About Me

hr-0373-436-605--0373436605020First of all, I have no relation to hotel guru Anthony Melchiorri, except that we both share a pretty cool name. Sometimes, I do get fan letters and emails from people who ask me to remember our time in the hotel business together or send me their resumé so I can get them a job in the hotel industry. As much as I’d like to, I’m completely unqualified to do that.

This Anthony Melchiorri grew up in Normal, Illinois. I’m not kidding. There’s a town in Illinois called Normal and that’s where I grew up. It’s amazing when I meet people in the real world who actually know where this place is and don’t ask me, “Oh, where’s Abnormal?”

After a regular (it’s hard, but I refuse to make a pun of it) childhood in Normal, I left for the University of Iowa to get a degree in Biomedical Engineering. But, I couldn’t give up reading and writing and there really wasn’t enough of that in engineering (unless you’re into thick, no-thrills books on thermodynamics and polymer physics). I picked up a second degree in English while working on the Biomedical Engineering degree and have since counted myself fortunate for making that decision. Iowa City, North America’s only official UNESCO City of Literature, is a thriving hotbed of writers and readers, with some of the best visiting the city for their renowned workshop or famous authors dropping by to read a story they’ve written and chat.  I had the opportunity to meet plenty of great writers and storytellers that inspired me to keep writing, even when I graduated and later earned a PhD at the University of Maryland for Bioengineering.

Today, when I’m not writing and reading, I’m primarily researching ways to create tissue engineered organs like bone and blood vessels. I get to work with awesome 3D printing technologies and am always astounded by the rapidly advancing science coursing through the veins of universities and research settings. Much of my writing has been inspired by those advancements and my conversations with other researchers, scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, and many others interested in our evolving world.

Thank you for reading!

-Tony