Robert Melendy, PhD

Robert Melendy returned to George Fox in 2023 as an associate professor of electrical engineering in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

He taught at George Fox as an adjunct professor in the spring of that year, and from 2006 to 2014 he was a full-time assistant professor of engineering, physics, and mathematics. In between, he was an associate professor of electrical engineering at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia (2014-17), and an associate professor of electrical engineering and renewable energy engineering at the Oregon Institute of Technology (2017-23).

In all, Robert has nearly 30 years of teaching experience, and during the early to mid-1990s he gained industry experience. His areas of expertise include electrical bioimpedance, control systems engineering, dynamical systems, and electronic devices and circuits.

Robert earned a PhD in applied mathematics and mathematics education from Oregon State University (2008), master's degrees in electrical engineering (1998) and mechanical engineering (1994) from OSU, as well as a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering (1992) from OSU.

As an electrical engineer, his research decodes neural systems through theoretical physics and applied mathematics, identifying the nonlinear and adaptive mechanisms governing biological membrane permeability and bioelectric impulse transmission in neuronal axons.

His recent work proves, using Lie group theory, that three fundamental physical symmetries uniquely determine the mathematical form of the Nobel Prize-winning Hodgkin-Huxley equations, establishing a first-principles framework from which a physical neuromorphic circuit can be deterministically synthesized. This symmetry framework demonstrates that electrical circuits can be engineered to faithfully mimic neuronal phenomena, translating biological dynamics into mathematically rigorous, implementation-ready designs for neuromorphic systems.

This research has been published in Computational and Mathematical Biophysics (De Gruyter, 2025), Membranes (MDPI, 2026), and Frontiers in Neuroscience (2026), and has been featured in The Newberg Graphic, the Itemizer-Observer, and the George Fox Journal. The next phase of this work involves physical hardware implementation of the neuromorphic circuit the mathematics demands.

Robert and his wife Debbie live in Salem and attend church there at Calvary Chapel. Robert is a credentialed chaplain with the International Fellowship of Chaplains and had a death row ministry at the Oregon State Penitentiary for nearly seven years. He continues to minister to and advocate for incarcerated individuals and at-risk U.S. military veterans.

Robert is a first-degree black belt in tae kwon do and is an avid roller skater. Some of his favorite Bible verses are Psalm 18:1-2, Matthew 5:33-37, and Galatians 5:1. His favorite Christian songs are The Wonderful Cross by Chris Tomlin, The Potter's Hand by Hillsong, and The Revelation Song by Kari Jobe.