Showcasing Entrepreneurial Skills at INJAZ: Royal University for Women
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1. Please share a brief background of your innovation.
INJAZ Bahrain is a non-profit organization established in 2005 as part of Junior Achievement Worldwide to empower young people to own their economic success and be prepared for today’s business challenges. With the help of its partners and volunteers, INJAZ Bahrain impacts thousands of students every year, bringing them closer to the real world and opening their minds to their potential.
Students of Royal University for Women took part in the Injaz program for the first time in 2016–17. It was the first time a university team had won the Best Company Award when Injaz Bahrain attended in Injaz Al-Arab in Egypt.
In 2017/2018, the RUW team won the competition against seven teams from four universities and received the Achievements Innovation Camp Award. Also, in 2018 RUW student company “Taawin” received The Best product Award – Kuwait. In 2018/2019, RUW’s team was nominated for the Best Product & The Best Company Award.
2. How was it planned?
The University announces requirements and dates of the program, after which students are recruited, trained, and mentored. Identify ideas for brainstorming, review them, and decide which one to pursue. Following that, we begin the process of implementing the idea until the actual production or the manufacturing with the development of the product or the project or the application.
3. Did you face any challenges in implementation?
The main challenges are the program deadlines (whether semester or academic year long), as we need to keep the team members engaged, motivated, and participating at the same level and enthusiasm.
Other challenges include idea generation, idea production, finding suppliers, reaching out to customers, selling products
4. A brief assessment of your results.
The past three years have been rewarding for the students of RUW.
The RUW team participated in Injaz and won the Best Social Impact Award in 2019/2020. The project’s main idea was to recycle and upcycled CDs into decorating elements and accessories.
The RUW team won the Company of the Year Award in 2020/2021 for presenting “Hassad”, which aimed to draw attention to greenery, harvesting inside the houses, and managing our crops to avoid population and climate variability and change. RUW participated in Injaz Al-Arab with this company and won the CITI Bank Signature Award.
In 2022, RUW team presented “4 Us” with the goals of providing easy and efficient solutions to problems faced by the community such as discarding old unusable pots and pans, increase awareness in conscious and sustainable practice and embrace healthy lifestyle and achieve both short-term and long-term financial stability. The same year, the RUW team won the innovation camp (I Camp) among all universities in Bahrain.
5. In hindsight, what were the most valuable lessons learned? Could things have been done differently?
This program assists students in improving their skills and becoming more confident in presenting their ideas. Our students have been encouraged to follow their dreams and prepare to be future entrepreneurs. It also helps to educate and motivate students to succeed in the global market.
