People | Tsoline Mikaelian, Ph.D.

Tsoline works on patent prosecution and litigation in the areas of electronics and computer technologies, software and medical devices. Tsoline's practice with the litigation group includes due diligence, patent portfolio analyses, infringement opinions, claim construction and development of invalidity contentions. She provides technical expertise and strategic advice regarding intellectual property prosecution and litigation matters, for clients ranging from multi-national corporations to startup companies and universities. Her expertise and extensive research experience span a wide range of technologies, including aerospace and defense systems, robotics, telecommunications, lasers and optics, sensors and instrumentation, embedded systems and artificial intelligence. Tsoline's technical versatility enables her to work with clients across different industries.

Prior to joining the firm, Tsoline was a Postdoctoral Associate at the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab, where she researched novel test and verification techniques for complex hardware and software systems. Tsoline received the Ph.D. from MIT in Aerospace Systems Engineering, under the mentorship of Prof. Daniel Hastings, MIT Dean and former Chief Scientist of the U.S. Air Force. She developed novel tools for the design and development of flexible products, with application to unmanned aerial vehicles and networks to perform Intelligence Reconnaissance and Surveillance missions. At MIT, Tsoline also developed an automated diagnostic and fault management software to enable robust operations of complex, safety-critical systems with both hardware and software enabled functionality, which was demonstrated on operational scenarios of the Earth Observing One spacecraft. Prior to MIT, she worked at York University on a novel laser communication technology and numerical simulation of magnetic traps for Bose-Einstein condensation, and at Spectral Applied Research Inc. on characterizing new types of infrared sensors to assess their fault-tolerance and suitability for use in satellite based products.

Tsoline's research has led to several large R&D proposals that were funded at MIT, resulting in a combined total of over three million dollars of research revenue. Her research has been sponsored by NASA, JPL, DARPA, DoD, the Singapore Defense Science and Technology Agency and the DSO National Labs. She also has extensive experience in industrial research collaborations, working with corporations such as BAE Systems, IBM and the Toyota Motor Corporation. She has also worked with startup companies through consulting activities focused on technology assessment, patent strategy and commercialization.

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ph.D. in Aerospace Systems Engineering, and minor in bioinformatics.
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology, S.M. in Aeronautics and Astronautics.
• York University (Toronto, Canada), B.Sc. with Honors, Physics and Astronomy, specialization in Space and Communication Sciences; first class with distinction, top student in graduating class, winner of the Academic Medal of the Governor General of Canada.
• Postdoctoral Associate, MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab and the Center for Technology, Policy and Industrial Development.
• Lecturer and teaching assistant for several courses within the MIT Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, the MIT Engineering Systems Division, and York University, teaching topics including robotics, systems engineering, enterprise architecture, computer science, logic and experimental physics.
• Author of over a dozen research articles published in peer-reviewed high impact journals and conference proceedings, including the IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Proc. of the National Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Proc. of the International Conference on Automated Planning and Scheduling, Proc. of the IEEE Aerospace Conference, and the Canadian Journal of Physics.
• Tsoline has presented her research at several national and international conferences and workshops such as the IEEE International Systems Conference, the National Conference on Artificial Intelligence, the International Workshop on Principles of Diagnosis, and the Annual Meeting of the American Physical Society's Division of Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics.

• Member, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
• Member, IEEE Communications Society
• Member, Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI)
• Member, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)
• Member, Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP)
• Recipient of many prestigious awards, including the Amelia Earhart Fellowship Award from Zonta International, the Presidential Fellowship at MIT, the Gold Medal of the Faculty of Science and Engineering at York University, and the Academic Medal of the Governor General of Canada.
• Named in Who's Who in Science and Engineering and "2000 Outstanding Scientists", International Biographical Centre, England.
• Reviewer, IEEE International Technology Management Conference: review of research articles in the management of innovation category, focusing on patents and venture capital.