Hello, my name is
Alisha Menon
I am a
Entrepreneur
I am an
EE & CS Ph.D.
I am a
Performing Artist
About Me
I am the Founder & CEO of Aurelia Vitals, Inc., developing Phira, a women's health technology platform featuring an earring-back wearable that non-invasively tracks estrogen, LH, and progesterone in real time. Phira is designed to give women unprecedented insight into their hormonal health, fertility, and longevity through discreet, everyday sensing. Aurelia Vitals has been supported by the Rice University Biotech Launchpad Fellowship, the Lillie Innovation and Lillie Commercialization Fellowships, and the National Science Foundation, with clinical studies conducted in partnership with Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital Pavilion for Women. I lead a cross-functional team spanning mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, machine learning, and product design to take Phira from concept through clinical validation.
I earned my Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences from UC Berkeley in 2023, where I was a member of Professor Jan Rabaey's research group, after completing my B.S. in Electrical Engineering at Arizona State University in 2018. Prior to founding Phira, I worked at CTRL-Labs, a neural interface company later acquired by Meta, and at Apple, where I developed next-generation sensing technologies and seamless human-device interfaces. My expertise lies at the intersection of biosignal machine learning and wearable sensing hardware, with a focus on building entirely new systems that translate cutting-edge research into real-world impact. I have led interdisciplinary teams of more than 11 researchers spanning electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, machine learning, and product design, and have authored nine first-author, peer-reviewed publications across physiological sensing, intelligent systems, and human-centered device design. My work has been recognized through the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, the UC Berkeley EECS Fellowship, the IEEE BioX Fellowship in Data Science and Engineering in Medicine and Biology, selection as an EECS Rising Star, and the UC Berkeley Outstanding Graduate Mentor Award, making me the first recipient from the College of Engineering to receive the honor.
My other interests include the performing arts, especially the intersection of Indian Classical Dance with modern stories and Western theater, along with climbing, yoga, swimming, tennis, and kickboxing.
Research & Publications
I build wearable systems from the ground up, engineering entirely new hardware platforms that bring intelligent, real-time sensing to applications at the frontier of human health and human capability. My work spans the full lifecycle of wearable development, from custom rigid and flex PCB design, embedded firmware, device assembly, data analysis, feature engineering, and biosignal machine learning, to designing clinical protocols, obtaining IRB approval, and conducting human validation studies in environments ranging from the highly controlled neonatal ICU to free-living, everyday settings. At the core of this work is my expertise in hardware for machine learning, designing custom integrated circuits and hardware-efficient algorithms that enable wearable devices to interpret physiological signals in real time. I have built systems that extract meaningful information from noisy, low-power sensor data, recognizing gestures from muscle activity, tracking reproductive hormones using thermoregulatory signals, and enabling autonomous systems to make intelligent decisions from sensory input.
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2026
Physiological Signal Characterization from an Earring-back Wearable for Sleep and Reproductive Cycle Analysis
IEEE EMBC (Engineering in Medicine and Biology Conference). First reported results on continuous, non-invasive wearable characterization of thermoregulatory signals from the posterior ear, consistent with reproductive hormone dynamics across the menstrual cycle.
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2026
Two Abstracts, American Pediatric National Conference
A User Factors Study, and a Sensor Comparison Study for a novel ICU-grade wearable sensing platform, conducted in the Texas Children's Hospital NICU.
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2023
Shared Control of Assistive Robots through User-Intent Prediction and Hyperdimensional Recall of Reactive Behavior
IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), UK. Shared human-robot control framework combining user-intent prediction with hyperdimensional recall of reactive behaviors for assistive robotics.
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2023
Accelerating Hyperdimensional Computing with Vector Machines
IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems (ISCAS), Monterey, CA.
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2022
A Highly Energy-Efficient Hyperdimensional Computing Processor for Biosignal Classification
Menon, et al. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and Systems.
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2022
Efficient Emotion Recognition Using Hyperdimensional Computing with Combinatorial Channel Encoding and Cellular Automata
Menon, et al. Brain Informatics.
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2022
Brain-Inspired Multi-Level Control of an Assistive Prosthetic Hand Through EMG Task Recognition
IEEE International Conference on Biomedical Circuits and Systems (BioCAS). Multi-level control architecture for a neural prosthetic hand using hyperdimensional computing for EMG-based gesture and task recognition.
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2022
On the Role of Hyperdimensional Computing for Behavioral Prioritization in Reactive Robot Navigation Tasks
IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), Philadelphia. Explores hyperdimensional computing as a mechanism for prioritizing behaviors in reactive robot navigation.
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2021
A Highly Energy-Efficient Hyperdimensional Computing Processor for Wearable Multi-Modal Classification
IEEE International Conference on Biomedical Circuits and Systems (BioCAS). Custom ASIC implementation of a hyperdimensional computing sensor-fusion algorithm for wearable, distributed in-sensor intelligence.
For full citations, see my Google Scholar profile.
Startup
I am the Founder & CEO of Phira, developed by my company Aurelia Vitals, Inc. Phira is a women's health technology platform featuring an earring-back wearable designed to non-invasively track estrogen, LH, and progesterone in real time, giving women unprecedented insight into their hormonal health, fertility, and longevity through discreet, everyday sensing. The underlying platform pairs custom wearable sensing hardware with on-device biosignal machine learning, and has also been applied to comprehensive ICU-grade patient monitoring in the neonatal intensive care unit.
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2025 - Present
Founder & CEO, Phira
Building an earring-back wearable and companion app for real-time hormonal health tracking, developed by Aurelia Vitals, Inc.
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2024 - 2026
Rice University Biotech Launchpad Fellow
Aurelia Vitals has been supported by the Rice University Biotech Launchpad Fellowship, Lillie Innovation Fellowship, and Lillie Commercialization Fellowship, providing grant funding, mentorship, and access to Rice's venture studio to advance clinical development of the platform. Research advised by Professor Jacob Robinson.
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Clinical Collaborations
Clinical studies conducted at Texas Children's Hospital, with results published at IEEE EMBC and the American Pediatric National Conference. Additional support from NSF and the Southwest Pediatric Device Consortium.
Performing Arts
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2023
Europe Tour with Anjali Dance Company
Invited by UNESCO’s International Dance Council (CID) to perform at The World Festival of Indian Dance, where dancers from dozens of countries performed at one of the most illustrious venues, the Dora Stratou Dance Theater, (under the Acropolis, Athens) to a packed audience.
Also invited by the Counsel Generals of India in Hamburg, Berlin and Amsterdam to perform in their respective cities to showcase this beautiful artform to the local audiences and give them an opportunity to experience the rich cultural heritage of India through art and dance. -
2022
Choreographer for Houston Grand Opera
Invited by Houston Grand Opera to assistant direct and choreograph for the fusion opera production "Monkey, Francine, and the City of Tigers.
Fusing stories and music from India, China, and West Africa, this original children’s opera tells the story of Monkey and his brainy sister Francine. The opera combines musical styles from Bollywood, to Latin, to Jazz, and features relatable, contemporary language and characters. The opera was performed in front of over 20,000 students in Texas during 2022 and 2023.
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2018
Title Character "Chitra"
Northwest Children's Theater production of "Chitra: The Girl Prince" - 30+ shows.
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2015
Principal Character "Rann"
Northwest Children's Theater production of "Jungle Book" - 30+ shows.
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2014
Principal Character "Janaki Dev Balan"
Anjali School of Dance production of "Murder on the Ganges"
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2014
Principal Character "Mermaid"
Northwest Children's Theater production of "Peter Pan" - 30+ shows.
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2013
"Citizen of Who" and Ensemble
Northwest Children's Theater production of "Seussical" - 35+ shows
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2012 & 2013
Principal Character "Puck"
Bollywood Musical production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" - Portland & Seattle
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2012
Principal Character "Queen of Hearts"
Stoller Theatre Arts production of "Alice in Wonderland Jr." - 5 shows
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2011
Ensemble
Christian Community Theatre production of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" - 8 shows.
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2011
Principal Character "Sophie Greedly" (British Accent)
Stoller Theatre Arts production of "Murder By Indecision"
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2011
Stoller Theatre Arts production of "Murder By Indecision"
Oregon Children's Theatre production of "On the Eve of Friday Morning" - 30+ shows
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2011
Principal Character "JoJo"
Stoller Theatre Arts production of "Broadway Musical - Seussical Jr." - 4 shows
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2009
Solo 2 hour Indian Classical dance graduation performance
Performing Arts Center, PCC Sylvania Campus. Featuring a rendition of "The Wizard of Oz" set to dance
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2009
Print Ad Modeling
For Intel Classmate PC - Photographer: Steve Bloch