Lojain Jibawi: Lojain Jibawi: Biography of A Syrian Genius

Lojain Jibawi is a Syrian dentist and entrepreneur who was born in Damascus in 1982. He graduated with a degree in Dental Medicine from Damascus University, and specialized with a Diploma in oral health and a Master’s degree in Implantology. He was always up to date with technology thanks to his passion for programming and computer skills. Due to the war and his receipt of a letter drafting him to the military, he left Syria in 2013 for Lebanon first and then to the UAE. Despite all the struggles and stigma surrounding refugees, he worked on proving himself outside of his homeland, and was successful in founding many companies and projects including:

• I3arabi, an Arabic app-development company, which started in Syria to aid iPhone users.
• Roboteks, a small-robots manufacturing company.
• Votek, a smart speech recognition company with a system capable of outranking both Apple and Google programs with regards to accuracy and the ability to understand Arabic without an internet connection.
• The “Loujee” doll, which is the first smart doll that understands both Modern Standard Arabic and up to 10 different dialects of Arabic. This doll has the ability to interact with children using a wide range of vocabulary of over 220K words. It also provides kids with all sorts of cultural information and interactive stories, as it includes cultural, educational, healthy & meaningful content. English has been its newest addition.
• Rashid, which is considered the first Arabic robot created using 3D printing and serves as a receptionist that understands the Emirati Arabic dialect.

Lojain has created the first Arabic 3D source for Head and Neck Anatomy in 2001. He founded the first Arabic website for dentistry in 2002, ranking first in the Arab world and 3rd internationally. He also became the editor for Asnan Net magazine, the largest Arabic source for dentistry. In addition, he established the scientific journal Modern Dentistry, which specializes in the translation of scientific studies involving dental medicine from English to Arabic. In 2016/2017, he was chosen by Forbes for the best start-up companies in the UAE, and was on the front cover of Forbes 2018 magazine. Lojain’s many awards include:

• Award for best design across the Arab world in the 2012 Mobily competition for I3arabi.
• The International Innovation Award for Science & Technology in the 2013 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor in Malaysia.
• The Prince Abdulaziz International Prize for Entrepreneurs where he ranked first in 2014.