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Navid Kazem co-founded Arieca after completing his PhD in computational mechanics at Carnegie Mellon, where he developed the core technology behind Liquid Metal Embedded Elastomers (LMEE). He is a former Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship Fellow at Tepper School of Business, with multiple high-impact publications and patents. His background combines a deep technical expertise with the capacity to convert cutting-edge scientific advancement into commercial technology. Navid leads product development of LMEEs, commercial strategic partnerships, as well as fund raising. As an avid soccer player (current coach and former player & President of CMU Men’s club soccer team with record breaking goal-scoring) and Manchester United fan, he takes lessons on the importance of passion and persistence in everyday life just like in sports.
Carmel Majidi is the Clarence H. Adamson Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, where he leads the Soft Machines Lab, a research group dedicated to the development of novel soft multifunctional materials for applications in wearable computing and robotics. Carmel is credited with the invention of the “Thubber” and regarded as a leading innovator in the development of soft, functional materials. His lab at Carnegie Mellon University has created two other companies that bring cutting-edge innovation to market. At Arieca, he is co-founder, CTO, and serves as Board Chairman.
Phil Marzolf serves as Chief Commercialization Officer for Arieca, where he is responsible for transitioning Arieca’s technology from the laboratory to end market applications. He has over 30 years of experience commercializing new products in the semiconductor and computer technology markets. He has held general management positions in Germany for Telfunken GmbH and Micronas S.A, and was a founding member of nSerial, a SERDES startup that was acquired by Intel in 2001. Phil remains active in the Pittsburgh entrepreneurial community as an adjunct professor at Carnegie Mellon University, and is a Board member for several early-stage companies. He earned a BSEE from the University of Notre Dame, an MSEE from Santa Clara University, and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. As an ardent Arsenal supporter, he is having difficulty adapting to having a boss who is a Manchester United fan.
Vivek Singh is an experienced Principal Scientist with a demonstrated history of working in structural, magnetic, optical, surface and electronic characterization of bulk and nanomaterials for over a decade. He is skilled in numerous material characterization techniques, including Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), ultra-high vacuum/cryogenic temperatures Scanning Tunneling Microscopy and Spectroscopy (STM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), SQUID magnetometry, low temperature electron magnetic resonance, optical microscope, FTIR, absorbance and photoluminescence. Vivek has a strong research background, with a Masters of Science focused in Physics from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay and a PhD in Physics from West Virginia University.
Jeff has degrees in Polymer Science and Engineering from University Of Massachusetts, Amherst (M.Sci) and Pennsylvania State University (B.Sc). He worked at IBM’s T.J. Watson Research Ctr, Yorktown Hts, NY from ’87-2014 and IBM Endicott from ’81-’87. He has experience solving problems in applied polymer science in every aspect of the electronics industry, from printed circuit boards, to silicon microchips, to packaging and systems integration. He has worked in every commercially available polymer system and has synthesized his own unique polymer systems where required. An expert in custom formulations from silicones to epoxies, he has many patents granted for custom coatings, adhesives, photoresist, etc. He is the inventor of the SU8 photoresist systems now used in all MEMs and micro-machining foundries around the world.
A Scientist (PhD Physics, University of Tokyo), Serial entrepreneur, and innovator in materials, semiconductors, and foods. Tomo has extensive experience in both US and Asian companies, ranging from small garage startups to large corporations. Tomo’s combination of rich experience with Asian companies, solid technological background, and business acumen is being applied as he works with innovative Asian companies exploring the commercial opportunities enabled by Arieca’s innovative LMEE technology.
Bill brings over 30 years’ experience leading worldwide organizations for Altera, Isola, and National Semiconductor. Through his role as an advisor, he instills a strong emphasis on people, process and organization development, maximizing employee engagement, and strategic alignment. Bill is guiding the manufacturing readiness activities for the TIMbber™ product line.
Dylan Shah is a mechanical engineer and roboticist with over 8 years of hands-on experience in fast-paced research environments, publishing over 25 peer-reviewed publications in various fields including soft-material robotics, stretchable electronics, and agricultural robotics. He completed his PhD at Yale University in mechanical engineering and materials science, where he was a NASA Space Technology Research Fellow and was awarded the Henry Prentiss Becton Graduate Prize for exceptional achievement in research. Dylan began his research career at Iowa State University, where he completed an MS in agricultural engineering and BS in mechanical engineering. At Arieca, he leads research to characterize our LMEE formulations in their end use cases, including both in-package and on-package applications spanning the full range of mobile and consumer electronics markets.
Toby Mea is a chemical engineer specializing in soft materials for 3D printing and tissue engineering applications. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Messiah University, before completing his Ph.D. in chemical engineering at the University of California at Davis, where he was awarded the Best TA Award for his contribution to the university’s teaching mission. He brings both his affinity for research and working closely with others into his duties as an application chemist, where he generates solutions internally for the polymer and product teams at Arieca, and externally to meet customers’ needs.
Allyssa serves as a Product Engineer at Arieca, focused on advancing quality control and characterization of TIMbber. She has acquired six sigma green belt certification, and has prior experience in materials R&D roles as well as steel and combustion burner manufacturing. Allyssa is a 2019 graduate of Geneva College, holding dual degrees in Chemical Engineering and Chemistry (B.Sc.). While at Geneva, she was a dedicated member of the Women’s Volleyball Team, and continues to invest into the sport by coaching high school players at Premier Volleyball Club. Allyssa also serves the Pittsburgh community via her roles at Living in Liberty, a local nonprofit aiding trafficking and abuse victims, and PRISM, a Pittsburgh area international student ministry program.
Keyton Feller is a polymer scientist and chemist specializing in thermosetting polymer networks and polymer characterization including thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and rheology. He holds a chemistry degree (B.Sc.) from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville performing research in small molecule synthesis of organometallic complexes. Keyton received his Ph.D. in Macromolecular Science and Engineering at Virginia Tech focusing on material development and modeling of vat photopolymerization high performance resins. Keyton serves as a polymer chemist at Arieca, developing high-performance liquid metal embedded elastomers to serve as the next generation TIMs for high-powered semiconductor applications.
Loren brings a vast amount of experience in design and implementation of highly advanced material handling systems. At Fifth Season he architected a multi-machine system that produced 2,500 pounds of green vegetation per day.
At Arieca, he brings his expertise in automation and robotic manipulation to the deployment of LMEE in microelectronic integrated circuit packaging.
Loren earned degrees from the University of California (Santa Cruz and Berkeley), in addition to an M.S. in mechanical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.
Benjamin Dorau has over 20 years of experience in the chemical industry, spanning from commercial scale-up and process optimization to safety and regulatory compliance. Ben has experience with polymer emulsions, phenolic resins, and controlled radical polymerization. Ben is a 2002 graduate of University of Wisconsin, Madison, holding a chemistry degree with a focus on organic synthesis. Since joining Arieca, Ben has contributed to production scale-up of TIM formulations, in addition to leading development of cure-in-place solutions for TIM2 applications.