IBTeam
Founders
Management
Clinical / Sales
Research and Development/Manufacturing
Rahul Kaliki
Chief Executive Officer
Ever since his teenage years, Dr. Kaliki has been fascinated with understanding how the brain controls our arms. His pursuit of this question led him to obtain a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of California, San Diego and subsequently a PhD in Biomedical Engineering under Dr. Gerald Loeb at the University of Southern California in 2009. His PhD thesis was directly related to developing a novel control strategy for upper limb prostheses. With the desire to directly improve amputees’ lives through technology commercialization, Dr. Kaliki joined IBT in the fall of 2009. Since becoming the CEO of IBT in 2011, IBT has launched its first product to the market and is driving to push the boundaries of prosthetic technology even further.
Damini Agarwal
Director of Product Development
Damini is an enthusiastic and meticulous problem solver and aims at developing unique yet simplistic solutions to medical engineering problems. She graduated with a Master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University and since then has been honing her skill set in diverse aspects of medical device development. By innovating at the intersection of research and industry, she aspires to develop revolutionary technology that continues to inspire future generations to contribute to the field, thus further adding to her research and passion. Damini finds that working with amputees and developing next generation technology for upper limb prosthetics is a very rewarding use of her technical capabilities and she enjoys it very much.
A proud Girl Scout member and leader, she spends her weekends volunteering with young girls to introduce them to the fascinating world of STEM.
Willa Hughes
Electrical Engineer
Willa received her Master's degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Johns Hopkins University. She helps to maintain the electricals of current IBT products, and is working on embedded code and hardware for future products.
Megan Hodgson
Director of Clinical Services
Megan received her Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University. Since starting at IBT in 2013, her goal has been to create a bridge between what is available in the clinic and what is needed. She received her MPO from Northwestern University in 2019 and continues to provide direct patient care to keep real clinical needs at the forefront of IBT's mission.
Kevin Liu
Design Engineer
Kevin attended Johns Hopkins University and received his Bachelor of Science degree in Biomedical Engineering. He assists in manufacturing for current IBT products as well as creative design for IBT marketing material and software UI design.
Dan Schlattman
Chief Operating Officer
Mr. Schlattman completed his Master’s degree in electrical engineering from the Johns Hopkins University in 2007. He was promoted from research engineer to chief operating officer in November of 2011. Dan’s experience in engineering as well as his organizational skills has helped to bring our ideas through to commercialization. In addition to general operations management, Dan is the lead for customer relations and feedback. Dan is happily married to his wife Suzanne and they have four wonderful children.
Nitish Thakor
Co-Founder
Dr. Thakor is a Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Director of Biomedical Instrumentation at Johns Hopkins University. He currently serves on the editorial boards of several journals including IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, IEEE Transactions on Information Technology in Biomedicine, and the Annals of Biomedical Engineering.
Ananth Natarajan
Co-Founder
Dr. Natarajan is a physician and engineer who specializes in utilization of advanced technology to solve pressing clinical problems. He founded Infinite Biomedical Technologies (IBT) in 1997 and served as the Chief Executive Officer of the company for over ten years. Funding for the company was provided by the National Institutes of Health, which committed substantial capital to IBT for development of its high-risk, high-reward technologies.
The company developed neurocritical care monitors and also spun-out a software company in the endoscopy space, Ikona Medical. The spin-out developed the first mobile reader application for capsule endoscopy on the Apple iPad™ platform. IBT also launched a healthcare information technology company (Vigilant Medical) which provides medical image sharing for clients, which have included four of the “Top 10 Heart Hospitals” as ranked by U.S. News and World Report. Over 30,000 patients per year are cared for using the Vigilant system.
Currently IBT is developing advanced dexterous prosthetic technology for upper limb amputees, and over 1,700 amputees in twenty-six countries are currently using one or more components of this system. Ananth has also been an active angel investor and has helped fund over a dozen early-stage technology companies.
Ananth has several publications, presentations, and patents to his credit. He has received the TR35 award from Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Technology Review and the Duke University Engineering Distinguished Young Alumnus Award. He has been featured in the Red Herring magazine in a cover story as one of “5 Technology Innovators Changing the World.” He is a member of the California Club, the Athenaeum, and the Economic Round Table. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Caltech Associates (Past President) and is the Chairman of the Advisory Boards for Infinite Biomedical Technologies, Point Designs and Vigilant Medical. In the past he has served on the Boards of the Duke University Alumni Association of Southern California, Expanse 3D, HIVE Lighting, Innovate Pasadena, the Pasadena Angels, and the Pasadena Symphony. He is Past President of the Physicians’ Wine & Food Society and continues to serve on its Executive Committee.
Dr. Natarajan received his BSE in Biomedical Engineering and Electrical Engineering from Duke University (at age 18, with Distinction). He received an MSE in Biomedical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University and his MD from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. Additionally, he completed his residency training in Obstetrics & Gynecology at the University of Southern California.
George Levay
Research Manager
George lost his arms and feet in 2010 after a meningitis infection in his home country of Hungary. He was already on track to become an engineer, but this focused his attention on upper limb prostheses. After being fit with his first prosthesis, he realized that these devices are thoroughly underwhelming and decided to do something about it. He majored in control theory and won a Fulbright scholarship to Johns Hopkins University, where he earned his Master’s in Biomedical Engineering. His focus remains the enhancement of prosthesis control with a premium on promoting users’ engagement in the process. He moved back to Hungary from where he manages IBT’s research efforts, working to ensure that the next steps are those that benefit users the most.
Riya Shah
Quality and Regulatory Specialist
Riya received her Master's in Regulatory Affairs from Northeastern University, Boston in 2020. She currently coordinates the Quality and Regulatory work for IBT.
Harry Ttito
Production Technician
Harry was formerly a 68W Combat Medic in the military. After retiring from military service, Harry enrolled at Century College and received a degree in Orthotic and Prosthetics Technology.
Drew McRacken
Product Design Engineer
Drew received his Bachelor's of Science in Biomedical Engineering from the Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University in 2021. He coordinates the flow of manufacturing and production as well as design and prototyping of IBT's upcoming line of products.
Nick Weiner
Software Developer
Nick received his bachelors in Computer Science from Vassar College. While at Vassar, Nick became interested in accessible technology. Though Nick originally started his accessibility journey with web technology, he is excited to work with mobile apps to support prosthetic technology at IBT. While Nick is not working, he enjoys reading, gardening, and cooking.
Talia Wolf-Jacobs
Quality Engineer
Talia received her Bioengineering degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, with a focus on medical devices and electrical engineering. She works on both the technical and regulatory teams at IBT as a Quality Engineer.
Mike Benning
Sales and Marketing Strategist
During a successful career as a manufacturer's representative in the golf industry, Mike became increasingly curious about breakthrough innovations in upper limb prosthetics. After nine months of reading countless stories of successful outcomes, Mike switched careers and became an award-winning sales representative working with medical professionals in the prosthetics industry. To continue his career growth, Mike earned his master’s degree in marketing and communications while working full-time in various sales and marketing leadership roles.
Mike is an active member of the limb loss community. After losing his arm to cancer at 14 years-old, he represented the United States in alpine skiing at the Paralympic Winter Games in Innsbruck, Austria, and he won two One-Arm World Golf Championships in the United Kingdom. He provides peer support to people impacted by limb loss/limb difference and he enjoys recreational skiing and golfing with his wife and two children.
Mike works from home in Scituate, Massachusetts and currently develops and implements IBT's short- and long-term growth strategies.
Chris Hunt
Research Scientist
Chris received his PhD in Biomedical Engineering from
Johns Hopkins University under the direction of Dr. Nitish Thakor in the Neuroengineering and Biomedical Instrumentation Lab.
During his PhD, his thesis work centered around investigating the unique characteristics of motor processing inherent to prosthesis operation and leveraging these characteristics for a more useful control experience.
As a member of IBT, Chris helps to manage and provide technical support for projects in IBT's research portfolio.