Jeff Berkley, PhD
CEO, Chairman, Founder
Jeff is a pioneer in surgical robotics and simulation with over two decades of experience advancing medical technology. He founded Mimic Technologies in 2001, serving as CEO and Chairman until its acquisition by Surgical Science in 2021. Throughout his career, he has supported leading surgical robotics companies, such as Intuitive Surgical, Medtronic, Virtual Incision and Medicaroid, in modeling robotic systems and training platforms for surgeons. Holding a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Washington, his core expertise spans surgery simulation, tissue mechanics, AI, and haptics. He also served eight years in the Naval Reserves as a medical corpsman, gaining hands-on experience in field medicine and nursing. Now, after helping others build the next generation of surgical robots, he is focused on creating innovative systems that combine imaging, diagnostics, telepresence, guidance, and robotics to modernize trauma care.
CEO, Chairman, Founder
Jeff is a pioneer in surgical robotics and simulation with over two decades of experience advancing medical technology. He founded Mimic Technologies in 2001, serving as CEO and Chairman until its acquisition by Surgical Science in 2021. Throughout his career, he has supported leading surgical robotics companies, such as Intuitive Surgical, Medtronic, Virtual Incision and Medicaroid, in modeling robotic systems and training platforms for surgeons. Holding a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Washington, his core expertise spans surgery simulation, tissue mechanics, AI, and haptics. He also served eight years in the Naval Reserves as a medical corpsman, gaining hands-on experience in field medicine and nursing. Now, after helping others build the next generation of surgical robots, he is focused on creating innovative systems that combine imaging, diagnostics, telepresence, guidance, and robotics to modernize trauma care.
Darwin Ang, MD, PhD, MPH, FACS
Chief Medical Officer, Co-Founder
Darwin is a nationally recognized trauma and critical‑care surgeon, surgical innovator, and health‑tech entrepreneur. In his role as enterprise trauma medical director for HCA, he was instrumental in establishing the world’s largest trauma system. His passion for surgical education led him to found the UCF/HCA general surgery residency and create a robotic‑training pathway that produced the region’s first robot credentialed resident in 2018. Dr. Ang’s portfolio includes 110+ peer‑reviewed publications, multiple novel operative techniques for complex trauma and general surgery, and two gubernatorial appointments to Florida’s Trauma System Advisory Council. Finally, as an entrepreneur, he started an award-winning software development company whose medical applications have topped national download charts. As Chief Medical Officer of Lightside Surgical, Dr. Ang uses his experience to aid in the design, application, and translation of robotic technology into real‑world surgical workflows.
Chief Medical Officer, Co-Founder
Darwin is a nationally recognized trauma and critical‑care surgeon, surgical innovator, and health‑tech entrepreneur. In his role as enterprise trauma medical director for HCA, he was instrumental in establishing the world’s largest trauma system. His passion for surgical education led him to found the UCF/HCA general surgery residency and create a robotic‑training pathway that produced the region’s first robot credentialed resident in 2018. Dr. Ang’s portfolio includes 110+ peer‑reviewed publications, multiple novel operative techniques for complex trauma and general surgery, and two gubernatorial appointments to Florida’s Trauma System Advisory Council. Finally, as an entrepreneur, he started an award-winning software development company whose medical applications have topped national download charts. As Chief Medical Officer of Lightside Surgical, Dr. Ang uses his experience to aid in the design, application, and translation of robotic technology into real‑world surgical workflows.
Tim Kowalewski, PhD
Chief Technical Officer, Co-Founder
Tim is a leading innovator in medical robotics whose career began with DARPA’s TraumaPod project within the University of Washington’s BioRobotics Lab, where he earned his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering. His award-winning research on AI-driven surgical skill assessment led to commercialization efforts with Simulab Corporation. Tim was also a co-founder of C-SATS Inc., a surgical training platform later acquired by Johnson & Johnson. He also co-founded Pictoria (formerly LoveMyDelta), a spinoff focused on visual assessment technologies. Currently an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Minnesota, he directs the Medical Robotics and Devices Lab and holds affiliate positions across multiple engineering and healthcare disciplines. His interdisciplinary work in surgical data science, robot-assisted surgery, and soft robotics has been funded by NSF, NIH, the Department of Defense, and major industry players. Recognized with the NSF CAREER Award and a McKnight Presidential Fellowship, Dr. Kowalewski combines technical depth, entrepreneurial success, and academic leadership to drive high-impact, commercially scalable innovations in healthcare.
Chief Technical Officer, Co-Founder
Tim is a leading innovator in medical robotics whose career began with DARPA’s TraumaPod project within the University of Washington’s BioRobotics Lab, where he earned his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering. His award-winning research on AI-driven surgical skill assessment led to commercialization efforts with Simulab Corporation. Tim was also a co-founder of C-SATS Inc., a surgical training platform later acquired by Johnson & Johnson. He also co-founded Pictoria (formerly LoveMyDelta), a spinoff focused on visual assessment technologies. Currently an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Minnesota, he directs the Medical Robotics and Devices Lab and holds affiliate positions across multiple engineering and healthcare disciplines. His interdisciplinary work in surgical data science, robot-assisted surgery, and soft robotics has been funded by NSF, NIH, the Department of Defense, and major industry players. Recognized with the NSF CAREER Award and a McKnight Presidential Fellowship, Dr. Kowalewski combines technical depth, entrepreneurial success, and academic leadership to drive high-impact, commercially scalable innovations in healthcare.
Laurent Coulon, Ingénieur Centralien
Chief Software Officer, Co-Founder
A graduate of École Centrale in France, Laurent Coulon is a seasoned software engineer and simulation expert with over 25 years of experience pioneering real-time systems across the gaming, film, and medical industries. As an entrepreneur and CEO, he guided development across more than 20 commercially shipped products and engineered a proprietary game engine from the ground up. He contributed novel approaches to rigid and soft body dynamics, CFD, FEM, and GPU-accelerated techniques. An entrepreneur at heart, Laurent brings deep expertise in simulating human tissue mechanics and a commitment to pushing the boundaries of healthcare innovation.
Chief Software Officer, Co-Founder
A graduate of École Centrale in France, Laurent Coulon is a seasoned software engineer and simulation expert with over 25 years of experience pioneering real-time systems across the gaming, film, and medical industries. As an entrepreneur and CEO, he guided development across more than 20 commercially shipped products and engineered a proprietary game engine from the ground up. He contributed novel approaches to rigid and soft body dynamics, CFD, FEM, and GPU-accelerated techniques. An entrepreneur at heart, Laurent brings deep expertise in simulating human tissue mechanics and a commitment to pushing the boundaries of healthcare innovation.