If a plan doesn’t work, change the PLAN, not the GOAL!

Iman is a Ph.D. candidate in Mechanical Engineering at the Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. His research project is centered on developing vital sign monitoring medical devices for pediatric patients.

Apart from his academic pursuits, Iman is a certified project manager (PMP) and a seasoned R&D engineer with more than 10 years of experience in the manufacturing and medical device industry. He is currently leading two medical device startup companies, Trinity Tube and Palm Reader, a joint collaboration between UT-Austin’s clinicians and engineers (read his story here) fully supported by the University of Texas at Austin.

Iman is particularly interested in the innovation and development of pediatric medical devices. He enjoys working with clinicians, patients and their families to apply his engineering, business and entrepreneurial skills, turning brilliant clinical ideas into successful products that can enhance pediatric healthcare.

Education and Career History

Iman earned his Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Isfahan University of Technology (IUT), where he focused on the mechanical properties and numerical simulation of NiTi smart materials and the design and development of assistive and rehabilitation technologies. During his B.Sc program at IUT, Iman was recognized and awarded “the Distinguished Best Undergraduate Student of the Year ” and “The Best Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Student of the Year” among more than 9,000 undergraduate students.

In 2017, Iman received his Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a specialization in biomedical engineering. During his program, he joined Terry’s Research Laboratory (TRL) as a graduate research assistant, where he developed the end-effector of a 4 Cable-Driven Parallel Manipulator (CDPM). The CPDM is equipped with multiple advanced hyperspectral and infrared camera systems that are used for remote sensing and automatically phenotyping a one-acre maize field. The project was granted by the Agricultural Research Division (ARD) at the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources (IANR).

Iman also collaborated with the Cardiovascular Biology and Biomechanics Laboratory (CBBL) at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) on a medical device project. During this collaboration, he designed and built a novel, highly versatile stimulation bioreactor chamber for coronary artery experiments. The bio-chamber was used primarily to study the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis in vitro and to measure the effectiveness of different anti-atherosclerotic drugs, and atherosclerotic plaque disruption mechanisms.

From 2017 to 2021, he worked as a full-time R&D Mechanical Engineer at Bison Inc., where he designed and developed custom-built ceiling-mounted indoor and outdoor gymnasium equipment. Bison Inc. offers a wide range of gymnasium equipment such as basketball, volleyball, and specialty net games; soccer and specialty goals; and football and field sports goals.

During the same time period, Iman also worked as a Lab Manager and Engineering Lecturer at the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering at UNL, where he taught engineering design and computer modeling. Iman holds a highly recognized Project Management Professional (PMP) Certificate through PMI after completing more than 400 projects in different areas.

At UT-Austin, he worked as the project manager for UT-Austin’s EcoCAR EV Challenge team, where he enjoyed leading six main tracks such as engineering, DEI, and communication. EcoCAR EV Challenge is a four-year prestigious collegiate competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, General Motors and MathWorks, and is administered by Argonne National Laboratory. In this competition, students will re-engineer a state-of-the-art 2023 Cadillac LYRIQ to design, build, refine and demonstrate the potential of their advanced propulsion systems and connected and autonomous technologies.

SELECT PUBLICATIONS

• Salafian, I, Englert, A, Morris, A, Groves, A, & Rylander, CG. “DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING OF A MULTIFUNCTION GASTRIC FEEDING TUBE CAPABLE OF VITAL SIGN MONITORING.” Proceedings of the 2023 Design of Medical Devices Conference. 2023 Design of Medical Devices Conference. Minneapolis, MN, USA. April 17–19, 2023. V001T09A005. ASME. Link
• Salafian, I., & Rylander, C. G. Burst, Leakage, and Constant Pressure Infusion Testing of a Convection Enhanced Drug Delivery System for Glioblastoma Treatment. In 2022 Design of Medical Devices Conference. American Society of Mechanical Engineers Digital Collection. Link
• Salafian, I., Stewart, B., Newman, M., Zygielbaum, A., & Terry, B. (2017, April). Stability improvement of a four cable-driven parallel manipulator using a center of the mass balance system. In SPIE Commercial+ Scientific Sensing and Imaging (pp. 102130K-102130K). International Society for Optics and Photonics. Link
• Salafian, I., Karagiannis, A., Chatzizisis, Y. S., Terry, B. S., (2016). Design and build of a custom highly flexible stimulation bioreactor chamber for Atherosclerosis investigation. An award-winning poster at UNL 2nd Annual Research Fair, Oct 31, UNL. Link
• Pourghasem, A., Takamjani, I. E., Karimi, M. T., Kamali, M., Jannesari, M., & Salafian, I. (2016). The effect of a powered ankle-foot orthosis on walking in a stroke subject: a case study. Journal of Physical Therapy Science, 28(11), 3236-3240. Link
• Pourghasem, A., Takamjani, E., Karimi, M., Kamali, M., Jannesari, M., & Salafian, I. (2016). The Effect of Orthoses in the Management of Patients with Stroke. International Journal of Advanced Biotechnology and Research 7(2), 1426-432. Link
• Zare, F., Kadkhodaei, M. & Salafian, I. (2015). Thermomechanical Modeling of Stress Relaxation in Shape Memory Alloy Wires. J. of Materi Eng and Perform 24, 1763–1770. Link