Bangladesh high schoolers emerge as top five

"The journey was very good. It was a great experience for us. But we had faced so many difficulties, like financial problems, visa issues, etc. There was a time when we thought we might not be able to join the summit. But fortunately, we got the visa, and our parents funded us for the trip. It was great to wave our national flag at the world's best stage," says the 'EXO MAX' team leader about their achievement in the NASA Conrad Challenge 2024.

Where changing the world is a question, NASA's Conrad Challenge competition works to challenge purpose-driven youths who will change the world. In this extremely competitive arena, Bangladeshi high schoolers' team 'EXO MAX' qualified for the final in 2024, but the journey doesn't end here; they have also become one of the top five finalists and earned the title 'Conrad Innovator' after competing in the US.

The team's project was Smart Road Safety Beast (SRSB). To make the roads safer, the team built a device that can be installed in any car. The device has several features that practically help to prevent accidents. In a conversation with the writer, 'EXO MAX' team discussed their struggles, journey, and future plans for the country.

Md Twashin Ilahi, the team leader; Mahdi Bin Ferdaus, the coordinator, and Md Sunjim Hossain, the researcher, analyser, and designer, were the three team members who could go to Texas for the event. The other two members, Md Nur Ahmad, who worked in embedded systems, and Nadim Shariar Apurbo, who worked in hardware and innovation, couldn't go to the US because of a lack of funding.

However, the lack of funding and opportunities could not stop these young overachievers from contributing, as they are as determined as possible. Software and web developer Nur developed the entire website for his team to present at the summit from Bangladesh. Nadim, on the other hand, developed the project with the team and researched the project features in Bangladesh. He built the circuit, connected the sensors, designed the hardware, and set up all the components of the project motherboard. In addition, he set up this project in a car and tested the project in real life.

Apart from limited funding for the flights, paid AI tools that were necessary for the project, PCB printing resources, and technical resources were also lacking. Even though they were the team with the most limitations and the lowest funding in the final, 'EXO MAX' team worked hard for their project enough that they became one of the top five finalists in the world, competing with dozens of teams with lucrative resources.

Twashin, the team lead, worked on business planning and designed the pitch deck to present. The coordinator, Mahdi, developed the idea, planned the hardware mechanism, and researched the market. Sunjim designed the brochure, banner, and flyer for the EXPO at the summit and conducted market research on global ADAS technology, road accidents, and other relevant topics to ensure a smooth presentation of their project. They all worked hand in hand to develop the project together and became successful in showing the world their capabilities. Even going to the US was a hassle for Twashin, Mahdi, and Sunjim. Their flights got cancelled on April 19 and 20, and they had to book different flight tickets with very short notice at a higher price.

When asked about the motivation behind the project, Nadim says, "I had seen a road accident in front of me in my childhood. Since then, there has been a desire to do something to prevent road accidents. I did an accident detection project. Then, I participated in many science and technology festivals. I know everyone from that festival and will form a team. Twashin was then telling us about the Conrad Challenge. We decided to participate in the Energy and Environment category. Then we all met together and decided to do this project. After that, we met together and created projects that save lives. The motivation for this project was to save lives and save energy."

Mahdi says about his experience, "On the first day, there was dinner, a short programme, and some games to connect with each other. We've met many foreign teams and witnessed their marvellous projects. On the second day, there was the pitch deck. On this day, we observed other pitches and delivered our presentation."

"On the third day, there was the anticipated part of the summit, the EXPO. Everyone got a booth. Everyone assembled their prototypes, brochures, banners, flyers, business cards, and everything else. After launch, we attended a seminar where the astronauts gave a speech about their journey. It was something extraordinary to spectate," says Twashin, about the summit.

Sunjim added, "On the fourth and final day, they took us to explore the space station. We got the incredible opportunity to see the SpaceX rocket and a lot of other technologies."

As for the future, both Twashin and Sunjim want to be researchers, Nadim wants to develop a robotics company, Nur wants to launch a software company, and Mahdi wants to be involved in exporting technologies and building his own tech giant. These are the dreamers of Bangladesh-- with proper resources and opportunities, they are going to build the world.

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