Jordanian entrepreneurs win awards at Silicon Valley summit

AMMAN — Jordanian entrepreneurs came second and received three awards at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES 2016) in California’s Silicon Valley, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Monday. 

The award-winners, Tala Nasraween, a computer science graduate, and Maher Maymoun, who holds a master’s degree in power engineering, were participants in the Queen Rania National Entrepreneurship Competition (QRNEC), whose executive director, Abdelraheem Abual Basal, praised their success.

He expressed hope that more creative Jordanians would work to make Jordan a scientifically advanced country and create added-value projects to be promoted on international markets.

In the QRNEC 2015, Nasraween and Maymoun, won the first prize in the pre-start-up category for their project that addresses the issue of dust accumulation on solar panels during the summer months.

The 26-year-olds felt a need to resolve “this national issue” that reduces the efficiency of solar panels by 40 per cent.

They proposed a “self-clean” slanted vibrating surface that removes the need to wash the panels to remove dust.

QRNEC took Nasraween and Maymoun to its creation lab and provided them with a proper environment to support them in cooperation with experts. 

GES is one of the biggest gatherings in the world for entrepreneurs, held for the seventh time in the US, Petra reported. 

Some 150 countries participated in the event, Petra added.