About Me
I'm Youssef Kusibati, and I'm passionate about using technology to bridge neuroscience and computing. I'm currently focused at the intersection of AI, XR, and Neuroscience, and I'm always eager to learn something new and ready for a new experience.
I'm originally from Syria, lived my whole life in Saudi Arabia, and love exploring the world and meeting people from all corners of the globe.
In March 2025, I received the Morehead-Cain Scholarship to study computer science and neuroscience at UNC Chapel Hill. Before heading there, I opted into the scholarship's gap year program and secured funding to pursue my interests and go deeper into the areas I care about.
For the first half of my gap year, I focused on my startup, 21Verse, in Saudi Arabia—building a VR platform for the education and healthcare of people with intellectual disabilities.
Meanwhile, I also started working part-time with Dr. Arij Daou at the Margoliash Lab (University of Chicago) researching computational neuroscience.
Now, 21Verse continues to run with the team back in Saudi Arabia while I work with them remotely. I'm pursuing a new challenge aligned with my interest in using technology to understand how the brain works, and using our understanding of the brain to build better technologies.
This led me to Fab Academy, where I'm bridging my past experience software with hands-on hardware skills.
A major limitation of on-device AI systems is their energy consumption, and brain-inspired hardware offers a promising solution. Neuromorphic computing could dramatically reduce power requirements while maintaining sophisticated processing capabilities.
My focus at Fab Academy is to build projects that use neuromorphic or neuromorphic-like circuit boards and logic deployed in real-world applications—from robotics and AR glasses to brain-computer interfaces.
I will be starting Fab Academy in Portugal, and then, moving to Japan to complete the program there. This will help me make the most of my gap year going into deep into digital fabrication while learning more about the world!