Curriculum Vitae

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Education

University of Waterloo

Ph.D., Biomedical Engineering Expected 2028
M.A.Sc., Systems Design Engineering 2024
Graduate Certificate in University Teaching 2026

Purdue University

B.S.E., Acoustical Engineering 2022

Fellowships

Canada Graduate Research Scholarship – Doctoral 2026 – 2028
Project: Eye-tracking based assessments of effort in conversational interactions (C$120,000)
Awarded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada

Research Appointments

University of Waterloo — Waterloo, Ontario 2022 – Present
Graduate Researcher, Hearing Lab

  • Studying the ways people adapt to difficulties in conversation to develop approaches for measuring cognitive effort during communication.
  • The long-term goal of this work is to identify ways to assess the effectiveness of hearing aids in realistic settings.
  • Developed expertise in pupillometry, conversational behavior, speech production, hearing science, acoustic and bio-signal processing, systems design, and precision calibration and synchronization of multi-modal signals.

Purdue University — West Lafayette, Indiana 2021 – 2022
Undergraduate Researcher, Experimental Amplification Research Lab

  • Assessed and improved the acoustical performance of an open-source hearing aid platform.

Industry Experience

Bose Corporation — Framingham, Massachusetts 2022
Acoustic Engineer Intern

  • Developed an automated algorithm and testing procedure to acoustically detect air leaks from loudspeaker enclosures.

Starkey Hearing Technologies — Eden Prairie, Minnesota 2021
Acoustic Engineer Intern

  • Adapted vibration testing procedures for electroacoustic transducers to improve coherence of optical measurements.

Teaching Appointments

University of Waterloo — Waterloo, Ontario

Course Instructor Spring 2025 & 2026

  • Served as the sole instructor for a core undergraduate engineering course, Linear Systems & Signals, with ~80 students.
  • Restructured course content such that it could be delivered with a cohesive narrative throughout the term.
  • Designed and delivered all lecture and assessment materials and managed two teaching assistants.
  • Achieved an average teaching evaluation of 4.7/5 across content and delivery.

Teaching Assistant 2022 – Present

  • Acted as a teaching assistant for several courses over 10+ academic semesters. Courses TA’d: Introduction to Biomedical Design, Biomedical Signal Processing, Linear Systems & Signals (x5), Computational Neuroscience, Simulating Neuro-biological Systems, Communication in Biomedical Engineering.

Purdue University — West Lafayette, Indiana

Teaching Assistant Spring 2022

  • Graded assignments and exams for a course in Acoustics and Noise Control.

Awards

  • International Symposium on Auditory and Audiological Research Scholarship (2025)
  • Biomedical Engineering Research Day Best Presentation Award (2025)
  • Research Institute for Aging Best Presentation Award (2025)
  • 1st Place - International Student Challenge in Signal Processing - Acoustical Society of America (2024)
  • Canadian Acoustical Association Student Travel Award (2024)
  • 1st Place - International Student Challenge in Signal Processing - Acoustical Society of America (2023)

Service

Acoustical Society of America

  • Session Co-chair - Undergraduate and Graduate Programs in Acoustics (2026)
  • Student Council Representative - Technical Committee on Signal Processing (2025-2027)

Internal/Institutional

  • Organizing Committee - Symposium on Aging Research (2025-2026)
  • Biomedical Engineering Program Representative - Various Graduate Studies Fairs (2025-2026)
  • Committee Member - Systems Design/Biomedical Engineering Teaching Assistant Spaces (2025)
  • Treasurer - Purdue Student Chapters of the Acoustical Society of America and Audio Engineering Society (2020-2022)
  • Vice-President and Treasurer - Purdue University Multidisciplinary Engineering Student Society (2019-2021)

Scholarship

Journal Articles

  • [J3] Masters, B., Shiell, M.M., Wendt, D., MacDonald, E.N. “Hearing loss is reflected in conversational pupil responses” Trends in Hearing, 2026
  • [J2] Masters, B., MacDonald, E.N. “Variable delay affects conversational turn-taking behavior in the presence of background noise” The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2025
  • [J1] Masters, B., Aliakbaryhosseinabadi, S., Wendt, D., MacDonald, E.N. “Pupil responses during interactive conversation” Trends in Hearing, 2025

Conference/Workshop Presentations & Posters

  • [C11] Masters, B., MacDonald, E.N. “Investigating the regulation of speech level during conversations in noise” Eriksholm Summer School, Snekkersten, Denmark, 2026
  • [C10] Masters, B., Stepanenko P., MacDonald, E.N. “The impacts of asymmetric acoustic conditions on speech production and communication dynamics during interactive conversation” Acoustical Society of America 190, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2026
  • [C9] Masters, B., Shiell, M., Wendt, D., MacDonald, E.N. “Pupillometry reveals differences in the cognitive demands of interactive conversation versus passive listening” Acoustical Society of America 189, Honolulu, Hawaii, 2025
  • [C8] Masters, B., Stepanenko, P., Shiell, M., Wendt, D., MacDonald, E.N. “Assessing the sensitivity of the pupil dilation response to different sources of difficulty in interactive conversation” Acoustical Society of America 189, Honolulu, Hawaii, 2025
  • [C7] Stepanenko, P., Masters, B., MacDonald, E.N. “Changes in conversational behavior across noise, language proficiency, and task” Acoustical Society of America 189, Honolulu, Hawaii, 2025
  • [C6] Stepanenko, P., Masters, B., MacDonald, E.N. “Preliminary investigation of the effect of noise on semantic content of conversations” Acoustical Society of America 189, Honolulu, Hawaii, 2025
  • [C5] Masters, B., Shiell, M., Wendt, D., MacDonald, E.N. “The effects of hearing loss on pupil responses in conversation” International Symposium on Auditory and Audiological Research, Nyborg, Denmark, 2025; Symposium on Aging Research, Waterloo, Ontario, 2025 (Research Institute for Aging Award)
  • [C4] Masters, B., Shiell, M., Wendt, D., MacDonald, E.N. “Understanding effortful listening in interactive conversation with pupillometry” Workshop in Communication in Hearing Science, Lynge, Denmark, 2025; Biomedical Engineering Research Day, Waterloo, Ontario, 2025 (Best Presentation Award)
  • [C3] Masters, B., Aliakbaryhosseinabadi, S., Wendt, D., MacDonald, E.N. “Analysis of physiological measures around conversational state changes” Acoustical Society of America 186/Acoustics Week in Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, 2024
  • [C2] Masters, B., MacDonald, E.N. “The effects of delay on task-based interactive conversation” Acoustical Society of America 186/Acoustics Week in Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, 2024
  • [C1] Masters, B., Alexander, J.M. “Directionality characteristics of the Tympan open-source hearing aid and earpieces” Acoustical Society of America 181, Seattle, Washington, 2021

Invited Talks

  • [I3] Masters, B. “Measuring effort in conversation: physiological and linguistic approaches”, Technical University of Denmark, 2026
  • [I2] Masters, B. “Inferring effort in conversation: behavioral and physiological markers”, Sonova, 2026
  • [I1] Masters, B. “Talker sensitivity to turn-taking in conversation”, Eriksholm Research Centre & Technical University of Denmark, 2024

Open Datasets

  • [D3] Masters, B., Shiell, M.M., Wendt, D., MacDonald, E.N. “Replication Data for Hearing loss is reflected in conversational pupil responses” Borealis, 2026
  • [D2] Masters, B., MacDonald, E.N. “Replication Data for Variable delay affects conversational turn-taking in the presence of background noise” Borealis, 2025
  • [D1] Masters, B., Aliakbaryhosseinabadi, S., Wendt, D., MacDonald, E.N. “Replication Data for Pupil responses during interactive conversation” Borealis, 2025

Theses

  • [T1] Masters, B. “Talker Sensitivity to Turn-Taking in Conversation”, M.A.Sc. Systems Design Engineering, University of Waterloo, 2024