Bader Al Sarraf from Bahrain wins first prize in Tatawwar programme for his ‘Solar Panel CO2 Converter” project

Tatawwar has announced the winners of its 2019-2020 programme at a live-streamed final awards event. First prize was awarded to Bader Al Sarraf from Bahrain for his ‘Solar Panel CO2 Converter” project that produces green energy while also reducing CO2 in the air. The remaining 5 winners from UAE, Oman and Egypt include Marah Abdehaq for Proteria natural protein supplement, Joel Jiji Olassayil for his Accel Agro for faster plant growth, Iman Al Farsi for Project R3D for efficient desalination, Rishabh Java for Broccoli Brains, a wearable and app for ADHD treatment, and Suhaila Elmetwalli for Bio-purifier, an affordable natural water filter.

The top six winners’ prototypes will be showcased at the HSBC sponsored UK Pavilion at Expo 2021 Dubai and will also receive USD 12,000 in cash prizes. They will also be supported to crowdfund their projects and develop them further.

“It’s been another fantastic year for the Tatawwar programme where we’ve seen many bright ideas come to life. The students have been able to access numerous resources to help sharpen their future skills and have a real taste of what it means to build a business with social and environment impact,” said Dan Howlett, HSBC’s Regional Head of Commercial Banking, Middle East, North Africa and Turkey.

“We are very pleased that we were able to substantially increase the number of students this year which made it a lot more competitive for the students and allowed them to be innovative and think outside of the box. Congratulations to all the finalists for getting this far and we wish them all the best on their future endeavors,” he added.

This year’s edition of Tatawwar has seen a total of 4650 students from over 1000 schools across the Middle East and North Africa region, register in the blended learning programme. The Tatawwar team hosted 12 prototyping workshops for the shortlisted 165 students in each of the programme’s countries in January and February. It was followed by online mentoring to help them develop their prototype and business models before choosing the top 20.

The next rollout of the Tatawwar programme will commence in mid-September 2020. The finals and highlights from this year’s programme can be watched online.