Khalifa Fund awards winners of first Innovation Challenge 'Inno Tank'

Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development successfully concluded the inaugural edition of the "Innovate" Innovation Challenge, which was launched in February, in conjunction with the UAE's Innovation Month, "UAE Innovates 2024". The challenge targeted students from universities in Abu Dhabi, as part of Khalifa Fund’s mission to foster a culture of innovation, empowering and motivating young talents to showcase their creativity and technical skills, and demonstrate their abilities to find practical solutions to real-world challenges facing entrepreneurs in priority sectors.

The event was held at Khalifa Fund Headquarters, where teams from three universities pitched their final presentations to a panel of judges, demonstrating the innovative solutions they developed to overcome predefined challenges. The panel announced the AgriOptima Project from Zayed University as the first-place winner, the Compostit Project from Abu Dhabi University as the second-place winner, while the third-place winner was the 3D Printing for STEM Education project from Khalifa University. The winning teams received monetary prizes in the form of shopping vouchers from Yas Mall worth AED 20,000, AED 15,000, and AED 10,000, respectively.

The challenges addressed agriculture, information and communication management, healthcare, and tourism sectors. The topics tackled were: Sustainable Precision Agriculture Innovation; smart city solutions for sustainable urban living; Healthcare Accessibility and Innovation Challenge; and Sustainable Tourism Enhancement Challenge. The selection of winners was based on several criteria including team members' capabilities and competencies and the diversity of their specialisations, the ability to identify the problem and its dimensions, the scalability and sustainability of the proposed solution, its effectiveness, alignment with sustainability principles, and the articulation of the value proposition.

Alia Abdullah Al Mazrouei, CEO of Khalifa Fund, commented, “We extend our congratulations to the winners of the Innovation Challenge. Their remarkable talents and creative fervor shine through in the innovative solutions they have developed. We are truly impressed by the young talents from the participating universities and their advanced technical , and problem-solving skills.”

She added, "The Innovation Challenge experience provides student participants with a valuable educational opportunity, helping them gain new insights, develop creative and problem-solving skills, enhance teamwork, and public speaking abilities. It offers them a platform to network through interacting with sector experts and mentors, as well as their peers from other universities, fostering future collaboration opportunities. 'Inno Tank' Innovation Challenge exemplifies our commitment to promoting an innovation culture among the youth, who are tomorrow’s leaders. It empowers promising university students to unleash their creative potential and leverage their academic knowledge in innovating practical solutions for challenges facing entrepreneurs in priority sectors, all while mindful of sustainable environmental practices, so that they contribute to shaping a prosperous future for the SME ecosystem, and solidifying the UAE's position as a nurturing environment for innovation, a hub for entrepreneurship, cutting-edge technology, and sustainability.”