ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

These past four years have been an incredibly rewarding experience for me and I am grateful to everyone who has helped and supported me throughout this process. I would like to first thank Dr. Allen Tannenbaum, my undergraduate research advisor. and Dr. Ming-Ju Ho, my colleague at Agere Systems, both of whom inspired me towards higher education. I am thankful to Dr. Robert (Bob) Lee, my advisor, for his unwavering support for my research since he first offered me a position in his laboratory. For never letting me fail, even if I wanted to give up, and always having the confidence in me that I can achieve anything I work hard towards, I am forever grateful. I am very thankful to my Ph.D. thesis committee for their insistence on quality and assisting me to produce a thesis that I can be proud of. I am particularly thankful to Dr. Stephen DeWeerth for continuously providing helpful and astute advice, without overreach-ing pressure. I want to thank Dr. Robert Butera for his leadership of the Bioengineering program and his helpful comments and advice for my thesis. To Dr. Eberhard Voit, I am grateful for ensuring a strong mathematical basis to my thesis and for your detailed comments that substantially improved this document. Finally, to Dr. Vijay Madisetti,