Abeer Alwan is an electrical engineer whose research focuses on modeling human speech production and perception mechanisms, both normal and disordered, and using these models to improve the performance of speech-processing systems and biomedical-engineering devices related to speech and hearing. Because speech science and engineering is multidisciplinary, Alwan collaborates with colleagues in fields as diverse as computer science, education, linguistics, medicine, and physiological science. At Radcliffe, Alwan will develop procedures for predicting perceptual confusions among speech sounds in noisy conditions by integrating knowledge of the acoustic properties of speech with understanding of the human auditory system. This research will provide insight into our cognitive abilities and guidelines for improving automatic speech-recognition systems.