About

Nhat (Nick) Pham, DPhil (Ph.D.) Student, University of Oxford, UK


I'm currently a DPhil (Ph.D.) student at the Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford and work with Prof. Tam Vu at Mobile and Networked Systems (MNS) Lab. I completed my B.E. degree in Computer Engineering from Vietnam National University - University of Technology (HCMUT) in 2015 and was awarded Silver Medal for the best student of the Honor Program in Computer Engineering. I received my M.S. degree in Computer Science from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in 2018 with my research on Multiple-hop Cognitive Radio Networks. My current research interests include Mobile Healthcare Systems, Embedded Operating Systems, and Cyber-Physical Systems.

News

  • ★ Please see my new website here.
  • ★ Jul. 2021: Our eBP paper is published as a Research Highlight article in the Communications of the ACM 2021! Prof. Josiah D. Hester provides a great technical perspective article on the eBP project!
  • ★ Jun. 2021: Our Microsleep detection paper is accepted to IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing!
  • ★ Sep. 2020: Our DroneScale paper is accepted to ACM Sensys 2020!
  • ★ Jul. 2020: Our eBP paper receives ACM SIGMOBILE Research Highlights Award 2020!
  • ★ Jun. 2020: Our Review on Epileptic Seizure are accepted to Frontiers in Neurology Journal!
  • ★ Apr. 2020: I'm going to join the Cyber-Physical Systems group at the University of Oxford, UK this Fall!
  • ★ Mar. 2020: Our WAKE and Painometry papers are accepted to ACM Mobisys 2020!
  • ★ Jan. 2020: Our eBP paper is invited for ACM GetMobile Research Highlights!
  • ★ Oct. 2019: Our eBP paper received Best Paper Award at ACM Mobicom 2019!
  • ★ Jun. 2019: Our Earable biosensing platform demo is presented at ACM Mobisys 2019!
  • ★ Jun. 2019: Our eBP paper is accepted to ACM Mobicom 2019!
  • ★ Apr. 2019: Our Earable biosensing platform demo won CU Boulder Get Seed Funding!
  • ★ Apr. 2019: Our Earable biosensing platform demo is presented at CU's Atlas Expo and ITLL Engineering Expo!
  • ★ Apr. 2019: Our Earable biosensing platform demo is accepted to ACM Mobisys 2019!
  • ★ Aug. 2018: I officially join MNS Lab family.
  • Publications

    Journals

  • Detection of Microsleep Events with a Behind-the-ear Wearable System.
    IEEE TMC - IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing (IF: 5.577, preprint).
    Nhat Pham, Tuan Dinh, Taeho Kim, Zohreh Raghebi, Nam Bui, Hoang Truong, Tuan Nguyen, Farnoush Banaei-Kashani, Ann Halbower, Thang Dinh, Phuc Nguyen, and Tam Vu.

  • eBP: an ear-worn device for frequent and comfortable blood pressure monitoring.
    ACM CACM - Communications of the ACM, Vol. 64, No. 8, Aug. 2021.
    Nam Bui, Nhat Pham, Jessica Jacqueline Barnitz, Zhanan Zou, Phuc Nguyen, Hoang Truong, Taeho Kim, Nicholas Farrow, Anh Nguyen, Jianliang Xiao, Robin Deterding, Thang Dinh and Tam Vu.
    Research Highlight

  • eBP: Frequent and comfortable blood pressure monitoring from inside human's ears.
    ACM GetMobile - Mobile Computing and Communications, Vol. 23, Iss. 4, Dec. 2019.
    Nam Bui, Nhat Pham, Hoang Truong, Phuc Nguyen, J. Xiao, Robin Deterding, and Tam Vu.
    Research Highlight

  • Epileptic Seizure Detection and Experimental Treatment: A Review
    Frontiers in Neurology, Jul. 2020.
    Taeho Kim, Phuc Nguyen, Nhat Pham, Nam Bui, Hoang Truong, Sangtae Ha, Tam Vu.

  • MSHCS-MAC: A MAC for Multi-hop Cognitive Radio Networks Based on Slow Hopping and Cooperative Sensing Approach with Time Synchronization.
    KICS - The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences, Vol. 43, No. 11, Nov. 2018.
    Won-Deuk Yoon, Nhat Pham, Ki-Woong Kwon, Jang-Gwan Im, Dae-Young Kim.

  • Conferences Proceedings

  • DroneScale: Drone Load Estimation Via Remote Passive RF Sensing.
    SenSys 2020 - The 18th ACM Intl' Conf. on Embedded Networked Sensor Systems.
    Phuc Nguyen, Vimal Kakaraparthi, Nam Bui, Nikshep Umamahesh, Nhat Pham, Hoang Truong, Yeswanth Guddeti, Dinesh Bharadia, Eric Frew, Richard Han, Daniel Massey, Tam Vu.
    (44 out of 213 submissions, acceptance ratio: 20.7%)

  • WAKE: A Behind-the-ear Wearable System for Microsleep Detection. [Slides] [Video]
    MobiSys 2020 - The 18th ACM Intl' Conf. on Mobile Systems, Applications, and Services.
    Nhat Pham, Tuan Dinh, Zohreh Raghebi, Taeho Kim, Nam Bui, Phuc Nguyen, Hoang Truong, Farnoush Banaei-Kashani, Ann Halbower, Thang Dinh, and Tam Vu.
    (34 out of 175 submissions, acceptance ratio: 19.4%)

  • Painometry: Wearable and Objective Quantification System for Acute Postoperative Pain. [Video]
    MobiSys 2020 - The 18th ACM Intl' Conf. on Mobile Systems, Applications, and Services.
    H. Truong, N. Bui, Z. Raghebi, M. Ceko, N. Pham, P. Nguyen, A. Nguyen, T. Kim, K. Siegfried, E. Stene, T. Tvrdy, L. Weinman, T. Payne, D. Burke, T. Dinh, S. D'Mello, F. Banaei-Kashani, T. Wager, P. Goldstein, and T. Vu.
    (34 out of 175 submissions, acceptance ratio: 19.4%)

  • eBP: A Wearable System For Frequentand Comfortable Blood Pressure Monitoring From User’s Ear. [Slides] [Video]
    MobiCom 2019 - The 25th Annual International Conference on Mobile Computing and Networking.
    Nam Bui, Nhat Pham, Jessica Jacqueline Barnitz, Zhanan Zou, Phuc Nguyen, Hoang Truong, Taeho Kim, Nicholas Farrow, Anh Nguyen, Jianliang Xiao, Robin Deterding, Thang Dinh and Tam Vu.
    (55 out of 290 submissions, acceptance ratio: 18.9%).
    Best Paper Award
    GetMobile Research Highlight 2019
    ACM SIGMOBILE Research Highlight 2020
    Communications of the ACM Research Highlight 2021

  • MSHCS-MAC: A MAC protocol for Multi-hop cognitive radio networks based on Slow Hopping and Cooperative Sensing approach. [Slides]
    ISCC 2018 - 23th IEEE Symposium on Computers and Communications, Natal, Brazil, Jun. 2018.
    Nhat Pham, Kiwoong Kwon, and Daeyoung Kim.

  • Oliot-OpenCity: Open Standard Interoperable Smart City Platform.
    ISC2 2018 - IEEE International Smart Cities Conference, Kansas City, Missouri, USA, Sep. 2018.
    Yalew k. Tolcha, Hoang Minh Nguyen, Jawook Byun, Kiwoong Kwon, Jiyong Han, Wondeuk Yoon, Nakyung Lee, Hyunseob Kim, Nhat Pham, and Daeyoung Kim.

  • GS1 Global Smart Parking System: One Architecture to Unify Them All. [Slides]
    IEEE SCC 2017 - 14th IEEE International Conference on Services Computing, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, Jun. 2017.
    Nhat Pham, Muhammad Hassan, Hoang Minh Nguyen and Daeyoung Kim.

  • IsV2C: An Integrated Road Traffic-Network-Cloud Simulator for V2C Connected Car Services.
    IEEE SCC 2017 - 14th IEEE International Conference on Services Computing, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, Jun. 2017.
    Heejae Kim, Jiyong Han, Seonghwan Kim, Jisoo Choi, Dongsik Yoon, Minsu Jeon, Eunjoo Yang, Nhat Pham, Sungpil Woo, Daeyoung Kim and Chan-Hyun Youn

  • Towards an Open Framework for Home Automation Development. [Slides] [Demo]
    ACOMP 2015 - 14th IEEE International Conference on Services Computing, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam, Nov. 2015.
    Dang-Nhat Pham-Huu, Van-Hien Nguyen, Van-Anh Trinh, Van-Hieu Bui, and Hoang-Anh Pham.

  • Workshops, and Demos

  • Demo: Earable - An Ear-Worn Biosignal Sensing Platform for Cognitive State Monitoring and Human-Computer Interaction. [Video]
    MobiSys 2019 - 17th ACM International Conference on Mobile Systems, Applications, and Services.
    Nhat Pham, Taeho Kim, Frederick M Thayer, Anh Nguyen, and Tam Vu.

  • GS1 Global Smart Parking System: Integrated architecture that provides interoperability of global systems.
    KCC 2017 - Korea Computer Congress 2017, Jeju, Korea, Jul. 2017.
    Nhat Pham, Sungpil Woo, Muhammad Hassan, Hoang Minh Nguyen and Daeyoung Kim.

  • Research

    WAKE - A Behind-the-ear Wearable System for Microsleep Detection

    WAKE is a novel wearable device that can detects microsleep by monitoring biosignals from the brain, eye movements, facial muscle contractions, and sweat gland activities from behind the user’s ears. To ensure reliablity of WAKE in the real-world, we introduce a Three-fold Cascaded Amplifying (3CA) technique to tame the motion artifacts and environmental noises for capturing high fidelity signals.


    Painometry - Wearable and objective quantification system for acute postoperative pain

    Painometry is wearable system for objective quantification of users’ pain perception based on multiple physiological signals and facial expressions. The light-weight form factor and a minimal number of sensors enable the mobility of Painometry and its capability as a wearable and daily device.


    Earable Computing - An Ear-Worn Biosignal Sensing Platform

    Earable is a novel ear-worn biosensing platform for cognitive state quantification and human-computer interaction. Earable can capture biosignal including brain waves activities, eyes movements, and facial muscle contractions from the back of the ears. Its form-factor is also convenient to use in everyday life. The demo shows two use cases for our Earable platform. First, our system plays relaxing music and dims the light when the user is trying to relax or sleep by detecting alpha and beta waves generated by the brain. Second, our system controls a drone with eye movements and facial muscle activity.


    eBP - Blood Pressure Measurement from inside the ear

    In this work, we propose a device called eBP to measure blood pressure from inside the user’s ear aiming to minimize the measurement’s impact on users’ normal activities while maximizing its comfort level. eBP has 3 key components: (1) a light-based pulse sensor attached on an in"atable pipe that goes inside the ear, (2) a digital air pump with a fine controller, and (3) a blood pressure estimation algorithm. In contrast to existing devices, eBP introduces a novel technique that eliminates the need to block the blood flow inside the ear, which alleviates the user’s discomfort.

    Experience

    Research Experience

  • Aug. 2018 - Aug. 2020: Research Assistant, Mobile and Networked Systems Lab, University of Colorado Boulder, USA.
  • Mar. 2018 - Jul. 2018: Researcher, Real-time and embedded systems lab (RESL), KAIST, South Korea.
  • Teaching Experience

  • Hilary & Trinity 2021: Digital Systems, University of Oxford, UK.
  • Hilary 2021: Concurrent Programming, University of Oxford, UK.
  • Michaelmas 2020: Linear Algebra, University of Oxford, UK.
  • Fall 2015: Data and computer communication, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, Vietnam.
  • Spring 2015: Embedded systems, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, Vietnam.
  • Work Experience

  • Mar. 2015 - Jul. 2015: Embedded Software Engineer, FPT Software, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam.
  • Jul. 2014 - Sept. 2015: Embedded Software Intern, Applied Micro Circuits Corporation, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam.
  • Sept. 2014 - Jun. 2015: Maintainer, RIOT-OS (The friendly Operating System for the Internet of Things).
  • Jul. 2014: Student participant, 2014 Intel Cup Undergraduate Electronic Design Contest, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
  • Education

  • 2020-present: DPhil student in Computer Science, University of Oxford, UK.
  • 2018-2020: Ph.D. student in Computer Science, University of Colorado Boulder, USA.
  • 2016-2018: M.Sc. in Computer Science, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Korea.
  • 2010-2015: B.E. in Computer Engineering, Vietnam National University - University of Technology (HCMUT), Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
  • Awards & Recognitions

  • 2020: ACM SIGMOBILE Research Highlight.
  • 2019: ACM GetMobile Research Highlight.
  • 2020-2023: University of Oxford DPhil Scholarship.
  • 2019: Best Paper Award, ACM MobiCom 2019.
  • 2016-2018: KAIST Graduate Scholarship, Daejeon, Republic of Korea
  • October 2015: Honda Young Engineer and Scientist - Top 30 applicants, Vietnam.
  • April 2015: Silver graduation medal, HCMUT, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam.
  • 2011: Odon Vallet's Fellowship, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
  • 2009, 2010: Odon Vallet's Fellowship, Thua Thien Hue, Vietnam.
  • Collections

    These are my collected blogs from various sources on many aspects of being a Ph.D. student and beyond.

    PhD's life

  • Ronald T. Azuma, "So long, and thanks for the Ph.D.!".
  • David Kotz, "You too can write a bad MobiSys paper, a tongue-in-cheek set of tips for writing a good systems paper.".
  • Roy Levin, David Redell, "An evaluation of the ninth SOSP submissions or how (and how not) to write a good systems paper.".
  • Beyond the PhD time

  • David Evans, "How to Live in Paradise.".
  • Karen Kelsky, "Academia as Identity – a UK/US Comparison.".