Advisor Consultations
Competing teams may book consultation sessions with the below advisors to aid their research. Our advisors are subject matter experts across various topics of the competition, and have volunteered their time to the Heart Hackathon.
To book a time:
Competing teams should refer to the booking links provided to them directly in the Advisor Calendly Links sheet, or contact hearthackathon@ismcs.org
Competing teams should plan their consultation session using our Agenda Template
Elizabeth Oei - Clinician / Patient Device Interaction
Elizabeth has been in medicine for over 25 years. Elizabeth started as a Paramedic and through her love of critical care medicine transitioned into nursing and finally completed her Masters degree as a Nurse Practitioner. Elizabeth has worked in the field of Heart transplant and Mechanical Circulatory Support for over 20 years both in the industry side as well as the clinical side. Elizabeth has worked with: Arrow (teleflex), Physiometrix (Massimo) Tandem Heart (Liva Nova), Abiomed (J&J) and SynCardia. Currently Elizabeth is the Global Director of Clinical Education at SynCardia and also practice clinically 2 days a week (Mondays and Thursdays) seeing patients with Opioid use disorder and a small clientele of cosmetic patients (Botox and fillers).
Greg Burgreen - Biomedical Computational Fluid Dynamics
Greg W. Burgreen is a part-time associate research professor at Mississippi State University and president of small business Optimal LLC. Dr. Burgreen has 37 years of experience in the development and application of computational fluid dynamics (CFD). His areas of specialization include development of cardiovascular artificial organs, blood damage models, and next-generation software frameworks. His most recent focus has been to explore how AI/ML can impact CFD in pragmatic and useful ways.
Salim Olia - Bio/hemo-compatibility, General Design/Development, and Clinical Management/Troubleshooting of all MCS Therapies (VADs, TAHs, & ECMO)
Dr. Olia has been intimately involved in mechanical circulatory support for 15 years, both as a clinical biomedical engineer (implanting, managing, troubleshooting, and educating) within academic medical centers and as a researcher developing next-generation blood pumps. In this capacity, he has been involved hands-on in the preclinical or clinical development, testing, or use of a multitude of devices included the IABP, Syncardia TAH, Thoratec PVAD, Jarvik-2000, Heartmate II, VentriAssist, Impella platform, Berlin Heart EXCOR, CentriMAG, PediMAG, Heartware HVAD, Heartmate 3, RotaFlow, TandemHeart, LifeSPARC, CardioHelp, Breethe, Spectrum ECLS, BiVACOR, and the PediaFlow pediatric VAD (the focus of his dissertation).
Joseph Mudd - Product Development, Mechanical Engineering, System Level Design, Product Requirements
Joseph holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and a Master of Business Administration, bringing over a decade of expertise in groundbreaking product design. His versatile experience spans the realms of vacuum coating equipment, lasers, x-ray technology, and, notably, artificial hearts. With a track record of successfully conceptualizing and bringing new systems to life, Joseph has played a pivotal role in launching these innovations into the global market. His proficiency extends to guiding discussions on system-level requirements, design concepts, mechanical design, finite element analysis (FEA), and comprehensive risk management, including Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA).
Aditi Nayak - Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology
Dr. Aditi Nayak is an advanced heart failure and transplant cardiologist at Baylor Scott and White, Dallas. She completed her advanced heart failure fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; and her cardiology fellowship at Emory University, Atlanta, GA. She holds a Master’s degree in Biomedical Innovation and Development from Georgia Institute of Technology’s Department of Bioengineering. Dr. Nayak’s research focuses on barriers to utilization of durable MCS, and understanding and mitigating post-durable MCS outcomes, with a particular focus on sex disparities. She was elected chair of the 2023 Gordon Research Seminar for Assisted Circulation. Dr. Nayak was the recipient of the prestigious Philip K Caves Award awarded by the International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation in 2022; and a finalist for the Samuel A Levine Early Career Clinical Investigator Award awarded by the American Heart Association; and the Jay N Cohn New Investigator Award awarded by the Heart Failure Society of America in 2020.
Steven Langford - Total Artificial Heart Development and Management
I am an Electrical Engineer BSEE from the University of Utah, USA specialized in Biomedical Engineering. Working in the development of pneumatic and control systems for the Jarvik 7 total artificial heart; General Manager of CardioWest that obtained FDA approval for the C-70 Total Artificial Heart. We then formed SynCardia to have a commercial company to market the TAH world wide. I have traveled all around the world teaching optimization and implementation of the Temporary Total Artificial Heart. Over 40 years in research, implementation, education and management.
Doug Vincent - Medical Device Development
My expertise is in Medical Device development, which I have been doing that since graduating from MIT in Mechanical Engineering in 1989. Most of my career has been focused on pumping systems with particular focus & expertise with pulsatile extracorporeal blood pumps. More recently, have done a good deal with ex vivo heart reanimation (up to 12 hours continuous, and 24 hours for longest CIT).
Pauline Newlove - Project Management and Mechanical Engineering
Pauline is a seasoned program manager with over 14 years of experience in project management and mechanical engineering, primarily within the medical device industry. She has a diverse background in both product development consulting and R&D companies, having developed products for medical, industrial, and consumer markets globally. With a focus on usability and quality of life for patients with critical heart problems, Pauline has specialised in the development of drivers for total artificial hearts and ventricular assist devices as well as implantable sternal closure device for post open-heart surgery. Pauline excels in applying innovative processes to take complex products from initial concept to market launch. Pauline holds a Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Design, and Innovation from the Technical University of Denmark.
Nirajit Syamal - Strategic Partnerships, Commercialization, Pitching
Nirajit is an innovation and industry partnerships specialist working at the intersection of engineering, education, and emerging technology across the Asia-Pacific region. He brings strong experience in building bridges between technical teams, industry stakeholders, and global organisations to help ideas move beyond prototypes into real-world impact.
He currently works with advanced engineering ecosystems across Australia and Southeast Asia, supporting universities, startups, and research initiatives through strategic partnerships, industry access, and commercialization pathways. Nirajit has led collaborations with global engineering companies, government agencies, and academic institutions to accelerate innovation programs, capability building, and technology adoption.
At the Heart Hackathon, Nirajit can support teams with industry positioning, storytelling, partnerships, commercialization strategy, and translating technical ideas into solutions that resonate with investors, partners, and real-world stakeholders.
Oskar Gülcher - Medical Doctor, Biomedical Engineer, Prototyping, Left-right balance
My background is in medicine and biomedical engineering. I am currently a PhD candidate in the Holland Hybrid Heart consortium, a research group developing a soft robotic total artificial heart. My research focuses on actuation, physiological control, and left-right balance of the device. I am also responsible for conducting and coordinating the animal experiments with the heart prototypes.
Daniel van Dort - Clinical and Product Development
After six years at the Department of Cardiac Surgery, I completed a PhD focused on the development of a cardiac support device. This work sits at the intersection of engineering and life-saving medicine. I have remained active in both research and education, keeping one foot firmly in the science.
That academic foundation led to real-world impact: I co-founded CardiacBooster, a medtech startup translating cardiac support innovation into clinical practice. I continue to serve as board member and advisor, staying close to the challenges of building a company in this space.
Today, I work at imec.istart, one of Europe's leading deep-tech accelerators, where I help early-stage startups navigate the critical first phases of their journey: from validation to investment readiness. I know what it takes to go from idea to impact, and I bring that perspective directly to the teams at this hackathon.
Marin Lauber - Computational Fluid Dynamics
I'm a postdoc in cardiovascular biomechanics at TU Delft, working on numerical model for soft artificial hearts. Prior to that, I was a PhD student in computational fluid-structure interaction at the University of Southampton.
Celeste Koster - Clinician
I am Celeste Koster, a medical doctor and PhD candidate in cardiothoracic surgery at Erasmus MC in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, where I am part of the Holland Hybrid Heart Project. My research focuses on the design and development of prosthetic heart valves, which is my main area of expertise. I am particularly interested in translating innovative ideas into clinically relevant solutions, and I’m happy to support teams with both technical and clinical questions or challenges during the hackathon.
Alongside my academic work, I am a competitive marathon runner, currently racing in the elite field in the Netherlands. I started running four years ago and have been steadily developing in the sport since. Running has taught me the value of perseverance, setting realistic goals, and continuous learning—principles I find equally important when tackling challenges in academia and beyond.
