The Rolex Awards for Enterprise have become a prestigious global
event, with the 13th series of the Rolex Awards previously having been held in
Dubai, UAE, and hosted by Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein as the Royal Patron. The
awards ceremony for 2010 Young Laureates winners will be held on 11 November
2010, where Rolex will mark their accomplishments at an event at the Rolex
Learning Center, a hub for educational exchange, at the highly respected Swiss
university, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL).
A total of Twenty-seven young innovators were short listed as finalists,
including Mr Hadi Al Hikmani, from Oman. From this pool of finalists, five
visionaries, all aged under 30, have been selected from Ethiopia, India,
Nigeria, the Philippines and the United States as the Young Laureates in the
inaugural Rolex Awards for Enterprise: Young Laureates Programme. Chosen by an
international jury of experts, these outstanding social entrepreneurs impressed
the judging panel with their passion and conviction to overcome challenges in
the areas of science and health, applied technology, exploration, the
environment and cultural preservation.
An expansion of the Rolex Awards for Enterprise, the Young Laureates Programme
honors men and women between the ages of 18 and 30 with inventive ideas. Each
Young Laureate will receive US$50,000 over the course of two years. During the
first year, funding of $25,000 each will give the recipients time to focus on
their pioneering projects, while the second installment will help them move
forward in implementing them. The Rolex Awards international network of
innovators, comprised mainly of former Laureates, is available for guidance and
to help the winners take the projects to another stage.
"Rolex is delighted to support these exceptional young men and women who
represent the best of
their generation," said Rebecca Irvin, director of philanthropy at Rolex. "In
tackling the problems
that face humanity, they do not think in traditional ways or stick to old ideas.
Their innovative projects have begun to have a profound effect on their own
communities, and potentially could improve the lives of millions of people."
