"The TR35 recognizes the world's top 35 young innovators that are radically transforming technology as we know it. Their work -- spanning medicine, computing, communications, energy, electronics and nanotechnology -- is changing our world", according to MIT Technology Review.

Dr. Umar Saif has been honored for his work on technologies for the developing-world. Technologies developed by Dr. Saif's research group and startups are used by Millions of people in the developing-world, especially BitMate, that enhances the speed of Internet in the developing-world using peer-to-peer technology, and , Pakistan's largest SMS Social Network which has sent close to 4 Billion SMS for users in Pakistan.

Dr. Umar Saif joins an elite group of researchers and entrepreneurs selected over the last decade. Previous winners include Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the co-founders of Google; Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook; Jonathan Ive, the chief designer at Apple; David Karp, founder of Tumbler; Harvard Professor Alán Aspuru-Guzik for his work on Quantum computers; and MIT Neuroscientist Ed Boyden, one of the inventors of the emerging field of optogenetics, which makes it possible to control neurons with light.

MIT Technology Review selects the top innovators after a rigorous evaluation process. The judges, who are leading experts in their fields from universities such as MIT, Stanford and Harvard, consider hundreds of high-impact researchers and entrepreneurs from all over the world, out of which top 35 are chosen for the award.

"This year's group of TR35 recipients is driving the next wave of transformative technology and making an impact on the way we live, work and interact", said Jason Pontin, editor-in-chief and publisher of the MIT Technology Review.