Engineering Alumnus Featured in Forbes

Engineering Alumnus Featured in Forbes

Mechanical Engineering alumnus Alex Mehr (M.E., Ph.D., '03) is featured in the March 3, 2014 issue of Forbes Magazine. Mehr is co-founder of Zoosk, an online romantic social network and dating service. The Forbes article "Up-And-Comers: Entrepreneurs Who Want To Find You Love" features both Mehr and Zoosk co-founder Shayan Zadeh.

Founded in 2007, Zoosk has been called the "Amazon of dating," and has active users in over 70 countries. The Forbes' article highlights Mehr and Zadeh's success with the dating service:

"[Zoosk] uses an algorithm to try to match you with people who have a high probability of responding positively. The 35-year-old Iranian cofounders have computer science backgrounds; Mehr once worked on coding for NASA moon missions. (Says a spokesperson, “You have a rocket scientist finding you love.”) Some 25 million people now use the service, which has pulled in $61.6 million in funding."

Mehr grew up in Iran and attended Sharif University of Technology, where he met Zadeh. The two were roommates at the University of Maryland when they developed the idea to create Zoosk. Mehr went on to start Zoosk with Zadeh while attending the M.B.A. program at the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to starting Zoosk, he worked as an engineer for NASA and collaborated on several manned and unmanned space flights.

Related Articles:
Alumna Rose Weinstein Receives NASA Early Career Achievement Medal
Celebrating Hispanic/Latinx Aerospace Engineers: Oliver Ortiz
UMD Alumnus Selected as Vertical Flight Society’s New Executive Director
Celebrating Women in Aerospace Engineering: Pauline Annen
Alumnus David A. Bader to be Inducted into Clark School Innovation Hall of Fame
A Maryland Built Lifetime
NASA's Douglas-Bradshaw a Role Model for STEM Students
Dean's Circle Spotlight: Supporting the Engineering Pipeline
Boundless Curiosity
Alumna Project Manager for NASA’s First Mission to Study Jupiter’s Trojan Asteroids

March 12, 2014