11 Student Projects Win Incentives
in Graduation Projects to Startups Conversion Program
Muscat, 29 Oct (ONA) — The
Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation today announced that
eleven student projects from higher education institutions across the Sultanate
of Oman have been selected as winners in the eighth edition of the
“Upgrade” program for 2025, an initiative dedicated to transforming
academic graduation projects into viable startup enterprises.
The awards ceremony was held under
the auspices of Dr. Said bin Mohammed Al Saqri, Minister of Economy,
recognizing outstanding innovation among students.
Dr. Salah bin Sowmar Al Zedjali,
Director General of Programs and Capacity Building at the Ministry of Higher
Education, Research and Innovation, emphasized the program’s strategic
objective to activate research capabilities and support institutional
frameworks in converting conceptual ideas into value-added startup ventures.
“This initiative directly contributes to sustainable economic development
while strengthening Oman’s competitive positioning in global innovation
indices,” stated Al Zedjali.
The program’s 2025 edition attracted
202 project submissions distributed across three specialized tracks: Emerging
Technologies (134 projects), Water Technologies (43 projects), and Financial
Technologies (25 projects). Following rigorous evaluation processes, 36
projects advanced to the final competition stage, with eleven ultimately
securing program incentives. “This initiative provides Omani youth with
critical pathways to develop research concepts into commercially viable
business models with both domestic and international investment
potential,” Al Zedjali noted.
He further highlighted the program’s
role in bridging higher education outcomes with market requirements while
advancing entrepreneurship and knowledge-based economic development.
“Today’s recognition marks the commencement of an innovative journey, and
we encourage the winning teams to leverage this opportunity toward building
Oman’s prosperous future,” he added.
Within the Emerging Technologies
track, six projects received program incentives: “Smart Vision: Empowering
the Blind and Visually Impaired in Oman through Innovative Glasses,”
“Shurfa,” “Chemistry VR: Developing Science Education through
Virtual Laboratories,” “Transfer Learning Between Organs and
Different Radiography Images for Medical Image Segmentation,” “A
Bridge Voice in American Sign Language,” and “Insect Pest Detection
Using Computer Vision for Effective Pesticide Deployment.”
The Water Technologies track
recognized three winning projects: “Innovative Solar Fenton System for
Industrial Wastewater Treatment and Green Hydrogen Production Using Catalysts
from Agricultural Waste,” “Smart Irrigation,” and “Design
and Development of an Innovative Reverse Osmosis Desalination System to Enhance
Treated Water Productivity.”
Financial Technologies track awards
were presented to two projects: “Ewan” and “Aman” (a fraud
detection platform).
The ceremony featured the signing of
strategic cooperation agreements between the Ministry of Higher Education,
Research and Innovation and program partners including the Ministry of Culture,
Sports and Youth; Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information
Technology; Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises Development; Central
Bank of Oman; National Bank of Oman; Oman Telecommunications Company (Omantel);
Nama Water Services; and Daleel Petroleum. These partnerships will deliver
comprehensive incentive packages to winning teams, comprising financial
support, business incubation services, specialized training programs, and
developmental resources throughout the twelve-month incubation period.
The closing proceedings included
presentations showcasing successful ventures from previous program editions and
the inauguration of an exhibition featuring all thirty-six finalist projects.
The exhibition demonstrated the projects’ innovative concepts across program
categories and their collective contribution to establishing Oman’s
knowledge-based economic framework.
— Ends/Khalid
