechanics, Singapore. |
Awards
| 2011 – 2013 | NSF Neuro-Engineering IGERT Fellowship. |
| 1996 – 1997 | Yale University Graduate Student Fellowship. |
Teaching
| 2014 Spring | Primary Instructor, PSYC100 Introduction to Psychology |
| 2013 Fall | Primary Instructor, PSYC100 Introduction to Psychology |
Service at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
| 2013 | Mentor to undergraduate students as a part of ISNI 2013.
Host for the 2013 Neuroscience Program Open House |
| 2012 | One of two organizing members for SFN Night, a Neuroscience Program Event at Illinois.
One of four organizing committee members for the 2012 UIUC Neuro-Engineering IGERT symposium. Independently organized a visit by Prof. Thomas Mitchell for the Neuro-Engineering seminar series. Host for the 2012 Neuroscience Program Open House. |
