Dalia is currently an Associate Dean, School of Social and Life Sciences at Sheridan College. In this role, she provides academic leadership to faculty and staff in resource planning, management, academic excellence, and innovation in teaching and learning. She also develops and implements strategic plans to streamline the college's academic planning process in coordination with the senior leadership team. Earlier, she held several roles in program management, faculty development, adult education, marketing and international affairs. She has taught and worked in higher education institutions for over 18 years, part of her 30 years of experience in business and academic institutions.

Dalia Hanna completed her PhD in Computer Science from Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU); she has an M.Sc. in Instructional Design and Technology specializing in Online Learning from Walden University, USA and a B.Sc. in Electronics and Communication Engineering from Cairo University, Egypt. She is a Professional Engineer in Ontario (P.Eng.), a Project Management Professional (PMP®), a certified Prosci® (Adkar) Change Management Practitioner and certified as an internal auditor for the ISO9000 quality standards. Dalia also completed training in Women in Education Leadership from Harvard University.

As a postdoctoral fellow with the Computational Public Safety Lab at TMU, Dalia's research is on the use of drones for public safety, specifically in Search and Rescue (SAR) operations involving Lost Persons Living with Dementia (LPLWD). The interdisciplinary approach presented in her research work focuses on developing a people-finding method to identify high-probability locations where an LPLWD might be found through informed, behaviour-based analysis of the search location and then developing an algorithm to fly a drone to the vicinity of these high-probability locations. The algorithm was validated through life field testing alongside police services in Ontario. The results from both the data collection process from the International Search and Rescue Incident Database (ISRID) and the field tests indicated that there were efficiencies in using the drone in terms of timing, which enhanced the probability of finding the lost person alive. The outcome will also inform the design of use cases that could be used in various test environments and for training SAR teams. Dalia's research was published through several international conferences. 

Her work was funded through TMU's fellowship grant, a national grant through the Age Well fund and more. Dalia published her work through international conferences. Her current focus is on using the outcome of this research to develop interactive training programs for first responders and SAR teams. 

Dalia is also an adjunct faculty and teaches courses on project management, professional communications, business architecture, and organizational transformation. She is a dissertation chair for several PhD students.