Dubai Future Foundation and MIT Technology review Arabia announce winners of "Innovators Under 35 MENA"

Dubai: The winners of the Innovators Under 35 MENA program have been announced by Dubai Future Foundation and MIT Technology Review Arabia, published by Haykal Media.

The announcement comes ahead of the second annual EmTech MENA Conference, held in Dubai on 4-5 November under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Chairman of Dubai Executive Council, and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Dubai Future Foundation.

During the event, the winners will present their work that gained them the prestigious title, in front of high profile attendance, including government officials, researchers, experts, academicians, entrepreneurs, and futurists from the UAE and around the world.

Innovators Under 35 celebrates promising innovators who develop new technology, or innovate utilizations of existing technologies, in order to solve the world’s biggest problems. The program recognizes innovators working in a wide range of fields, including computer hardware, biotechnology, materials, energy, communications, transportation and the internet.

With winners of the awards originating from countries including the UAE, Saudi Arabic, Tunisia, Algeria, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, Kuwait and Egypt, the awards showcase the diversity amongst the youth of the Middle East.

2019 Winners Announced:

Ahmad Nabeel: A Kuwaiti national, Nabeel has invented a self-cleaning laparoscopic technology invention which will radically reduce the space and expenses needed for current cleaning systems.

Heba Aly: An Egyptian based at the University of Maryland, Aly has used passive crowdsourcing to create a ubiquitous accessibility digital map and due to the crowdsourcing framework, the map’s integrity will improve overtime.

Amer Al Jabiri: An Emirati, Al Jabiri has created a document and passport reader that reads and cross-references the data simultaneously. The invention is already being used in the UAE and a number of other countries.

Abbas Sidaoui: A Lebanese entrepreneur, Sidaoui has co-founded a company which is specialised in developing mobile robots and mechatronics solutions to help in cutting down on wasted time and improve people’s lives. ‘Felix’, his invention, can analyse a person’s appearance and display targeted ads from its database.

Fouad Maksoud: A Lebanese researcher, based at the American University of Beirut, is working on Nanoski, a patented industrial electrospinner designed to directly coat clothes with nanofibers, giving the material advanced physical, chemical and biological properties from the coated nanofibers.

Alessandro Babini: Babini is the Lebanese CEO of Humon Hex, whose technology measures the oxygen saturation in the muscles with the ability to work on all skin colours and conditions. This has been clinically validated by Harvard Medical School.

Hassan Albalawi: A Saudi national, Albalawi is the CEO and co-founder of WakeCap, which provides real-time location services specifically designed for the construction industry, improving labor safety and productivity.

Laila Ziko: An Egyptian assistant professor at the American University in Cairo, Ziko is researching the possibilities of using microbes to cure diseases, bypassing antibiotic resistance and cancer chemotherapeutic resistance.

Alaa Algargoosh: A Saudi PhD student at the University of Michigan, Algargoosh is working on a sustainable diffuser that she has developed named ‘The Cymatic Diffusers’, which reduces sound defects such as echo.

Abdulla Alhajri: An Emirati national, Alhajri has developed a new theory and computational framework to determine the age of stars. The technology also has the potential to impact the future technologies in medicine and clean energy.

Shaikha Alothman: The Kuwaiti founder of Oraxle Connect which utilizes the overlooked resource of family caregivers at nearly negligible costs, particularly in the American health system. It creates a network of caregivers to allow decentralised support to be prevalent.

Baha Abu Nojaim: From Jordan, Abu Nojaim has creating a 3D printing technology company that bridges the gap between digital and physical objects.

Mohamed Dhaouafi: A Tunisian national who has created CURE, a bionic company that develops 3D printed bionic hands, making them more affordable, accessible and customisable for children.

Haytham Dabouk: The Lebanese founder of Innovating Green Technology which develops green energy systems, improving the efficiency and reliability of already existing systems. It is the first system in the world that is capable of solving the overheating problem faced by solar water heaters.

Ahmed Alkhateeb: The Palestinian founder of Hive Scientific which workd on irreproduciblity in biomedicine through analytics.

Ghena AlHanaee: An Emirati who has been focusing on unprecedented research in the area of nuclear energy catastrophe modelling, the impact of nuclear safety provisions on the Arabian Gulf and the implementation of policies for risk mitigation.

Saeid Alzahrani: The Saudi founder of BRAQ Aerospace Company which delivers custom UAV-solutions, technology, production, consultation and downstream services. The underlying innovations can have significant impacts on other sectors.

Mohamed Labadi: The Algerian co-founder and CEO of Singularity Computing. His area of interest is the reinvention of computational science and engineering, and high performance computing fields.

Omar AbuDayyeh: The Palestinian co-founder of Sherlock Biosciences is develop next-generation diagnostics for healthcare and agriculture.

Babar Khan: An American national living in Kuwait has invented a faster and cheaper system to automatically test the cleanliness of water.

The entries were carefully judged by a panel of high-level judges who have provided key innovations in their fields. Applicants that were encouraged to participate include researchers, entrepreneurs, and innovators from universities, research centers, start-ups, SMEs, corporations, and non-profit organizations. For more information on how to apply for next year’s awards, please visit: emtechmena.com

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For more information about the program visit: technologyreview.ae/iu35 

© Press Release 2019