BUET students get NASA award

During an online class in August, some 1st-year students of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) were informed about the NASA International Space Apps Challenge competition.

Mehrab Haque, Tamimul Ehsan, Hasan Masum, Fabiha Tasneem, Rabib Jahin Ibn Momin and Jehadul Karim, studying computer science and engineering at the university, planned to compete.

They worked seriously and clinched the prize!

On 28 January, an announcement was made, awarding the BUET team of six in the honourable mention category.

Their classroom had remained closed since the coronavirus pandemic hit the country so they worked with each other online and decided to develop an app that could detect earthquakes.

After drafting the project plan, they got ready to compete at the regional level. Then just before the deadline of project submission, they noticed that their plan didn't quite meet the competition criteria. They were crestfallen.

Next day, a 10-day extension of the project submission was announced and that gave them fresh hope. They began to work on a new project–to develop an online platform that could provide detailed information about satellites in the space.

As per the plan, they submitted a draft project plan within a few days. Later, they developed a platform and a smart-phone application titled ‘Satellite’. They also developed a compass-like device that could help monitor the movement of a satellite through a telescope. There was an option for the observers to share their views on the platform.

The BUET team’s project reached the final after crossing the regional test.

According to Space Apps Challenge website, more than 3,800 teams from 150 countries had participated in the competition. Only 40 were selected for the final.

On 28 January, eight teams were awarded as Global Winners and seven were on Honourable Mention list. The 6-member Buet team grabbed the Honourable Mention award as a single contender.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the US has been organising the competition since 2012.

The accolade has thrilled made the BUET youngsters.

Partha Chakraborty, chairman at the computer science and technology department of the Comilla University, was their trainer.

One of the team members Mehrab, said, “Four members of the team were in Dhaka while two were in Chattogram when the project was underway. We didn’t meet face-to-face. All the tasks were done online. This was a unique experience.”

Mehrab designed the website, software and web applications while Hasan and Jehadul developed the application. Rabbi did data collection and analysis. Fabiha and Tamimul made two videos of the app. Tamimul developed a device that can indicate a satellite’s position.

Advisor of the NASA Space Apps Challenge, Ariful Hassan, said that the competition is considered as the largest hackathon in the world. This is a matter of pride that a Bangladeshi team has won the challenge.

Ariful dreams of a bright future. He said that preparation for the next challenge is underway with 50 teams.

 

[Source: Prothom Alo]