Public Inventor, Scientist, Engineer
Roy Phillips is a Public Invention volunteer, PhD student at Rice University, and a contractor for multiple health and tech startups. His work combines a biological understanding of the human brain with engineering and a deep understanding of AI neural networks. Recently, he has used his expertise to support the software, and co-write the technical paper, for the Librecorder project. During a recent interview, he shared his experience with Public Invention, his educational career, and his work with multiple health-tech startups.
Cognitive Science and Electrical Engineering
Phillips is currently a PhD candidate at Rice University, where he studies electrical and computer engineering. He began his undergrad career at Rice as well, where he studied electrical and computer engineering with a minor in cognitive sciences. These pursuits were prompted by a deep desire to understand the brain and cognition by leveraging advances in AI, machine learning, and engineering, as well as the scientific route.
“We didn't actually have a neuroscience program at the time, which I think worked out well for me,” Phillips explained. “I went for this neuro-engineering specialization within electrical engineering, and I pursued a neuroscience minor.”
Fascinated by the way the brain worked and aiming to innovate within the field, he balanced his heavy engineering work with the more theoretical and philosophical neuroscience and psychology classes. Driven mostly by a desire to learn from both of these two fields rather than external accolades, he faced a pleasant, if unexpected surprise during his senior year.
“It just so happened that between the neuroengineering specialization of electrical engineering and the social sciences track of the neuroscience minor, I had two classes left my senior year that would let me get the cognitive science full degree,” Phillips said. “So, I did that, and I got the two degrees.”
Phillips graduated with a dual degree in cognitive sciences and electrical engineering, and went on to get a master’s in electrical and computer engineering, followed by his current pursuit of a PhD. During this time, he has simultaneously been interested in building industry skills, which has led to his involvement with several startups and ultimately, Public Invention.
"I have helped oversee a lot of the data collection and machine learning development to help understand some of the signals that we're collecting." - Roy Phillips
Health-Tech Startups
Outside of his PhD work, Phillips combines his previous studies in both neuroscience and engineering to support two health tech startups through part-time roles. There, he supports the development of new machine learning and AI tools that support the human brain under certain conditions, as well as general user health.
“I was serving in a contractor role for the last little less than a year,” Phillips said of his first position at Aurelia Vitals, a company that specializes in wearable devices that collect biological data for clinical and non-clinical uses. “I have helped oversee a lot of the data collection and machine learning development to help understand some of the signals that we're collecting.”
With the second startup, NeuraStasis, Phillips works as an at-will Research and Development (R&D) scientist. Phillips’ contributions support the creation of a device that aims to prevent brain damage during a stroke.
“In a stroke, they say that time is brain,” Phillips said. “This device is meant to be applied as soon as the earliest signs of ischemic stroke appear, at which point the device can help maintain more of the brain, reduce damage, and increase therapeutic and clinical outcomes.”
Phillips continues to work in both of these positions, building industry skills alongside his academic studies. Both roles have also furthered his interest in the intersection of tech and health, delineating an area he plans to enter after completion of his degree.
The Librecorder Project
"We want to identify what's been done for medical imaging platforms that can function in remote and under-resourced settings." - Roy Phillips
Balancing each of these roles with his studies is already quite the task. However, on top of these responsibilities, Phillips also actively supports Public Invention’s Librecorder project both as an Inventor and a researcher for their technical papers.
“I've helped do some of the background literature review for the paper,” Phillips said. “We want to identify what's been done for medical imaging platforms that can function in remote and under-resourced settings. This includes the hardware needed to set up imaging devices, like microscopes that interact with the cloud, along with the software needed to process that data.”
As a result, the Librecorder has three technical paper drafts in various stages of completion. Phillips shared that the Librecorder team planned to submit one of these papers to the IEEE Open Journal of Engineering in Medicine and Biology, and that another was in final preparation for submission as well. No doubt, his hard work and research was a crucial part of what made these achievements possible.
"I'm essentially compiling different models that may work on publicly available data sets." - Roy Phillips
On top of this research, he has also supported the near completion of the project’s data analysis software, bringing his engineering expertise and project management skills to the forefront.
“I've helped with some of the software development, just making sure that the system can take in different types of image processing code,” Phillips said. “Concurrently, I'm essentially compiling different models that may work on publicly available data sets.”
As Librecorder Invention Coach Megan Cadena shared in a previous interview, the Librecorder software will be operable once the team implements a secure encryption system to protect uploaded data. With so much progress on the project in such a short time, the Librecorder continues to grow and develop as one of Public Invention’s most exciting upcoming innovations.
The Open-Source Movement in a Closed-Source Industry
"I think that open-source technologies are really transformative. They ensure that the access to these technologies can be more equitable and that future development can be easier." - Roy Phillips
Near the end of the interview, Phillips reflected on the open-source movement and his opinion regarding the free sharing of ideas in the tech industry.
“I think that open-source technologies are really transformative. They ensure that the access to these technologies can be more equitable and that future development can be easier,” Phillips said.
At the same time, guided by his experience working with multiple early-stage tech startups, he was also sympathetic to organizations that needed to use patents and other proprietary measures to make a profit, grow over time, and support their ongoing operations.
Nevertheless, Phillips was grateful that Public Invention could use other means of funding, and that he could support both closed and open-source tech development.
“I understand the need to have proprietary algorithms so that you can sustain and fund the mission of a company,” Phillips noted. “But I'm really excited and grateful to be part of Public Invention, where there is this emphasis on open-source software and hardware, and just to see that it can be sustained via nonprofit grants and other things. It's very exciting for me.”
During Volunteer Appreciation Night on Feb. 19 2026, Robert L. Read awarded Phillips a Best Technical Paper Contribution Honorable Mention for 2025. Through his unique background in cognitive science and engineering, Phillips continues to support the Librecorder through related research and software development. In light of the Volunteer Appreciation event, I want to thank Roy Phillips and the rest of the Inventors for their freely-shared contributions, time, and expertise, which continue to make the open-source mission possible.