Our
Team
Who's behind Utah Research Institute?
Utah Research Institute was founded in February of 2022 by Elizabeth Iazykova and Andrew Piskadlo.
We have a team of incredibly talented and motivated individuals helping us achieve our vision.​
Board of directors
Founder & CEO
Elizabeth Iazykova
Elizabeth has worked on the idea of URI for years before founding a board of likeminded individuals and putting those blueprints into action. Throughout her undergrad she studied mathematics and physics, and also diversified into neuroscience, psychology, and pedagogy. She is now working on completing her MBA of technology commercialization.
Founder & CRO
Andrew Piskadlo
Andrew got his undergrad in chemistry and physics. He has extensive lab and research experience. He is currently working on completing his Masters of Mechanical engineering thesis.
​
Founder & Secretary
Benjamin Beacom
Ben studied chemistry at Westminster college (now university). He is passionate about food science and innovative energy solutions
Director
Michael Greenwald
Michael got his Bachelor's in Mathematics and Chemistry. He is now studying to become a Doctor of Osteopathy at University of Idaho.
He is passionate about research and is an avid chess player.
Director
Nathan Kunz
Nate completed his undergrad at the UofU in mathematics and economics, and received his masters from UCLA.
He currently works at UCLA as an Economist and Data Scientist and teaches courses in statistical programming and forecasting. He generates economics forecasts as part of the UCLA Quantlab, and works with UCLA's industry partners to find solutions to their toughest data science problems.
Nate is passionate about applying emerging technologies in data science to solve real world business problems.
Our engineers
Brian Clyde
Mechanical engineering and material science
Brian is a mechanical engineer for the R&D department of Utah Research Institute. His area of focus is in designing mechanical elements of different devices. He is experienced in compliant mechanisms, ergonomics, and wearable robotics. Currently, he is the mechanical lead on designing an upper-limb preparatory prosthetic.
As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Brian seeks to apply the virtues of honesty, integrity, and hard work in all that he does. He believes that people have a responsibility to care for each other and make the world a better place. He lives by these principles in both his personal and professional life. Outside of work, Brian is a “jack-of-all-trades,” enjoying both indoor and outdoor activities, so long as they have a low risk of causing extreme physical harm.
Current Projects
-
Preparatory prosthetic
-
​Cyber spyder project
Nick Witham PhD
Mechanical engineering and material science
Nick researches neuromuscular rehabilitation technologies, focusing on bio transducers (sensors and actuators) and mechatronics. As part of his PhD, he developed artificial muscles that can be practically used to improve biomechatronic systems. This entailed establishing an inexpensive textile manufacturing method that could enable tuning of their properties, using materials testing equipment to ensure they were mechanically biomimetic, and establishing robust real-time control of force and length.
During his doctoral studies he also did contract work for Blackrock Neurotech and an internship at Össur Prosthetics.
Nich is a founder and CEO of Gaia LLC, a partner of URI collaborating on the development of a new generation of prosthetics.
Current Projects
-
Preparatory prosthetic
-
​Cyber spyder project
Derek Williams
Mechanical engineering and machining
Derek Williams is a senior in the University of Utah, Mechanical engineering program. His skillset was developed over a lifetime of curiosity and inquisition. In addition to attending engineering school full-time, he maintains a machinist position at a local proto-typing machine shop. When he isn’t studying or operating lathes and mills at work, he can be found with a wrench in his hand rebuilding a motorcycle or car motor.
Current Projects
-
Preparatory prosthetic​
Nathaniel Luttmer
Mechanical engineering and biomechanics
Nathaniel Luttmer is a PhD student in Robotics Engineering PhD at the University of Utah. He also received a Masters in Mechanical Engineering Robotics Track, Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering with an Emphasis in Robotics and Controls, Mechatronics Engineering Certificate, and Minor in Physics. His research includes Haptics, Mechatronics, Human-Robot Interaction, Tethered Robotics, Biomechanics, Virtual Reality and Exoskeletons.
Nathaniel is part of the Embedded Systems and AI team working on improving the computational systems of current arm prosthesis. The current arm prothstesis use 8 electrode sensors where the team is going to increase that by 2/4 times the amount to get full arm/hand movements. This will be done by using a deep neural network and on board embedded systems to do all of the computation.
Current Projects
-
Deep Neural Networks
-
​Cyber spyder project
Juan Pablo
Electrical engineering and AI
Juan Pablo Botero is a PhD student in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Utah, where he conducts research on spiking neural networks for decoding physiological signals, including intracortical brain activity. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from Universidad de los Andes, Colombia, and a Master's degree in Biomedical Engineering with a focus on neural engineering from the University of Utah. Juan is an accomplished full-stack engineer with expertise in designing and developing biosignal acquisition systems, both in hardware and software. He also has extensive experience deep learning and AI models, especially on their deployment to computationally constrained devices.
Current Projects
-
Deep Neural Networks​
Owen Leishman
Electrical engineering and embedded systems
Owen Leishman is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering at the University of Utah, and is the recipient of the Outstanding Researcher, and Academic Achievement awards. His expertise in PCB design, manufacturing, and testing, analog silicon design, and embedded programming. His past works include designing novel chemical monitoring platforms at the Laboratory for Nano-Integrated Systems and implementing virus detection systems at the AMANDA lab. At the Utah Research Institute he aims to develop low cost electro-myography interfaces for robotic prosthetic limbs.
Current Projects
-
Deep Neural Networks
-
​Cyber spyder project
Apply Today
If you're interested in joining our team, send us an email with your resume, as well as your education/specialization and interests. We are always open to new project pitches.