Zach Malchano , MS

Research and Development
Redwood City, CA

2006-07 Innovation Fellow
Zach Malchano recently completed his Master of Engineering in Biomedical Engineering with the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology. Prior to his graduate work, he received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from MIT. As an undergraduate, Zach was involved with research projects including work on developing tangible user interfaces to manipulate aggregates of digital information as well as work on a free-hand ultrasound system to non-invasively assess and monitor atherosclerotic plaque burden based on carotid wall structure and deformation. As a graduate student, Zach worked closely with the physicians of the Cardiac Arrhythmia Unit at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston to develop novel hardware, software, and methods to aid cardiac electrophysiologists in their understanding and treatment of arrhythmias. His main focus was the incorporation of pre-operative, patient-specific CT or MR imaging data with real-time catheter mapping data to guide ablations procedures in the heart. His work has resulted in several co-authored journal papers, conference presentations, and invention disclosures. In addition, Zach has worked as a consultant to several medical device companies. Working at the border between engineering and medicine has been both challenging and exciting for Zach, and in all, he hopes to continue developing technologies that will benefit physicians and ultimately patients.