Amir Ansari is a serial entrepreneur and inventor and has co-founded companies in telecommunications, artificial intelligence, edge computing, personalized healthcare, and multimedia services. He has shaped these industries by fostering collaboration between regulatory entities, public-private partnerships, universities, and non-profit organizations in applying technologies to complex business, environmental, and social problems.

Amir is the Co-Founder and Inaugural Executive Director of xFoundry@UMD in the IDEA Factory at the University of Maryland. He leads a multi-million-dollar initiative that promotes innovation, collaboration, creativity, entrepreneurship, and interdisciplinary design combined with annual targeted competitions, with the prize being a venture launched with a sizeable investment and mentorship. This initiative aims to help address society’s grand challenges and provide the skills and experiences necessary for effective problem-solving.

Amir started his career in telecommunications as the Co-Founder and CTO of telecom technologies inc, the pioneering developer of Voice Over IP technologies that dramatically reduced the cost of telephone calls and became the key technology innovation for telecom operators in the late 1990s.  After the acquisition of telecom technologies by Sonus Networks in 2001, Amir Co-Founded and was the CTO of Prodea Systems, a groundbreaking developer of Internet of Things services and technologies.

As an inventor, Amir holds over 70 US and foreign patents in multimedia distribution, data privacy, edge computing, and Voice Over IP.  These patents are used in popular consumer products such as media streaming devices, smart-home solutions, smart speakers, elder care systems, smart buildings, and connected cars.  Additionally, his patents also help define how users can maintain control over the privacy and safety of their data while benefiting from the capabilities of smart devices.

Amir serves on the XPPRIZE Foundation’s Board of Directors and is a member of its Vision Circle. Together with his family, he was a title sponsor for the Ansari XPRIZE, a $10 million cash award for the first non-governmental organization to launch a reusable crewed spacecraft into space twice within two weeks.