Mr Steven Lee Onn Wah
Steven enrolled with the Bionics Institute as a PhD student in 2019, under the supervision of Prof Colette McKay and Dr Julia Wunderlich.
Prior to this, Steven graduated BSc.(Hon) Audiology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), and MSc. Audiological Science with Clinical Practice; University College of London, UK. Steven then worked as an audiologist trainee at the Royal National Throat Nose and Ear Hospital, London for one year, and served as a lecturer/audiologist at UKM for three years.
In his doctoral research, due for completion mid-2022, Steven is exploring the development of speech discrimination in normal-hearing infants using a novel technology known as near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Steven is interested in finding out the change of fNIRS speech discrimination responses in different age groups. This knowledge serves as a reference for subsequent experiments, to understand the potentially different development milestone in infants with hearing loss.
The Bionics Institute was appealing to Steven, as it is renowned as the birthplace of the cochlear implant and the quality of the research outcomes are exceptional. Steven reflects that it is one of the top choices for any hearing researcher looking to develop their research career and finds it an honour to be supervised by Prof. Colette McKay, an exceptional researcher in the field of hearing psychophysics.
Steven envisions himself to be a responsible and independent researcher by the end of his training at the Bionics Institute. He finds that the environment cultivates the growth of his research network and hopes that one day, together with other researchers, he will make an impact in the hearing world.
Have you heard about PhD horror stories where students were treated like cheap labours? You will not find that at the Bionics Institute. Steven Lee Onn Wah
