August 09, 2019
Two Iranian-born computer scientists have received recognition from the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) as among the Top 25 Canadian Immigrants for 2019.
Ali Ghorbani is a professor at the University of New Brunswick (UNB) in Eastern Canada with a track record as an inventor and entrepreneur in the cybersecurity sector.
Maryam Sadeghi, 39, from Mianeh, East Azerbaijan, founded and runs a medical technology firm in Vancouver, British Columbia province, on Canada’s West Coast.
The RBC Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards are given annually to Canadian immigrants who have demonstrated significant contributions and outstanding achievements.
Moving to Canada from Iran in 1991, Ghorbani and his wife, Mahin, chose to raise their family in Fredericton, the tiny capital of New Brunswick province. Their three children are all graduates of UNB.
“Canada is a good and exceptional country, arguably the most successful multicultural society in the world, and among the best destinations for new immigrants, opening its doors and promise to millions like me,” said Ghorbani in a news release.
This is the 11th year for the awards, bringing the total number of recipients to 275. Thousands of names were submitted, with a shortlist of 75 nominees selected by a diverse judging panel of past winners. The 25 recipients were chosen based on a combination of nationwide online voting and a second round of judging.
Ghorbani is a professor of computer science on the UNB Fredericton campus, and director of UNB’s Canadian Institute for Cybersecurity, which he established in 2016. Over his 37-year academic career, Ghorbani has been awarded three patents in network security and web.
He and his wife also established a scholarship at UNB for students from developing countries who study computer science or software engineering.
“As a Canadian citizen, I have had the chance to raise well-educated and responsible children and realize my dream of becoming a successful husband and father, educator, researcher and entrepreneur,” said Ghorbani. “Canada is a peaceful, stable and multicultural country where all citizens are equal.”
The RBC Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Award winners receive a commemorative plaque and a $500 donation to a registered Canadian charity of their choice.
Maryam Sadeghi came to Canada to get her PhD in computing science in medical image analysis at Vancouver’s Simon Fraser University, an area of study combining technology and medicine. When she received a scholarship from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research in dermatology, it led her on a path to becoming the co-founder and CEO of MetaOptima Technology in Vancouver in 2012.
“In my post-doctoral program, there was an opportunity to work for a company and I had the $30,000 scholarship to put toward this position,” Sadeghi said. But when she tried to negotiate a better salary, she was shut down. “Even with all my education, training, expertise, hard work and the scholarship money, I was told that post-docs are just not paid well in Canada. I mentioned that I may start my own business then. The CEO said that I don’t have the capital as a new grad to start a business. That conversation ignited this fire inside me to prove that I know what I’m talking about.”
She decided to start her company that night, convincing her husband, Majid Razmara, to join her, and started taking online courses to teach herself the business side of her work.
As new entrepreneurs, they commercialized two technologies, MoleScope dermoscope and DermEngine platform, to aid with a better diagnosis and treatment decisions for skin cancer and other skin, hair and nail diseases. Recently, her company was listed as a “Ready to Rocket” business in the area of digital health.
“We have a unique ecosystem in Canada to set the stage for your success. If you are good at what you do and you work hard, you will be successful!”