Long gone are the days of studying engineering just for the sake of science. Students nowadays have progressed to the heights where they are talented enough to combine their science knowledge with business. In short- they are becoming entrepreneurs. The concept of entrepreneurship is fascinating, with the ability to be one’s own boss and mentor. An entrepreneur is daring, courageous and strong-willed. The students at North South University have showcased that they possess all of these talents at Capstone Design Project showcase. The final year students of Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at North South University have labored for eight long months to create and develop their projects in order to transform them into tech start-ups.
On the 17th of August, the first phase of the event, NSU ACM Student Chapter had organized a tech talk session, where successful representatives of the tech industry came and shared their expertise with the students. They were the bright minds that were talented enough to overcome obstacles and build their own empire. Honorable Vice Chancellor of North South University, Professor Dr. Atiqul Islam adorned the seat of the Chief Guest. Professor Dr. M. Rokonuzzaman, Dean, School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, was the session chair. The tech talk was inaugurated by the associate professor of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the faculty advisor of NSU ACM Student Chapter, Dr. Shazzad Hosain. After his inaugural speech about the purpose and goals behind the challenge, the rest of the guests took to the stage. The renowned guests were Tanzeev Haque, CEO of DeshiPro, Mamunur Rahman, CEO of CTrends, Ariful Hasan Opu, Founder of Bangladesh Innovation Forum, Tapan Kanti Sarkar the President at Information Security Alliance, Bangladesh, Md Al Amin Sarker, Founder of Barikoi.com, Minhaz Anwar, Head of GP Accelerator, Golam Monowar Kamal, the Managing Director of Bangladesh Venture Capital Ltd and Habibullah N Karim, the CEO of Technohaven. They imparted their wisdom and knowledge and inspired the students to bring about a revolutionary change in the future tech industry.
The second phase began in the afternoon when the teams displayed and demonstrated their projects to everyone. The projects of NSU ACMSC Innovation Challenge were scrutinized by a panel judges, which included Dr. Kazi Mohammad Abdus Salam, Dr. Hasan Uz Zaman and Dr. Rajesh Palit, esteemed faculty members of ECE department. The judges marked the project based on four criteria- innovation, usefulness, completeness and presentation. This offered the competitors a surefire chance of impressing the well-renowned judges and winning a large amount of money to help them fund their projects.
The champions of the Challenge were Touhid Rahman, Orindom Khalid Chowdhury, K.B. Riaz Ahmed Alif and Mohammad Muhiuzzaman, with their project “Affordable Renewable Energy”. The goal of their project was to make a refrigerator that would be solar powered, thus enabling people from rural areas to have easy access to fresh food even without electricity. The 1st runner-up projects of the competition were “Electronic eye-drop aid” and “Mars Rovers”, while the 2nd runner-up projects were “Real time student log with easy attendance” and “3D Printer”. The champions of the challenge won a sum of BDT 10,000, the 1st runner-ups won BDT 6,000 and the 2nd runner-ups won BDT 4,000.