Imad Malhas, Founder and Managing Director
Imad Malhas co-founded IrisGuardin 2001, which now has its headquarters and manufacturing base in Milton Keynes, UK and a regional office in Amman, Jordan. He serves the organisation as both its CEO and Chief Strategist.
Imad pioneered the concept of using iris recognition to secure mass-transit national borders and the large scale cross-country registration of millions of UNHCR refugees in the Middle East. In 2008, he led IrisGuard's deployment of the world’s first iris-enabled ATM machines, which to date have processed over half a billion dollars in cash. In 2013, Imad spearheaded the development of the IrisGuard EyePay® platform, the world's first and only iris-enabled retail POS that is currently used by the UN's World Food Programme in a number of supermarkets in refugee camps across Jordan.
Imad is the co-inventor on many international patents, an Endeavour Entrepreneur since 2009 and was awarded personally in 2018 with a CEO Today Europe Award.
H.E. Karim Kawar, Co-founder and Chair
H.E. Karim Kawar also co-founded IrisGuardin 2001, and serves as the Chairman to the Board of Directors.
Karim is the President of Kawar Group, is a serial entrepreneur, a former diplomat (served as Jordan's Ambassador to the USA from 2002 to 2007) and an angel investor.
He also serves as Chair to Kawar Energy, NatHealth, EDAMA for Energy, Water and Environment and JWICO, and is the founder of 10 companies in the field of information and communication technologies (ICT). Karim is also co-founder and director of Oasis500, the Arab World's first and largest accelerator and seed-capital fund. He founded the Jordan Strategy Forum and was appointed by Royal Decree to the Economic Consultative Council by His Majesty King Abdullah II.
Ambassador Kawar is a Member of the 100 Best Arab Startups Selection Committee, Global Agenda Council; Young Global Leader; Global Leader for Tomorrow of the World Economic Forum; Eisenhower Fellow; Member of the World Presidents’ Organization (YPO/WPO); and the co-founder and President of Bridges of Understanding Foundation.
Tony Knight, Finance Director
Tony Knight is an experienced Finance Director with a proven track record in supporting the growth of SME's organically and through targeted acquisition.
A qualified Chartered Accountant, Tony spent a decade in senior positions at Ernst & Young before moving into industry. He has since spent the last 20 years supporting a range of companies in the technology sector, helping them to achieve their growth ambitions.
Simon Reed, Deputy Director
Simon is a mobile, IT & business strategic executive with 25 years experience in the iris technology, mobile telecom & smart card sectors.
Simon brings a proven advisory experience with companies & investment groups on innovative technology solutions spanning over 10 years. He has chaired multiple industry groups & implemented global IT innovation in ID & mobile payment space.
Andrew Holland, Research and Development Advisor
Andy has worked in the Electronic Security field for over 25 years and in the early 1990s pioneered the concept of image capturing security systems over PSTN (pre-internet) and was granted the patents for the software and hardware technologies. After working with IrisScan Inc. as a consultant, Andy joined Switzerland-based Iridian Technologies Inc to further the cause.
Andy joined IrisGuardin 2005 to spearhead iris camera hardware and software development. Andy is the co-inventor of many international patents in the field of iris biometric technology and heads up a team of scientists and engineers in IrisGuard's UK headquarters in Milton Keynes.
Eva Mowbray LLB (HONS), Director of Marketing
Eva has gained comprehensive experience in both B2C and B2B sectors throughout her sales & marketing career. Eva has led marketing and sales teams in a variety of industries, managing a multi-agency set ups with focus on creative, media and PR strategies whilst developing and delivering sales and marketing plans.
Most recently, Eva spent 8 years at Papa John's with responsibility for their national marketing, before joining IrisGuard UK.
Her key role is to grow brand awareness and provide the opportunity for the team to generate new business in new regions and verticals.
Rawan Farouq, Director of Software
Rawan has over 18 years experience in software development and team management. She is the principal developer of the iris architecture management underpinning the current systems.
Rawan is managing our updated Android and Windows development environments. She holds a BSc and an MBA in Computer Science and Business Management.
Karim Malhas, Chief Innovation Officer
Karim is responsible for technical innovation, industry monitoring and partnering to introduce new technologies and development requirements within IrisGuard.
He has over ten years of experience, designing and building secure and scalable payment and Blockchain solutions using the iris.
He was the innovation consultant at the Arab Bank and is a permanent member of Bank of Jordan to realize the country Digital Dinar. He holds a B.Sc. and M.Scs. in Computer Sciences and Information Security.
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