Dubai UAE, March 9, 2010-- CERT & The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania proudly announced today that Dubai Women's College student team Miracle Makers, won the $20,000 grand prize of the 2010 CERT-Wharton Entrepreneurial Planning & Innovation Competition (EPIC).

The prize was presented this morning at the opening of the HCT Global Entrepreneurship 2010 Conference, where student finalists received a total of $50,000 in cash prizes. In a double celebration for the trio of students, Dalal Al Dhabyani, Salimah Al Harbi and Khawlah Mohammed, the team also won the $5,000 prize for Best Undergraduate Business Plan.

Miracle Makers highly professional business plan entailed developing strategies which combat the prevalence of diabetes and other diseases in the broader UAE community. The ambitious students plan to do this by the introduction of a specialized, and portable, D-Kit for household and personal use. The kit contains a computerized method of monitoring and managing the body for the onset of diabetes and hypertension, and easy to use software and a guidebook.

As part of their business plan Miracle Makers told judges at the finals presentation on March 8 that they envisaged selling more than 38,000 of the D-kits in three years to areas from Dubai, Abu Dhabi and the other emirates.

The other 2010 CERT-Wharton EPIC Business Plan winners announced today were:

Second Prize: $10,000 to a Dubai Men's College team's Yebab.com project;

Third Prize: $5,000 to a Fujairah Women's College team's Qahwa Café for Ladies project;

Finalist Prize: $2,000 to the remaining five teams;

Best Undergraduate Business Plan: $5,000 to Miracle Makers and their D-Kit project.

Chairman of judges for the EPIC ``Great 8'' Finals Dr. James Pounder said: "the quality of the plans and presentations have been of such a high standard that my fellow judges and myself had a very difficult task deciding on the winner and runners up.''

The winning team from Dubai Women's College of the Higher Colleges of Technology is to be congratulated for developing a product that is both highly innovative and likely to be of great benefit to UAE society,'' Dr. Pounder said.

I would like to congratulate all the teams who reached both the semi-finals and finals and hope that the plans they have developed provide a basis for some outstanding new UAE ventures in the coming years.''

The lead faculty member for Wharton's engagement with CERT, Professor Raphael (Raffi) Amit was full of praise for the finalists.

 "We offer congratulations to all of the 'Great Eight' finalists of the first-ever business plan competition organized jointly by CERT and Wharton," Prof. Amit said.

"This competition not only provides a valuable learning experience for the participating students, it gives all of us at Wharton special insight into the entrepreneurial landscape in the UAE and Middle East region."

The full list of CERT-Wharton EPIC Great 8 Finals winners are:

1. Boutique on Wheels

2. Qahwa Café for Ladies

3. Lotus Restaurant

4. Miracle Makers

5. Organic ME

6. Party Time RAK

7. The Tea Haven

8. Yebab.com

For more details on the CERT-Wharton EPIC visit http://epic.hct.ac.ae 

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About the Wharton School, Wharton Entrepreneurial Programs, the Wharton Global Family Alliance and Knowledge@Wharton Arabic Edition
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About Centre of Excellence for Applied Research & Training (CERT)
The CERT Group of Companies began as the commercial arm of the Higher Colleges of Technology in the United Arab Emirates, and has grown to be the largest private education provider in the Middle East. CERT is also the largest MENA (Middle East North Africa) investor in the discovery and commercialization of technology.

Since its creation in 1996, the Centre of Excellence for Applied Research and Training (CERT) has been synonymous with quality in education, training, research, and socioeconomic progress. Over the years, CERT has helped thousands of professionals and companies meet their goals and achieve the next level in their development, and it is now the largest private education provider in the region. Included is an Executive MBA that has a concentration in Innovation & Entrepreneurship which features the best professors from leading institutions around the world.

CERT additionally, hosts the regions premiere biennial Global Entrepreneurship Conference where students throughout the GCC and regional entrepreneurs attend. The Conference features leading international thought leaders & entrepreneurs throughout the world.

For more information contact:
Dean Hoke
Head of Institutional Development
Higher Colleges of Technology
Tel: +971 2-6922-716
Email: dean.hoke@hct.ac.ae
Web:  www.hct.ac.ae

Peter Winicov
Senior Associate Director
Wharton Communications
The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
+1.215.746.6471
winicov@wharton.upenn.edu

© Press Release 2010