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| Winners
and officials of the SPARK competition with Prof. Florence Eid. |
At a press
conference in the Alumni Club, six winners of the Spark--Entrepreneurship
Competition, an annual challenge led by AUB and organized by the Entrepreneurship
Network, were announced. Hewlett-Packard awarded the winners prizes amounting
to $150,000 in computing products.
AUB President John Waterbury; Dean of the School of Business George Najjar;
AUB Professor Florence Eid; HP Vice President and Managing Director for
HP Financial Services in Europe, the Middle East and Africa Constantin
Salameh; HP Middle East General Manager Joseph Hanania; CEO ARAMEX Fadi
Ghandour; and MIT Entrepreneurship representative Ken Morse were present.
The Spark Entrepreneurship Competition is an annual inter-university
program led by AUB and supported by the Entrepreneurship Network, a non-profit
organization with members from the country's academic and business sectors.
The program provides a variety of support services to young entrepreneurs,
including special workshops, seminars, and local and international conferences.
It also provides networking and finance opportunities to help young entrepreneurs
turn innovative ideas into job-creating businesses.
"The competition's aim is to identify bright business minds
within our universities and encourage them to team up with the private
sector to create entrepreneurial ventures in Lebanon," explained
Professor Florence Eid, professor of finance and economics at the AUB
School of Business, and founder of Spark and the Entrepreneurship Network.
"Hewlett-Packard's support for the program has been instrumental
in leveraging local talent to create jobs and add value to the economy,
in addition to realizing young entrepreneurs' ambitions in Lebanon and
the region."
Six winning business proposals were selected from a large number
of applications submitted for review to the Entrepreneurship Network over
the last year. Each entry was submitted by a team consisting of at least
one student from universities in Lebanon and appraised by a jury of world-class
professionals, including some from Wall Street and Silicon Valley. In
addition to HP's product donation, the winners received cash prizes donated
by Murex, EFG Hermes, Aramex, Booz Allen Hamilton, the Middle East Capital
Group, and Banque de Syrie et du Liban.
The winners, who will also have the opportunity to present their ideas
to a network of interested investors are:
-Amira Alameddine (AUB MBA), George Khalil for EcoLight
-Gaelle Bou Sleiman , Dina Bou Saleh, Charbel Moukarzel (AUB business
undergraduates) for Ecosensation
-Ziad Halaby (AUB MBA) for Floor Advertising
-Rima Abul Husn , Riwa Mahfouz (AUB MBA), Nathalie Khoueiry (AUH
Doctor in Family Medicine) for Home Care
-Elie Chbat (Caretek), Nathalie Khoueiry (AUH Doctor in Family Medicine),
Rola Hajjar (Arab Bank, AUB MBA) for Obstetrical Facility
-Naji Chamieh (Envirotech), Christiane Corbane (USD PhD), Dany Eid
(Casino du Liban) for Quick Wash
-Gabriel Khoury, Maya Zoghbi (PWC), Cynthia Nacouz (LAU business
undergraduate) for Webscript
The reception was followed by press interviews with the winners,
tea with Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, and a Halloween party and concerts
by AUB start-up bands at Circus.
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