UPDATE: The YIA email server was down on Wednesday the 19th & Thursday the 20th. For students who were unable to email us their project proposals, kindly note that we will be accepting project proposals until Wednesday May 26th,2010 by midnight. Please email your proposals to yia_submissions@nahdetmasr.org.
About the YIA Program
Nahdet el Mahrousa incubated the Young Innovators’ Awards (YIA) program in 2004 with the mission of stimulating the culture of R&D in Egypt. The program aims to positively impact the scientific culture in Egypt in three ways: by supporting research and development activities; empowering and developing scientists, engineers and researchers; and creating linkages between university research and industrial applications.
Over the past years, the program has grown to cover all national Egyptian universities, including all 67 faculties of Engineering, Agriculture and Sciences, and has implemented partnership with numerous businesses, government agencies and educational institutions. To-date, more than 2,500 young scientists, engineers and researchers in these universities have received the YIA awards or scholarships to support their graduate education
YIA’s Objectives
Create a research friendly environment where young scientists are encouraged to innovate
YIA’s Mission
Promoting the culture of Research and Development in Egypt.
A pilot has been implemented at Cairo University, Faculty of Engineering, Electronics and Telecommunications Department. The team raised EGP 32,000 from individual contributions towards renewable annual awards. Six awards have been disbursed to thirty students among the top in their class. One of these groups participated in the scientific contest of the University of Waterloo, Canada, and won second place while another participated in a similar contest in India. This was a good start for the YIA award winners to break the mold and pursue their dreams nationally and internationally.
The Team raised EGP 65,000 from individual/family contributions towards renewable annual awards. The competition took place at Cairo University and Ain-Shams University, Faculty of Engineering, Telecommunication and Mechanical Department. 10 Awards have been disbursed to 50 students. One group was offered a part-time job by Proctor & Gamble and is currently discussing the purchase of their project.
The team successfully built an ongoing sponsorship agreement with British Gas (EGP 75,000), Mobinil (EGP 75,000), Challenger Limited (EGP 50,000), Proctor & Gamble (EGP 40,000) and Adcom Ericsson (EGP 30,000). We also raised EGP 56,000 from individual/family contributions towards renewable annual awards. The team successfully built a cooperation agreement with Alexandria University, Mansura University, and Minia University, while also introducing the Chemical Engineering and Bio-Medical Engineering Departments, extending the YIA reach to six national universities--serving a pool of ~200 students.
The project is now a sustainable national program that is applied in all 22 national faculties of Engineering, stimulating the culture of Research and Development by supporting engineering graduation projects as well as junior innovative ideas. The team has partnered with the Industrial Modernization Centre (IMC) to fund this initiative.
On top of the annual Awards, the YIA added an Internships program and a Scholarships program, both in partnership with the IMC. Also, the YIA partnered with Samsung and the International Youth Foundation (IYF) to inaugurate the Samsung Real Dreams Awards, which offers EGP 10,000 in seed money to young Egyptians looking to expand their prototypes into a business start-up. With its four distinct programs, the YIA can now help fund students’ experiences and projects at all stages of their education and even after their graduation.