Michael Epstein is one of the few rock musicians who can claim on his list of professional credentials an expertise in "otoacoustic emissions" and "binaural hearing." Not to mention "loudness."

A lifelong fascination with science and a doctorate in electrical and computer engineering have helped Epstein mold an academic career that draws heavily on his love of music. He's an assistant professor in Bouvé College of Health Sciences's speech-language pathology and audiology department, and the director of Northeastern's auditory modeling and processing laboratory, which studies the ways people process and perceive sound.

Epstein pursues his musical passions, too, with his band, The Motion Sick. The group has released two CDs to critical acclaim, and a track was included in the video game "Dance Dance Revolution X."

Epstein equates teaching to performing and often integrates music into his classes, demonstrating, for example, how music might sound to someone with hearing loss or a cochlear implant. "People get more excited about those things if you have music as the carrier rather than somebody counting to ten," he says.

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