Banner Witcoff is excited to announce its new class of first-year associates in the firm’s Chicago and Washington, DC offices.
Kamaram Munira, Hayden Kunz, Yousef Almesad, Sydney Huppert, Arash Sayyah, and Leon Cao are the latest additions to the seasoned team of more than 120 attorneys at Banner Witcoff.
Yousef AlMesad, D.C., has a broad range of experience with various technologies. Before joining Banner Witcoff, he worked as an engineer focusing on smart materials, smart polymers, power electronics, sensors, and renewable energy. Yousef participated in the firm’s summer associate program as a 2L. He earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Northeastern University and a law degree from the University of Minnesota Law School.
Leon Cao, Chicago, assists clients with a range of patent prosecution and litigation matters in a variety of technological areas such as computer hardware, signal processing, television technologies, and electronics. Leon has a technical background in electrical and computer engineering and has experience with both software engineering as well as industrial engineering. Leon also participated in the firm’s summer associate program. He received his bachelor’s degree in electrical and computer engineering from The Ohio State University and a law degree from Moritz College of Law.
Sydney Huppert, D.C., focuses on patent prosecution and litigation, especially in the areas of computer software and AI/ML. Before law school, she also worked in software development in the health information technology sector, where she configured hospital information exchanges and assisted data visualization teams in organizing and displaying medical supply data. Sydney completed her Juris Doctor degree at George Washington University Law School, where she researched generative AI and the effects of AI technologies in novel legal contexts. She also was part of the 2022 summer associate class.
Hayden Kunz, D.C., has experience in patent prosecution with a focus on technical areas including electronics, embedded systems, artificial intelligence, encryption, and blockchain. He spent two summers at the firm as a summer associate and clerked part-time during his final year of law school. He graduated from Miami University with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and went on to obtain his master’s degree in electrical engineering from Colorado State University. He received his law degree from The George Washington University Law School.
Kamaram Munira, D.C., joined Banner Witcoff in 2019 as a Technical Specialist, where she grew her experience in drafting and prosecution of U.S. and international patent applications for both large companies and start-up clients. Her areas of expertise include Communications Technology, Emerging Semiconductor Devices, Solar Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain Technology, Robotics, Computing-In-Memory, Autonomous Vehicles, and Software. Kamaram received a B.S. in Computer Science with High Honors and a Certificate in Nanomaterials from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2006. She received a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Virginia in 2012, completing her dissertation on “Achieving Low Energy and Reliable Performance in Magnetic Memory and Logic.” She also served as a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Alabama and Micron Technology, Inc. She went on to receive her law degree from The George Washington University Law School.
Arash Sayyah, D.C., focuses his practice on patent prosecution in various technologies. Arash joined the firm as a summer associate in 2022 and was a recipient of the 2022 Donald W. Banner Diversity Fellowship. He earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees, and his Ph.D. in electrical and electronics engineering from Shahid Beheshti University, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and Boston University, respectively, and his law degree from the University of New Hampshire School of Law. Arash is awaiting admission to the bar.
