Maryam Ziaei

We’re about to simp for Maryam Ziaei, this is one badass tech founder you gotta know. So, she’s a YC W16 alum, which means she crushed it early on with her startup iSono Health, a company all about giving women the power to monitor their health at home. Super socially aware, super needed.

But her story isn’t just about that. She’s been in the game for over 15 years, diving deep into the world of tiny tech, like MEMS, sensors, piezoelectric stuff, you know, those microscale devices that go into all our gadgets and medical devices. She’s worked at top-tier places like Intel, Sandia Labs, and ProTek Devices, leading engineering teams, designing cool shit, and pushing the boundaries of high-volume consumer electronics. Basically, she’s the real deal when it comes to hardware and sensors.

Her academic creds are nuts too. She’s got a PhD in Electrical Engineering from Stanford, no small feat, and an MS from UC Berkeley. She even did a stint at Imperial College London (which I think she’s an alum of). Plus, she went back to Stanford to do an entrepreneurship degree at GSB, so she’s got both the tech and startup hustle down pat.

Her research is legit, she’s got patents and papers in MEMS and sensors, and she’s involved in the scientific community as a reviewer for journals, NSF, and other agencies. That’s her nerdy side, but it’s all about pushing tech forward.

Now, here’s where it gets even cooler. She’s now the Director of Tech Transfer and Transition at ARPA-H, which is like the Pentagon of health innovation, trying to turn crazy breakthroughs into real healthcare solutions. That means she’s not just about building stuff; she’s about making sure tech actually hits the streets and saves lives.

All of this? It’s pretty clear her motivation is about pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with tech, especially in health. She’s not just building gadgets, she’s using her deep knowledge and experience to solve real problems, especially for women with iSono. She’s all about empowerment, innovation, and making a difference on a big scale.

Bottom line: Maryam Ziaei is a tech scientist turned founder who’s crushed it across research, industry, and startups. She’s the perfect combo of hardcore engineer and visionary entrepreneur. No Cap, she’s a straight-up leader in medtech and hardware, and her process shows she’s all about turning complex science into stuff that actually helps people. That’s why she’s so important, she’s not just talking tech, she’s changing lives.