Dr. Hemin Latif, Assistant Professor and IT Department Chair, has been named the new director of the AUIS Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center (AEIC) following the departure of Mr. Pat Cline, who led the center since its establishment in 2017. The appointment was made by President Bruce W. Ferguson due to Dr. Latif’s personal experience with startups and his demonstrated commitment to the development of business opportunities for young Kurdish entrepreneurs.
Dr. Latif is an educator, and an entrepreneur. He holds a PhD in Interactive Systems and Robotics from Nottingham Trent University (NTU) and has worked as a Research Assistant at the Center for Innovation and Technology Exploitation (CITE) in the United Kingdom (UK). His research interests include Creative Coding & Computing, Interaction & Experience Design, Physical Computing & Robotics.
As an entrepreneur, he is the founder of two businesses operating in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). He has always been a strong advocate for entrepreneurship and innovation. In addition to his formal duties, he has supervised numerous capstone projects of IT students including winning projects of the City Award of Sulaimani and featured projects on multiple TV programs. He has also mentored and led a number of student teams to participate in different activities and competitions, including the top winning teams in the local competition of Microsoft ImagineCup for 2012.