Empowering future through ideas and innovation
On 5th November, Grameenphone kicked off the grand finale of its first nationwide idea competition designed to empower young innovators to showcase their creativity, innovation, and problem-solving skills through Artificial Intelligence (AI). The Grameenphone’s FutureMakers is a platform that encourages university students to push their innovative AI based solutions and helps refine these ideas with the guidance of industry mentors. Out of hundreds of teams, with a total of 782 idea submissions, only 70 were invited to Grameenphones’ Headquarters, GP House, to deliver their concept pitch. The top 10 teams qualified for the ignition and the final round.
Brac University student Feroza Mahzabin’s (Senior, CSE) one-person team titled Team Watermelon, was declared the champion in the grand-finale. Feroza’s AI based Bangla sign language translator named Ishaara took the center stage of the competition. Feroza exclaimed her desire to eliminate the barrier of communication for the people with impairments through technology. When asked about her experience with the FutureMakers, Feroza said, “The mentorship I received from the people at GP during the ignition round was a big highlight. I’m so grateful to receive such amazing mentorship especially with my fellow finalist teams who were all so incredibly talented.”
Team Opion consisting of Anas Wasik Yousha (Senior, CSE) and Ridwan Sakib Adnan (Senior, BBA) from Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP) emerged as the 1st Runner-up team with its AI based news credibility platform. According to Yousha, the frustration of having to read misinformations and biased news worked as the team’s fuel. He remarked, “Our journey with FutureMakers taught us that passion, teamwork and a clear problem worth solving can turn the simplest idea into something meaningful. It taught us that when something frustrates you, don’t just complain instead try to create a solution.”
Team Synapz from Islamic University of Technology and Team Lasta from Dhaka University jointly secured the 2nd Runner-up position with their own AI driven solutions. Tanisha Tarannum (Junior, IBA) from Team Lasta shared, “What helped us most is staying grounded in the problem, not the tech.” Winners received prize money and accelerated pathway to GP’s prestigious flagship programs.
