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Founder & Head of Engineering

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Dan was educated at MIT in electrical engineering, biomedical engineering, and computer science, and also studied intellectual property law at Harvard Law School, as well as theoretical geophysics at the University of Cambridge (UK). He graduated with a Bachelors degree in Electrical and Biomedical Engineering from MIT, and a Masters in Civil & Environmental Engineering from Carnegie Mellon. Dan has worked for NASA, Northwestern Astronomical Observatory, Siemens Corporation, and the law firm Frommer, Lawrence, and Haug, LLP.

Dan won the Siemens Westinghouse National Science Award, a national award given to one team in the United States for engineering excellence. According to Science Magazine, this is “a junior Nobel Prize.” He continues his interest in astrophysics and space exploration through his participation in various scientific and academic organizations, including scientific and legal presentations at NASA, MIT, Stanford, and Carnegie Mellon University.

Dan Hussain

President & CEO

Stephen has practiced patent prosecution for law firms in Boston and San Francisco, where he counsels tech startups on patent portfolio development, patent drafting, and patent prosecution. He has taught seminars on patent law and strategy at Cornell University, Harvard Medical School, the London School of Economics, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), New York University, and the Wharton School, as well as at premier universities in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan. He advises university startups through the Cornell Crit program, the Harvard Innovation Labs, and the MIT Venture Mentoring Service, and has been appointed an expert in residence at various incubators and accelerators. He has been involved in three award-winning startup companies, serving as co-founder, chief engineer, and software engineer.

Stephen graduated Phi Beta Kappa with four undergraduate and graduate degrees in physics and electrical engineering (EE), all from MIT, where he conducted master's and doctoral research in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and taught courses in digital signal processing. He earned the President Paul E. Gray Award for Excellence in Research and the Goodwin Medal, MIT's highest honor for excellence in teaching by a graduate student. Stephen received his law degree from the New York University School of Law, where he was a Dean's Award Scholar and an InSITE Fellow, advising startup companies and venture capitalists on patents, technology, and entrepreneurship.

Stephen Hou, J.D.

Vice President & COO

Kerim earned his PhD degree in Telecommunications from the INRS in Montreal, and a Masters in Electrical & Computer Engineering from Laval University in Quebec. Kerim served as a postdoctoral fellow in the RLE Lab at MIT, where his research aimed to develop opportunities for evolutionary and modular network coding in future information systems. Kerim also served as the Vice President of Technology for a startup in Cambridge that was spun out of MIT, where he played a pivotal role translating recent research results to clients.

Kerim Fouli, Ph.D.

Chief Scientific Officer

Shirley Shi earned her PhD at MIT's Research Laboratory of Electronics (RLE) in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. She obtained her B.Eng. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Victoria, Canada. Shirley has passed the U.S. Patent Bar Exam and is granted Limited Recognition to practice in patent cases before the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Shirley has experience working with startup companies in software, medical devices, and consumer products.

Shirley Shi, Ph.D.

Senior Engineer

Ingrid received her Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from National Tsing Hua University and her Master's degree in Bioengineering from Harvard University. Prior to joining APA, she served as a software engineer at technology and finance firms, where she focused on machine learning projects encompassing natural language processing (NLP) information extraction, sentiment analysis, and time-series modeling. Her current area of expertise lies in patent applications directed to inventions involving artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Ingrid Bau

Machine Learning Engineer

Maryann is a PhD student in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) at MIT. Her research interests include mechanism design, control theory and statistical learning. She received her bachelor’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mathematics with a minor in EECS at UC Berkeley.

Maryann Rui

Patent Engineer

Andrew is a PhD student in the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology program. He is committed to leveraging AI to make medical care more accessible, reliable, and equitable. His current research centers around AI models for diagnosing cancer and other pathologies from histology tissue sections. Prior to graduate school, Andrew studied biology and computer science at Harvard. Outside of work, Andrew enjoys amateur astronomy and visiting old bookstores.

Andrew Zhang

Andrew is a second year undergraduate student at MIT studying mechanical engineering. Andrew has worked in undergraduate research at the human-computer interaction lab at MIT where he assisted in 3D printing a lamp that changed its brightness and color based on its position in space. Additionally, he was a mentor at the Edgerton Center where he trained members on fabrication equipment such as laser cutters and 3D printers. Outside of class and research, he enjoys spending time at MIT’s woodshop and cycling on the Charles River Esplanade. His most memorable woodworking project he has done so far was creating a functioning electric guitar from scratch and building a live edge, resin-filled coffee table.

Andrew Doan

Amir holds a PhD in Comparative Literature from Emory University. He is a writer with a cross-disciplinary background in the humanities, speaks three languages, and has expertise in poetry. He applies the attention to detail, close reading, and organizational skills that he developed through literary studies to his work as an administrator. Amir enjoys learning from and working with people across disciplinary and national borders. In addition, he supports environmental and social advocacy.

Amir Hussain, Ph.D.

Chief Administrative Officer & Treasurer

Misha graduated with a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2000 and has had a long career in the patent drafting industry. He is a design drawing specialist and helps our clients pursue high-quality design patents. Misha has a rich history of experience with all aspects of preparing and prosecuting design patents in the software, consumer goods, and mechanical device sectors, including graphical user interface (GUI) design patents.

Misha Oljaca

Patent Drawings Engineer

Albert got started as a serial entrepreneur by writing the very first version of Course Hero in 2 weeks, which grew to recently be valued at $1.1B. Albert also co-founded 121nexus, a biomedical tracking company, which was acquired in 2015 and rebranded to Soom and grew to $10M+ ARR. Post acquisition, Albert worked on the early product teams at notable Silicon Valley unicorns Teespring and Checkr. He most recently co-founded Sidr, a Y Combinator-backed startup in the no code space focused on embeddable apps. Albert graduated with a degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Cornell University.

Albert Ho

Strategic Advisor

Steve graduated with a degree in Mathematics from MIT, and a PhD in Finance from Yale University. Steve is currently a professor at the University of Georgia, School of Business. Steve has faithfully served as an advisor to APA since its inception in 2006, and continues to provide invaluable strategic advice to the company.

Steve Malliaris, Ph.D.

Kia is trilingual and has worked in telecommunication, healthcare, higher education, cyber security, and most recently AI building relationships with clients. He has a strong background in sales and raising funds for real estate projects. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology Management and Business Administration from Cal State East Bay and has focused on working with SaaS companies to retain and expand their existing book of accounts. 

Kia Kazemian

Lori, a seasoned management executive and engineer from WPI, brings a wealth of experience in finance, venture, strategy, and investments to the company. With a track record of facilitating over $220M+ in fundraising for Silicon Valley and crypto startups, she has demonstrated prowess in driving capital formation.

Lori is a natural architect, blending strategy across technical and social systems. As a product owner at J.P. Morgan, she developed enduring technology for product strategy asset management, leaving a decade-long legacy. Her extensive network, cultivated through her hosted salons, amplifies her influence and success within capital markets.

Based in New York City, Lori is not only a decorated triathlete but also an astute investor. Her focus on venture investments is complimented by her personal study of techno-political market dynamics and game theoretical strategies in corporate finance & development. This combination of executive acumen and investment expertise defines her multifaceted expertise.

Lori Corpuz

Foster is Vice President of Legal Operations at symplr. His career includes 15 years of in-house legal experience. He began his career as a Staff Attorney for Mainline Information Systems, IBM's largest channel partner in North America, and he most recently was General Counsel & Chief Evangelist for Pramata Corporation and before that legal counsel for private equity-backed Vertafore. He has experience as an entrepreneur and inventor, having founded two companies (including his most recent venture, Tactile VR) and is a first-named inventor on three U.S. patents and a Canadian patent.

Originally from Pennsylvania, Foster attended Penn State University and earned degrees in international politics and Japanese. He earned his Juris Doctor (JD) degree from Florida State University College of Law and is a world traveler who speaks Japanese, French, and Mandarin Chinese.

In his free time, Foster enjoys writing, teaching, singing, and playing his guitar. He also publishes a weekly LinkedIn newsletter on Commercial Contracts in addition to writing a monthly column on SaaS Agreements for the Contract Nerds blog. He is named after his grandfather, who posthumously received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his service in World War II. Foster resides in Evergreen, CO with his wife, two sons, and two dogs.

Foster Sayers, J.D.

Maciej received BA's in mathematics and physics from University of Chicago, an MA in physics from UCLA, and an MS in Computer Science, also from the University of Chicago. He studied string theory at UCLA before switching to software development. As a software developer he has worked for Oracle, Chicago Trading Company, and Bank of America. In his spare time, he enjoys playing piano.

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Team

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Shirley Shi, Ph.D.

Senior Engineer

Team