The National Institute of Textile Engineering and Research (NITER) hosted Research Fair 2026 at its conference room on Wednesday, bringing together academics, researchers, and students from different universities across the country to showcase innovative research and technological solutions.
The fair, themed “Advanced Materials and Technology for Sustainable Development,” was organised by the Center for Research and Industrial Relation (CRIR) of NITER. The programme began with a recitation from the Holy Quran.
Special guests at the event included Prof Dr Upama Kabir, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Technology at the University of Dhaka, and Prof Dr Abul Khayer Mallick from the Department of Applied Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. The welcome address was delivered by Dr Md Abul Kalam, convener of the organising committee and head of CRIR.
Joining as the keynote speaker via video conference, Dr Saidur Rahman, Research Professor at Sunway University, Malaysia, highlighted the importance of research and publication in building a successful academic and professional career. He encouraged students to engage more actively in higher-level research.
Students from the departments of Textile Engineering, Industrial and Production Engineering, Computer Science, and Electrical Engineering presented a total of 25 research posters, along with three-minute oral presentations.
Textile Engineering projects included the development of sustainable natural resin from jackfruit adhesive, eco-friendly hybrid composites using dracaena and rose fibres, an automated fibre dyeing method using agave leaves, and nanocomposite films made from fish gelatin and polyvinyl alcohol.
Computer Science projects featured a hybrid OCR-XAI method for identifying medicines from handwritten prescriptions, IoT sensor and explainable AI-based fire detection, driver fatigue detection using eye-blink sensors, and a new dataset and model for sentiment analysis of Bangla news headlines.
Electrical Engineering teams presented research on a machine learning-integrated solar-powered electric vehicle charging station, a deep learning-based model to reduce NITER’s electricity bills, and a feasibility study on establishing an 80-megawatt tidal power plant at the Sangu River estuary.
The event concluded with an award ceremony for the winning teams. Organisers said the fair served as an effective platform for research display and knowledge exchange. Participants noted that such initiatives help foster research-driven thinking and innovation among young researchers.
Reporter: Mithun Das Mithu, NISAS
