Report by: Aditi Bhattacharya, Public Relation & Communication, Hult Prize at SARSTEC
Nobel Prize which is regarded as the most exalted prize in the respective fields of Physics, Chemistry, Physiology, Literature, Peace, and Economy. Mathematicians are awarded the most prestigious Abel Prize for their contributions to mathematics. Hult Prize is such an honor as Nobel Prize for the intended students who can change the world with their innovative business ideas. Dr. Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel Laureate of Bangladesh has referred to the Hult Prize as the ‘Nobel Prize for students.’ Each year students are challenged to solve a pressing social issue align with UN SDGs around topics such as food security, water access, energy, education and the challenges actively solve UN SDGs. The Hult prize is absolutely a global movement. So the Hult Prize On Campus allows hosting a local Hult Prize event at the local university, allowing the winning team to bypass the traditional application process and fast track their idea through one of fifteen regional final rounds of competition. The program allows more students to compete around the world, leading to more ideas and ultimately more start-ups, each poised for radical impact.
Shahid Abdur Rab Serniabat Textile Engineering College, Barishal is a small campus with a lot of possibilities and potentialities. So, the very dynamic campus director Md. Zunayed Ahmed took a step in November to bring dynamism back to campus in this breakout. Thus, SARSTEC became part of the Hult Prize On Campus journey towards the Hult prize regionals for the very first time.
This year, the Challenge is “Food For Good”. The motto of this challenge is to transform food into a vehicle for change, create jobs, stimulate economies, reimagine supply chains, and improve outcomes for 10,000,000 people by 2030. It is also an initiative to solve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals 1,2,3,8,9,10 & 12.
To make this regional program successful, an Organizing Committee of 21 active, dynamic, dedicated & energetic members was formed for arranging the On-Campus final event online. The committee members were Nihal Haydar, Md. Imran Hossain, Md. Mahmudul Hasib Dhrubo, Mehedi Hasan Zehad, Hanif Khandakar, Tasmin Alam, Aminul Islam Rayhan, Aditi Bhattacharya, Mahmudul Hoque, Shariful Islam Deep, Junnun Mazumder, Maruf Hossain Shayanho, Robiul Islam, Hasibul Islam, Rabby Islam, Ariful Islam, Moshiur Rahman, Shahriar Hossain Himel, Zannatul Ferdous Sraboni & Imran Nahid Reon.
Under the supervision of the campus director, the squad worked with full dedication to make this event happens. As a new entry to the Hult Prize, the team of Hult prize at Sarstec needed to know how to work, and a workshop was held in Zoom. As an instructor, the team got Miss Fatema Akter Lovely, the Hult Prize community builder for Bangladesh. There, she told them about her journey on Hult Prize and how to work as a team and organize an event like Hult Prize On Campus smoothly. With the guidance of our respected teachers, campus director, and hult prize authority the squad started to work on the team registration, and with a huge response, 15 teams registered for the hult prize on-campus round.
The registered teams were
- Brave MJ4
- Brute Force
- Concept Creator
- Creative Thinkers
- Decimal
- Delta_59
- Emphatic
- Epsilon
- Glowing Star
- Green Leaf
- Labyrinth SA ( LSA )
- Pasta
- SIRD
- Vision Vertex ( VVX )
- Zygote
Some more Online live sessions on Facebook & Zoom were also held for the participants to make their concept clear about Hult Prize, how to be prepared for Hult Prize On Campus round, how to make an abstract, how to pitch, how to give a presentation, and so on.
Here’s a list of those persons, without whose intensive supervision, Hult Prize at SARSTEC, wouldn’t happen. We are eternally indebted to them
- Fatema Akhter Lovely, Hult Prize community builder for Bangladesh.
- Eng. Md. Zahid Murad Shuva Sir, Lecture at SARSTEC, Moderator of Hult Prize at SARSTEC.
- Noor Awadallah, Campus Director of Hult Prize at Isra University.
- Md. Selim Akhter Sir, Assistant Professor of chemistry at SARSTEC.
- Jannatul Tazreen, Founder of EDOMO, Finalist Hult Prize Manila Regional Summit, Former personnel, BRAC.
- Mr. Maruf Islam, instructor, learning Bangladesh, Senior IT Executive, Arisha Group.
- Mr. Mubasshir Tahmid, co-founder, Tetra, Kualalumpur Regional finalist, 2018.
- Tasneem Omar Ava, COO, Synergy Global com, Former Global Finalist, Hult Prize 2016.
The Judges for the On-Campus Finale were:
- Md. Selim Akhter. (Assistant Professor of chemistry at SARSTEC)
- Engr. Md. Zahid Murad Shuva. (Lecture at SARSTEC, Moderator of Hult Prize at SARSTEC.)
- Jannatul Tazreen. (Founder of EDOMO, Finalist Hult Prize Manila Regional Summit, Former personnel, BRAC)
- Engr. Nayon Chandra Ghosh. (Principal, Sheikh Rehana Textile Engineering College, Gopalganj)
- Maysha Rafa Khan. (Management Trainee at PATHAO)
The On-campus round was divided into four specific stages. To make this event happen as a perfect International event, the organizing committee members worked wholeheartedly from November to December. The participants of 15 teams were bound with specific conditions and deadline, so that the real change-makers for the 2021 challenge ‘Food for Good’ can be chosen for the Hult Prize Regionals.
1st -3rd December 2020 – Abstract Submission
5th December 2020 – Pitch Submission
7th December 2020 – Semi-Final
12th December 2020 – On-Campus Final.
The most awaited moment came when the judges announced the name of the champion team and the runners up team. The champion was the team Vision Vertex (VVX) and the runner-up was the team SIRD.
The members of Champion team Vision Vertex ( VVX ) are:
- Mahmudul Hoque,
- Shakil Howlader,
- Aminul Islam Rayhan &
- Shariful Islam Deep.
The members of Runner-up Team SIRD are:
- Imran Hossain,
- Mahmudul Hasib Dhrubo,
- Tasmin Alam &
- Hasibur Rahman Rocky.
Both the ideas of the team VVX & SIRD have one thing in common and that is to reduce environmental pollution which is very important in the context of Bangladesh. In the whole event, Hult Prize at SARSTEC, achieved some precious and valuable partnerships as well as sponsors who covered the whole event compactly.
The sponsors were –
Club Partner – SARSTEC CAREER CLUB,
Media Partner -Textile Focus,
E-learning Partner – Tech Karigor School,
E-learning Partner- Bohubrihi,
Radio Partner -SARSTEC RADIO 00.08 F.M.
Hult Prize at SARSTEC is now matured enough to organize an On-campus round every year. It has enough capabilities to find out the most unique and befitting idea that can change the world. Maybe, one-day SARSTEC will achieve something bigger than now. Special thanks to Md. Zunayed Ahmed, campus director of Hult Prize, SARSTEC who gave it a thought and brought Hult Prize to SARSTEC and is still working hard to make better decisions both for the campus and Hult Prize at SARSTEC, Barisal.