PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
July 2022 to present
Global consultant in organ chips, microfluidics & microfabrication
September 2018 to June 2022
Mimetas, The Organ-on-a-Chip Company, Leiden, the Netherlands
DIRECTOR OF HARDWARE DEVELOPMENT
• Led hardware department & supervised a team of scientists, engineers and technicians
• Hardware products launched under his directorships:
OrganoTEER, OrganoFlow S, OrganoFlow L
https://www.mimetas.com/en/instruments-product-overview/
OrganoPlate Graft, OrganoPlate 3-lane 64
https://www.mimetas.com/en/organoplate-sup-sup-product-overview/
• Co-authored the following publications:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1742706123002325?via%3Dihub
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9519670/
https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2021/lc/d0lc00770f
December 2016 to August 2018
Owner of a consulting company, Seattle, WA, USA
• Developed new concepts and designs of organ-chips for institutions in North America and Asia
August 2016 to August 2018
NanoSurface Biomedical, Inc., Seattle, WA, USA
PRINCIPAL SCIENTIST and R&D LEAD
Development of nanotopographically-guided cell maturation technology for advancing cure and preclinical screening
• Participated in business development and fundraising
• Contributed to development of new products and mass-fabrication methods
November 2015 to June 2016
Nortis Bio, Inc., Woodinville, WA, USA
INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR
Development and fabrication of organs-on-chip as an alternative to in vitro and animal models for advancing cure and preclinical screening
• Designed next generation organs-on-chips and product line extensions
• Led development of new chip fabrication methods
June 2010 to November 2015
Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University
Boston, MA, USA
STAFF ENGINEER MICRODEVICE DESIGN (June 2010 - June 2013)
SENIOR STAFF ENGINEER MICRODEVICE DESIGN (July 2013 - November 2015)
• Led development of organs-on-chips from non-absorbing and optically clear rigid and elastomeric materials. Published part of the work in Lab on a Chip.
• Invented a method for on-chip and on-demand aerosol generation for arrays of organs-on-chips. Compared to methods currently used in the industry, the new technique has much higher deposition efficiency, generates drastically less waste, and allows for precise dose control.
• Designed a magnetic flux concentrator and experimentally validated theoretical model of its function by performing 3D mapping of magnetic field. Published in Lab on a Chip.
• Designed an extracorporeal blood cleansing device for sepsis therapy. Performance of the device in the 1st year of $12.3 million DARPA project surpassed the 4th year performance milestone. Work published in Nature Medicine.
• Led technical side of collaboration with Sony DADC with the goal of translating Wyss Institute's organs-on-chips technologies to the marketplace.
• Co-authored 5 patent applications and 7 publications.
• Led hiring of three microfabrication research assistants and an advance technology team member.
• Reviewed over a dozen manuscripts for Microfluidics and Nanofluidics and Review of Scientific Instruments
1998 to April 2010
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
RESEARCH SCIENTIST
• Invented perfused multiwell plate with integrated microfluidic system and published the work in Lab on a Chip. The technology was commercialized by Oxford bioengineering spinout Zyoxel Ltd. and Hong Kong multinational CNBIO.
• Designed microbioreactors for 3D tissue engineering (featured in Scientific American PBS documentary and Technology Review; photographs published in Science and Boston Globe).
• Supported undergraduate and graduate students. The microfluidic devices he designed were used to generate data for 7 successful doctoral dissertations and numerous publications.
• Taught biological instrumentation and measurement laboratory class.
• Developed a technique that mimics formation of dissolved oxygen gradients in cell culture systems.
• Designed optical detection system for in situ interrogation of 3D tissue liver structures.
• Mastered deep reactive ion etching, wire and die-sinking electro-discharge machining, laser micromachining, micromechanical milling, injection molding, and thermal diffusion bonding techniques.
• Developed a bonding technology and transferred it to a corporation.
• Won a best poster award at the Biotechnology and BioMEMS World Conference.
• Chaired a session of an international conference.
• Was invited to present papers at major BioMEMS conferences.
• Worked as a consultant for a biomedical startup company.
1993 to 1998
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, USA
SENIOR RESEARCH SCIENTIST
• Established and supervised a new 1200-square foot cleanroom facility. Equipment supported thin film deposition, photolithography, etching, bonding & packaging, and test & measurement.
• Built and delivered a sensor array prototype to the client ahead of schedule.
• Developed a technique for localized µ-deposition of polymers, metal oxides, and composite materials.
• Contributed to development and patented interlevel low-k dielectric materials (with Sematech).
• Developed, built, and characterized ammonia microsensors with the detection limit of 100 ppb.
• Supervised seven undergraduate and graduate students for the total time of 30 months.
• Reviewed papers and proposals for IEEE, Review of Scientific Instruments, and the U.S. Federal Government.
• Worked as a scientific and technical consultant for a corporation.
1990 to 1993
University of Utah/HEDCO Microfabrication Facility, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
RESEARCH ASSOCIATE (1992 - 1993)
• Explained the drift mechanism of suspended-gate field-effect transistors by mapping mobile charges on insulating surfaces with electrostatic force microscopy.
1990 to 1992
POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW (1990 - 1992)
• Mastered device microfabrication from mask making through device characterization.
• Microfabricated chips with suspended-gate field-effect transistors.
• Identified cause of reliability failures. Improved passivation integrity of Si3N4 by optimizing the deposition technique. Increased the process yield by more than 20%.
1989 to 1990
Technical University of Brno, Czech Republic
RESEARCH FELLOW
• Investigated partial discharges in insulators.
1984 to 1986
Research Institute of Medical Instruments, Brno, Czech Republic
RESEARCH FELLOW
• Contributed to developing and testing of a medical X-ray prototype.
EDUCATION:
1990 - Ph.D., Physics, Technical University of Brno, Czech Republic
1984 - M.S., Physics, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
PUBLICATIONS:
Was a leading author of a book chapter; co-authored over 90 publications & presentations and 11 patents & patent applications.
LANGUAGES:
Fluent: Czech, English; Passive: Russian, Spanish, French
INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE:
Lived and worked in several countries; visited over 40 countries on five continents.