KASLIK, Lebanon – Saudi national Abdulrahman Tarabzouni, along with four other Arabs were named world's top young innovators at the first ceremony of its kind in the region held here Thursday as part of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Enterprise Forum. The five young innovators were selected from 100 applicants based on their ingenuity, innovation and approach. The entrepreneurs showcased their innovations, which in a relatively short period have achieved global reach. Receiving the awards were Abdulrahman Tarabzouni from Saudi Arabia who created a system that separates important emails from spam, with the aim of solving the problem of information overload; Habib Haddad, creator of the Arabic search engine Yamli; Elie Khoury, founder of the web analytics service Woopra; Hind Hobeika, inventor of ButterflEye, goggles that monitor heart rates under water; and Palestinian Sami Khoreibi, founder of solar power development company Enviromena. “Recognition is important to encourage and promote people," MIT Lebanon chair Hala Fadel told The Daily Star following the announcement. Fadel said she hoped this event and subsequent ones would help Lebanon build a community of entrepreneurs, part of the mission of the MIT Enterprise Forum. “This brings people together and creates a network of innovators," she said. – SG/Agencies
