#UAEinnovators: Rich tapestry of inspiration and innovation

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  Antonie Robertson / The National

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  Sarah Dea / The National

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  Satish Kumar / The National

To highlight a critical area for our country’s development, in February, we asked you to nominate your top innovators in the SME space by email, Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, using the hashtag #UAEinnovators. The feedback we received was overwhelmingly positive, and a string of creative and brilliant individuals have been written about in The National. Here are some of the standouts:

Sharjah graduates allow you to wear your memory on your wrist

Mosaikx, set up by Sina Torabi and Mahbod Azadian, two Iranian graduates from the American University of Sharjah last June, is banking on making its device a must-have item that can be worn as a wristband – or on any other part of the body.

Dubai’s ‘Google for retail’ helps you home in on your shopping

Mena Commerce is a Dubai-based start-up and the brainchild of Moustafa Mahmoud, 31, an Egyptian, calling itself "Google for retail" in the region. Its first product is Bivine, described as the region's first real-time competitive intelligence for the retail space, offering insights into eCommerce trends for retailers and brands.

Emirati siblings’ Instagram rival keeps users in the picture

The Emirati siblings Murshed and Mareyah Mohammed Ahmed started the business that became the photo-sharing app Yebab (which is the sound Arab women make at weddings as a sign of happiness) in 2008 with just Dh2,500. Yebab offers a hybrid mix of communication – between large groups, small groups or one-to-one – with real-time feedback.

One family’s junk is another’s robot

A four-man developer team, led by the chief executive Ehteshamuddin PA, has created an educational toy concept called Junkbot that lets any child aged six to 10 build their very own robot. Once assembled, the robot can be controlled by any TV remote or mobile phone.