"I don’t ever give up. I’d have to be dead or completely incapacitated."
Elon Musk
Who am I?
I'm currently a PhD candidate in Mechanical Engineering at MIT. I'm also a research assistant in Jaklenec subgroup, in Langer Lab at Koch Institute, MIT. My primary research area focuses on using multidisciplinary tools to develop novel micro & nanoscale drug delivery systems and biomaterials. The areas of application include extended delivery of biologics, vaccine tracking, machine learning-based design, and oncology. My long-term career vision is to turn into a serial biotech entrepreneur and aid in clinical translation of technologies from bench to patients' bed.
In the picture, I'm standing next to my academic mentor and adviser Prof. Robert Langer whose work has impacted lives of billions of people worldwide. I'm highly inspired and humbled of being his student!
My top five areas of expertise
Advanced drug delivery devices & biomaterials (design, characterization, testing, optimization, scalability considerations)
Design and fabrication of micro-scale systems focused on biomedical applications (microneedles, hollow core-shell microparticles, emulsion-based microspheres, etc.)
Integration of advanced analytics tools such as DOEs, ANNs, CNNs, GRNNs, clusters, classifiers, etc with engineering systems
Simulation of nano, micro and macroscale systems using FEM,CFD, MD, FSI, and Multiphyics interfaces
Engineering design & optimization of complex mechanical systems particularly automotive body-in-white
Major Research Accomplishments
(2015-2020)
My Journey from Automotive/Structural Engineering to Bioengineering & Machine Learning
Reseach Experince
September 2017 - present
Research assistant, Langer lab, Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, MIT, USA
Working on design and development of a portable vaccine 3D-printer
Working on development, mechanistic study, and modeling of advanced core-shell microparticles for combinational therapy applications
Working on development and mechanistic study of injectable monodisperse microparticles for long-term burst free drug delivery
Developed a novel comprehensive design framework for efficient injection of complex microparticle based drug delivery systems
Developed a CNN for long-term robust vaccination tracking
Developed, optimized and manufactured (prototype-level) a novel syringe design for high injectability of hard-to-inject biomaterials
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September 2014 - February 2017
Research assistant, Microfluidics & Tissue Engineering Lab, Sharif University of Technology, Iran
Developed novel biomaterials for simultaneous wounds healing/topical drug delivery (e.g. electrospun nanofibers, hybrid hydrogel/microspheres)
In a team, worked with hospitals to engineer a simple wound healing dressing for full-thickness wounds
Modeled, simulated and performed in vitro validations on adsorption/adhesion of biomacromolecules on polymeric surfaces used in biomedical devices
January 2014 - September 2016
Undergraduate research assistant, Automotive Simulation & Optimal Design Research Lab, Iran University of Science and Technology, Iran
Worked on application of advanced multi-objective optimization techniques (NSGA2, Taguchi, probabilistic robust & reliable optimization, etc) to design and manufacturing of structural components (sandwich panel, automotive body-in-white)
Specifically worked on numerical simulation, optimization and modeling of automotive suspension system, hot-stamping process, and friction stir welding
Part of the body engineering team working on national project of development of a passenger B-class automotive platform (I worked on structural design, CAE & CAD engineering)