PRESS RELEASE
LONDON, UK – October 23, 2025
The Global Women Inventors & Innovators Network (GlobalWIIN) is proud to announce Julie Encausse from Iceland as the 2025 GlobalWIIN Overall Platinum Winner. Encausse was selected for driving a groundbreaking circular, biotechnology-driven solution that simultaneously addresses food waste and plastic pollution. She is the Founder and CEO of MAREA, and was recognized for her innovative work transforming residual microalgal biomass into Iceborea, an edible, biodegradable coating for fresh produce. This solution brilliantly utilizes the spent biomass (95% of the harvest) of Haematococcus pluvialis, a typically underutilized byproduct after the extraction of the antioxidant astaxanthin.
The winners were celebrated at the annual GlobalWIIN Summit & Awards Ceremony, generously hosted at ExCel London on 22nd and 23rd October. The event brought together an international gathering of extraordinarily creative, inventive, and innovative entrepreneurs, leaders, scientists, engineers, technologists, and designers from diverse sectors and backgrounds worldwide.
GlobalWIIN Founder Dr. Bola Olabisi highlighted the common spirit of the winners, stating: “Winners of the GlobalWIIN Award may vary, but they share certain traits: tenacity, a resolute determination to succeed, commitment, exceptional potential, positive influence that can spread across borders, and the ability to enhance the future and quality of life on our planet.”
The independent judging panel, chaired by Professor Ruth Soetendorp, explained that the rigorous judging process considers criteria that include originality, practicality, and financial viability. Professor Soetendorp added: “This year, we were again looking for engagement with AI, commitment to sustainability, environment, climate control, cultural heritage, and awareness of intellectual property rights.”
Celebrating Global Innovation Across Sectors
The awards ceremony honoured a cohort of exceptional female innovators from around the world. Notable awardees recognized for their impact include:
- Norazian Mohamed Noor from Universiti Malaysia Perlis (Malaysia) wins double Gold Innovator Award: , for her Smart Air Quality Forecasting Tool—an innovative, hybrid system designed to accurately predict air pollutant concentrations during seasonal haze episodes.
- Ronny (Ibironke) Odegbami (UK) wins Innovative Digital Technology Gold Award for her Alpha Clinical Trial App – created to simplify, expedite, and improve the quality of trials, making “Science accessible to All.
- Dr Rohayu Binti Che Omar (Malaysia) of the National Energy University wins Innovative Food Gold Award for her positive and novel methodology for addressing critical geotechnical challenges like land degradation and slope instability
- Professor Jane Harris Director of the University of the Arts London, Fashion, Textiles and Technology Institute (UAL, FTTI), (UK) wins innovative Textile Gold Award: for her pioneering transdisciplinary fusion of design, digital technology, and STEM disciplines driving sustainable solutions for the global textiles and apparel sectors.
- Dr. Sara Al Reefy Founder of the London Breast Care Centre (Bahrain) wins innovative leadership award as first female Arab Oncoplastic Breast Surgeon to qualify from London, bringing specialized expertise that integrates cancer removal with immediate aesthetic reconstruction.
- Dr. Melis Eda Ekinci Founder, Woost (UK) wins innovative health & wellbeing award for her women’s health tech company that develops at-home testing kits and a digital platform to help women monitor their gynaecological health.
- Maria Conceicao (UAE) Guinness World Record Holder, Philanthropist & Humanitarian wins Innovative Capacity Building award, recognized for her direct, creative response to her pledge to lift children out of poverty.
- Ngozi Oyewole (Nigeria) Founder, Commonwealth Business Women Africa wins the Gold IP Award sponsored by the Intellectual Property Awareness Network (IPAN) for her empowering knowledge transfer on IP for women in Africa.
Other special recognition awards was extended to Nichole Mcgill-Higgins (UK) for the innovative empowerment of women, Hazha Hassan (Iraq) for creating an innovative, locally engineered solution that transforms poultry manure waste into high-quality organic fertilisers, and Chloe Cho (South Korea), content creator and media executive, for her innovative achievements across major global networks as well as Julie Savarino (USA) Founder BDI and Volunteer EQUALIZE STARTUPS and Joseph Wade (USA) – Digital marketing professional and videographer – as producers and simulcast of the first-ever livestream for the world’s leading association of University Technology Transfer Professionals.
The GlobalWIIN Summit & Awards Ceremony was supported by partner organizations and sponsors, including SAMSUNG, Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys, SNIRO, KINDHIVE, FF2030 of University College London, British Council, FTTI, Intellectual Property Awareness Network (IPAN) and University of Arts London, among many others.