Prof. Mohamed Diaa Zain El-Abedeen, President of Ain Shams University, witnessed the closing activities of the Ain Shams Innovates Competition for the year 2024, in the presence of representatives from the Innovators and Geniuses Care Fund, the Central Bank, a number of Egyptian banks, the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency, and deans and vice deans of faculties.

In his speech, Prof. Mohamed Diaa Zain El-Abedeen welcomed the attendees to the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center at Ain Shams University, this leading center in its field among all Egyptian universities, expressing his happiness to be present at the closing ceremony of the Ain Shams Innovates Competition, which is held for the fifth consecutive year, which confirms the methodology of institutional work at Ain Shams University, as the idea emerged a few years ago and developed and was supported and provided with the appropriate climate for its continuation and development. His Excellency also thanked the Ministry of Higher Education, the Innovators and Geniuses Care Fund, civil society institutions, the Central Bank of Egypt, and Egyptian banks for sponsoring this competition, as well as Prof. Neveen Assem, Executive Director of the Innovation Sector, the Deans of the Faculties, and those in charge of this important event to make this idea, which began five years ago, a success, a success.

Prof. Dr. Mohamed Diaa Zein El-Abidin pointed out that innovation and entrepreneurship play a vital role in driving economic growth and development, stressing the pioneering role of Ain Shams University in this field in line with Egypt's 2030 strategy, and its constant keenness to enhance innovation and entrepreneurship to achieve technological progress; in cooperation with our partners internally and externally, in addition to many events throughout the year in various faculties.

Prof. Mohamed Diaa called on all concerned parties to activate ideas and innovations and crystallize them in a final form to achieve the desired goal of this competition.

At the end of his speech, the President of Ain Shams University congratulated the students, researchers, people of determination, and all university members from various faculties participating in this competition, praising their distinguished innovative projects and ideas that portend a better future for our society and our country, whether they are winners or those who were unsuccessful, in both cases they have gained the experience that qualifies them to undergo the experience again.

In her speech, Prof. Amal Nasr El-Din, on behalf of Prof. Hani Ayad, Executive Director of the Innovators and Geniuses Care Fund, said that the Fund’s activity began three years ago, noting that the Fund supports all age groups at all educational levels.

She added that the Innovators and Geniuses Care Fund launched an initiative this year specifically for start-ups, noting that the Ain Shams Innovates Competition has become a name and a great history, and its members are called upon in all the meetings held by the Fund that tour Egyptian universities. The Innovators and Geniuses Care Fund also supported 0 projects, 30 of which qualified in various universities, and support of 20 million pounds was provided to 30 Egyptian universities. Ain Shams University is participating with three teams in the GEN-Z competition, which is a competition that aims to spread the culture of innovation and entrepreneurship among Egyptian university students and encourage innovative students and entrepreneurs in Egyptian universities from all different scientific disciplines to establish their start-ups, who have innovative ideas or community initiatives that address difficulties and meet needs in the market and overcome existing challenges. It is worth noting that the Ain Shams Innovates Competition in its fifth edition, which lasted for a year, witnessed fierce competition between entrepreneurs in all tracks of the competition. The university crowned the efforts of these geniuses by honoring them at the most important innovation forum at Ain Shams University, the “Ain Shams Innovates 2024” forum, under the slogan “Connecting the Dots of the Innovation Ecosystem.” The forum aims to support innovators and entrepreneurs from students and researchers, with prizes of up to 800 thousand pounds, which was launched under the patronage of Prof. Dr. Mohamed Diaa Zein El-Abidin, President of the University, Prof. Dr. Ghada Farouk, Vice President of the University for Community Service and Environmental Development Affairs, Prof. Nevin Assem, Head of the Innovation and Training Sector, and under the supervision of Dr. Islam Adly, Director of the Innovation Clubs Project (ASU-iClub) at the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center, and under the auspices of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and in partnership with the Innovators and Geniuses Support Fund at the Ministry, which reflects the active role played by Ain Shams University in supporting the entrepreneurship community in the Arab Republic of Egypt. A large number of entrepreneurs, representatives of the public and private sectors, the banking sector and start-ups participated in this important innovative event dedicated to geniuses and innovators from students, graduates, faculty members and researchers at Ain Shams University.

Over the course of the year, the competition witnessed more than 300 ideas, projects, prototypes and startups in four main tracks (student track, researchers track, entrepreneurship track, creative entrepreneur with a difference track (for people with disabilities)) and the projects focused on the fourth industrial revolution, sustainability, community services, digital agriculture, financial technology, and pharmaceutical industries. This comes within the university's vision to support entrepreneurship and innovation, in line with the state's plan for sustainable development 2030. All participants attended an intensive training camp to hone their skills.

The winners of the startup track in the "ASU Innovates '24" competition (ideas track) were:

Track Coordinator: Dr. Islam Adly, Lecturer at the Faculty of Science, Ain Shams University, and the results were as follows:

1st place

Startup: BUS14

Founder of the company: Mohamed Hussein Bakir

Company description: A transportation application that aims to facilitate comfortable, affordable and safe transportation for school students in Egypt and the Middle East and North Africa region.

2nd Place

Startup: Genoera Technology

Founder: Basma Mahmoud

Company Description: A team of experts and scientists committed to continuous research and development of the latest genetic and enzyme technologies, GenoEra seeks to achieve its vision of improving production processes and providing advanced products that effectively meet market needs. GenoEra provides high-quality biotechnology supplies such as Master Mixes and cDNA Synthesis Kits, and offers customized solutions for enzyme production to meet the needs of various industries with precision and innovation. We also provide specialized guidance in genetic engineering and biotechnology to support customers in achieving pioneering research and development results.

In the Ideas Track (Researchers Category)

Track Coordinator: Dr. Sherihan Galal, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Pharmacy, Ain Shams University

1st Place

Researcher: Samah Hashem

Faculty: Agriculture

AB tone project aims to produce peptone from poultry waste as a local alternative source for imported peptone Description:

2nd Place

Researcher: Shaimaa Essam El-Din

Project: BIOPOLYMELT

Faculty: Agriculture

A project aims to use the Galleria insect to solve the problem of plastic waste accumulation through its ability to analyze plastic with effective natural enzymes and convert it into materials that can be used economically. The project targets major hotels and restaurants that seek to reduce their harmful environmental impact, while providing an innovative and sustainable solution to manage plastic waste in an environmentally friendly manner

3rd Place

Researcher: Alaa Mohamed Ezzat

Project: Dental Simulation Studio

Faculty: Dentistry

Studio for Simulating Diagnostic Cases in Dentistry: Providing an innovative educational platform based on artificial intelligence that enables dental students to develop their diagnostic skills through a virtual simulation of disease cases created by students under Supervised by professors, it allows for continuous and diverse practice of patient diagnosis.

Winners of the Ideas Track (Students)

Track Coordinator: Dr. Islam Adly, Lecturer at the Faculty of Science, Ain Shams University

1st Place

Amenti Project

Team Leader: Taghreed Abdel Hadi Ahmed

Faculty: Science

Idea: Recycling Industrial Waste

Description: Developing sustainable food products using date pits and tomato seeds to support food security and reduce dependence on imports.

2nd Place

DR. NM

Team Leader: Nada Ahmed

Faculty: Pharmacy

Idea: Medical Cosmetic Products

Description: Using plant extracts to treat skin problems and manufacture cosmetics at a reasonable cost.

3rd Place

Herbanol

Team Leader: Omar Osama Mohamed

Faculty: Science

Idea: Converting weeds into biofuel and high-quality fertilizer to improve agricultural productivity.

Description: The Herbanol project aims to solve the environmental and agricultural problems caused by weeds by converting them into bioethanol and organic fertilizer. The solid waste resulting from the hydrolysis process is also converted into high-quality fertilizer, which contributes to improving soil health and increasing agricultural productivity.

In the Ideas Track (for students with disabilities)

Track Coordinator: Dr. Marwa Farid, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Specific Education, Ain Shams University

1st Place

Student: Ahmed Tamam

Faculty: Languages ​​

Project: Speaker's House

2nd Place

Student: Irene Salah

Faculty: Specific Education

Project: Innovative Vision for Advertising

3rd Place

Student: Justina Ishaq

Faculty: Specific Education

Project: Designing Recycled Decorations