TMU Alumni in Tech Social

Hossein Rahnama, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the RTA School of Media and is the Director of Research and Innovation at Toronto Met’s Digital Media Zone. Hossein is known as an R&D entrepreneur who can translate research results into high-impact commercial successes. His current work is focused on Context Aware Computing and Mobile Sensing. He is the author of several publications and patents in Ubiquitous Computing and an advocate of entrepreneurial education. He believes that Context Aware Computing can play a key role in connecting people and places to possibilities and as a result transforming societies in substantial and positive ways. Hossein is highlighted by the Smithsonian as one of the Top 6 Innovators to watch. In 2012, he was recognized by MIT Technology Review as one of the TR35s, a prestigious recognition of an annual list of the top 35 innovators in the world under the age of 35. In 2013, he was appointed to the Council of NSERC (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada). In 2011, he won the Motorola GoldenIdea Innovation Award. In 2008, Hossein became the semi-finalist at Harvard Business School Business plan competition for their work in utilization of Context Aware computing services at airports.  Hossein has co-founded the Digital Media Zone, which is now the largest technology incubator in Canada. Prior to that, he was the VP of Research and Innovation at Appear Networks and was the Mobile Solutions Architect for Primus Telecommunications Europe back in 2005.

Maayan is an activist, photographer and entrepreneur. The creator of AccessNow, an app that uses crowdsourcing to determine the accessibility status of landmarks, businesses and more, Ziv has used her experience living with Muscular Dystrophy, to create a more accessible world for people with disabilities. She is the recipient of the David C. Onley Award for Leadership in Accessibility and a Queen’s Jubilee Medal in recognition of her work to increase awareness for disabilities in the arts. She was also named one of Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Awards by the Women’s Executive Network (WXN) and IABC/Toronto's Communicator of the Year.