The Innovation Centre at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) has so far supported over 35 creative ideas and several of them are at the field testing stage, a top official told Gulf Times.
“More than 35 innovative ideas have been supported at the Innovation Centre, including 15%-20 % student ideas, 15-20% industrial collaboration ideas and the rest individual innovation ideas, in accordance with Qatar National Vision 2030,” explained Dr Nadir Yildirim, innovation director and acting executive director, Strategic Planning and Partnerships, Innovation Centre.
Dr Yildirim emphasised that the centre has helped with the creation and acceleration of many ideas.
“Currently, we are hosting ideas, which are moving forward for field testing. However, the overall goal is not to target measuring the success through numbers but to measure the impact in the ecosystem, which will bring success naturally. Therefore, the centre has been focusing on creating positive change in the ecosystem through hand-tailored workshops and certification programmes,” the director said.
According to him, the centre, established in 2018, aims at developing systematic innovation, innovative entrepreneurship, pitching techniques and more to increase the awareness and build professional capacity in innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem.
“Innovation Centre is a pioneering initiative designed to strengthen the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem within and outside HBKU. It serves as the only innovation and entrepreneurship platform at HBKU for connecting people and sharing ideas, resources, and expertise, providing opportunities for meaningfully unique collaborations,” he said.
The centre, noted the director, aims to be an intellectual source for existing incubation centres, entrepreneurship centres, and science and technology park in the country and it has been designed to be an innovative idea capture centre that transfers ideas to Qatar’s innovation pipeline.
Yildirim said that the centre has been focusing on testing ideas and discovering their commercial potential. “If the idea shows potential for commercialisation, the centre provides guidance to the idea owner in collaboration with relevant Qatar Foundation entities, internal and external stakeholders,” he said.
The centre offers niche innovation funds for students, researchers, scientists, faculty and Qatar Foundation members annually. These funds help students to test their ideas and discover the commercial potential, bring industry and faculty together to focus on real-life industry challenges, help create innovative solutions against social challenges.
“The centre also offers courses, training, and workshops on innovation and entrepreneurship for capacity building in the ecosystem. It has been offering grants via its industrial innovation fund, social innovation fund, student innovation fund, and Kickstarter Fund to capture ideas at an early stage and move them forward into Qatar’s innovation pipeline. It has also been offering volunteer mentorship and guidance to any interested parties,” Yildirim said.
“Innovation Centre is one of the most strategic initiatives of HBKU. It works closely with internal and external stakeholders for the creation of a meaningfully unique ecosystem that will boost innovation and entrepreneurship, not only in Qatar but also the region,” he said.
“Other initiatives will be launched soon although the goal is not to have many new initiatives every year but to have essential programmes and offer them in sustainable and systematic ways to build intellectual capacity,” he added.
“More than 35 innovative ideas have been supported at the Innovation Centre, including 15%-20 % student ideas, 15-20% industrial collaboration ideas and the rest individual innovation ideas, in accordance with Qatar National Vision 2030,” explained Dr Nadir Yildirim, innovation director and acting executive director, Strategic Planning and Partnerships, Innovation Centre.
Dr Yildirim emphasised that the centre has helped with the creation and acceleration of many ideas.
“Currently, we are hosting ideas, which are moving forward for field testing. However, the overall goal is not to target measuring the success through numbers but to measure the impact in the ecosystem, which will bring success naturally. Therefore, the centre has been focusing on creating positive change in the ecosystem through hand-tailored workshops and certification programmes,” the director said.
According to him, the centre, established in 2018, aims at developing systematic innovation, innovative entrepreneurship, pitching techniques and more to increase the awareness and build professional capacity in innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem.
“Innovation Centre is a pioneering initiative designed to strengthen the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem within and outside HBKU. It serves as the only innovation and entrepreneurship platform at HBKU for connecting people and sharing ideas, resources, and expertise, providing opportunities for meaningfully unique collaborations,” he said.
The centre, noted the director, aims to be an intellectual source for existing incubation centres, entrepreneurship centres, and science and technology park in the country and it has been designed to be an innovative idea capture centre that transfers ideas to Qatar’s innovation pipeline.
Yildirim said that the centre has been focusing on testing ideas and discovering their commercial potential. “If the idea shows potential for commercialisation, the centre provides guidance to the idea owner in collaboration with relevant Qatar Foundation entities, internal and external stakeholders,” he said.
The centre offers niche innovation funds for students, researchers, scientists, faculty and Qatar Foundation members annually. These funds help students to test their ideas and discover the commercial potential, bring industry and faculty together to focus on real-life industry challenges, help create innovative solutions against social challenges.
“The centre also offers courses, training, and workshops on innovation and entrepreneurship for capacity building in the ecosystem. It has been offering grants via its industrial innovation fund, social innovation fund, student innovation fund, and Kickstarter Fund to capture ideas at an early stage and move them forward into Qatar’s innovation pipeline. It has also been offering volunteer mentorship and guidance to any interested parties,” Yildirim said.
“Innovation Centre is one of the most strategic initiatives of HBKU. It works closely with internal and external stakeholders for the creation of a meaningfully unique ecosystem that will boost innovation and entrepreneurship, not only in Qatar but also the region,” he said.
“Other initiatives will be launched soon although the goal is not to have many new initiatives every year but to have essential programmes and offer them in sustainable and systematic ways to build intellectual capacity,” he added.
