Behrad Azimi Email & Phone Number

San Diego, California, United States

Carlsbad, California, United States

Greater San Diego Area

> Led the strategic and tactical planning for the development of Vala's technologies. Recruited and led the engineering teams responsible for the rapid R&D, launch, and support of Vala’s products.> Contributed instrumentally to raising ~$30M, with >90% from non-dilutive sources (revenue and grants) to fund the company since 2010. > Engaged in and led negotiations with large life science and pharma companies for strategic partnerships, sponsored R&D contracts, licensing, and distribution.> Implemented Agile practices for product development. > Provided career guidance and mentorship to interns and junior employees fostered their growth to leading positions within the company.> Fulfilled Officer role simultaneously with engineering management and individual contributor roles outlined below.

Greater San Diego Area

> As the hands-on Lead Engineer for Vala’s integrated hardware-software products:- Planned and led product development- Created early concepts and functional prototypes- Coordinated efforts of multidisciplinary teams and vendors- Architected, created, and globally launched robotic products> Mechanical Engineering: System-level architecture and component-level analysis-driven design and development of instruments and robotic platforms. | Created many novel closed-loop mechatronic systems (PID/discrete/multi-mode) and hardware-software integrations for robotic sample handling and high-precision imaging. | Routinely performed tolerance analysis, mechanical/thermal static/dynamic FEA.> Robotic Automation and Instrumentation: Defined, designed, and developed Automation POD, a configurable collaborative robotic platform. | Developed the HW/SW architecture, motion planning, process algorithms, force/motion control mechanisms for grasp, and the human-robot collaborative behaviors and workflows. | Developed underlying mechanical, communications and control systems.> Software Engineering: Architected, built, and debugged multi-generational analytics and hardware-control software applications and component drivers, including Vala’s C++/LabView instrument and robotic control software.> Product Management and Commercialization: Routinely engaged with KOLs in industry and academia to identify market needs, gather requirements, and define and develop products. | Liaised between technical teams and customers to enable iterative improvements. | Represented company at multiple scientific conferences every year and routinely conducted tailored technical demos and presentations for customers.> Bioengineering: Developed biocompatible hardware and analytics software for novel iPScell- and primary cell-based disease models for chemical library screening in cardiac and neurodegenerative disease drug discovery.

Greater San Diego Area

> Developed a wearable device and mobile app for measurement and tracking of training in sports. Built a working prototype for real-time embedded calculation and reporting of acceleration and trajectories utilizing a microcontroller, accelerometers, and Bluetooth module.

Conrad Prebys Center For Chemical Genomics

> Worked closely with biomedical research groups to create and improve biological prep, imaging, and analysis protocols and developed and optimized cell-based imaging assays for high-throughput chemical library screens.> Developed and deployed an image cytometry analysis software platform in Matlab and C++ to routinely analyze large scale (many TBs) image-based drug discovery screens.

Doctor Of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bioengineering

Devised novel statistical and machine learning methods for the prediction of cytotoxicity of compounds using high-dimensional image.

Master'S Degree, Bioengineering

Created and optimized deep learning models to classify circulating cancer cells in blood using image-based nuclear morphology. | Developed.

Bachelor'S Degree, Bioengineering - Biotechnology, Cum Laude