Suhayya Abu-Hakima

Suhayya "Sue" Abu-Hakima is a Canadian technology entrepreneur and inventor of artificial intelligence (AI) applications for wireless communication and security. Since 2007, she has served as President and CEO of Amika Mobile Corporation, which she co-founded; she similarly founded and served as President and CEO of AmikaNow! from 1998 to 2004. A frequent speaker on entrepreneurship and AI systems, she has published and presented more than 125 professional papers and holds 30 international patents in the fields of content analysis, messaging, and security. She is an adjunct professor in the School of Information Technology and Engineering at the University of Ottawa and has mentored many high school, undergraduate, and graduate students in science and technology. She was named to the Order of Ontario, the province's highest honor, in 2011.
Early life and education.
Suhayya Abu-Hakima was born in the Middle East and grew up in Montreal, where her father and mother were both professors at McGill University. She has five siblings.
In 1982 Abu-Hakima graduated from McGill University with a bachelor's degree in engineering, specializing in computers and communications. At Carleton University in Ottawa, she earned her honours master's degree in engineering in 1988 with a concentration in AI, submitting the thesis, "Rationale: A Tool for Developing Knowledge-based Systems that Explain by Reasoning Explicitly". She earned her honours PhD in artificial intelligence in 1994; her PhD thesis, "Automating Model Acquisition by Fault Knowledge Re-use: Introducing the Diagnostic Remodeler Algorithm", was supervised by Professor Nick Dawes of the Computer and Systems Engineering Department and Professor Franz Oppacher of the School of Computer Science at Carleton University.
Career.
Abu-Hakima began her career at Bell-Northern Research after receiving her bachelor's degree in 1982. Her accomplishments included the creation of "speech and hand-printed character recognition applications, the Invisible Terminal and AI for telecom". The Invisible Terminal, which she designed in 1983, facilitated wireless communication between mobile, pad-sized terminals and the main network.
In 1987 she joined the National Research Council Canada, where she developed AI applications for "real-world problems" in various fields, including aircraft engine diagnosis and telecommunications network management. She founded and led the Seamless Personal Information Networking laboratory in the NRC's Institute of Information Technology. In 1996 she co-invented a technology for unified messaging networks.
In July 1998 she formed her first startup company, AmikaNow!, which integrated AI applications in its wireless software for mobile phones and computers. In 2004, Entrust acquired AmikaNow! Corporation's content scanning, analysis, and compliance technology, and Abu-Hakima served as Vice President of Content Technology for Entrust from 2004 to 2006.
In March 2007 Abu-Hakima co-founded another startup, Amika Mobile, in Ottawa. Using wireless technology created by AmikaNow!, the new company's flagship product, the Amika Mobility Server, auto-generates connections with mobile phones and computers to deliver emergency email and SMS alerts. As of 2015, the company has won more than one dozen international awards for its emergency mass notification systems. Amika Mobile has won the US GOVIES awards for 3 consecutive years 2015, 2016 and 2017. Amika Mobile has also won the ASIS 2015 Judge's Choice and Best Security Product.
Other activities.
Abu-Hakima holds 30 international patents in content analysis, messaging, and security. She is a frequent speaker on entrepreneurship, technology, security, and AI, and has published and presented more than 125 professional papers.
She is an adjunct professor in the School of Information Technology and Engineering at the University of Ottawa.
She is active as a community volunteer and mentor. In Ottawa, she is credited with the creation of more than 130 high tech jobs. She has served as Vice Chair and Director for the Ontario Centres of Excellence, and as an advisor on the Private Sector Advisory Board for the National Centres of Excellence (2007–2014). She has also served in an advisory capacity on the Big Data Institute Advisory Board at Dalhousie University (2013) and the strategic advisory board at McGill University (2014). In 2003 she was a member of the Prime Minister's Task Force on Women Entrepreneurs. She has mentored many high school, undergraduate and graduate students for education and careers in science and technology.
She is very active in championing women in business as well as STEM professions. She has been called upon in 2011 and again in 2017 by the Government Operations Committee as a witness on federal procurement policies and how they affect small business as well as women entrepreneurs in STEM.
From 1994 to 1998 she was an editor of "Computational Intelligence", the magazine of the Canadian Artificial Intelligence Organization.
Honors and awards.
In 2015 and 2016 she was named as a Canada Most Powerful Top 100 in the Trailblazers and Trendsetters Category by the WXN.
In 2014 she was named one of the Top 25 Women of Influence by the Women of Influence organization.
In 2012 she was a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, being noted as "a technology visionary and tireless volunteer".
In January 2011 she was named to the Order of Ontario.
In 2007 she was named an Outstanding Women Entrepreneur by the Canadian Advanced Technology Association.
Personal.
Abu-Hakima is the mother of two children. She resides in Kanata, Ontario.