IGNITE<br>Sparking a passion for science

Earlier this year, The Daily Star and Grameenphone introduced an innovative competition to the students of Bangladesh: IGNITE. The purpose was to ignite a love for science in today's youth -- 'Science for the internet generation'.

The competition began in early April and visited dozens of schools in the Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet divisions. It had three categories: Discover Science Quiz, Idea Flight (Junior and Senior), and Imagine the Future.

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Idea Flight (Junior)
Students of classes 6-8 were eligible to participate. They had to come up with solutions to tackle everyday issues and create projects to represent their ideas.

Nabanma Toresa Rozario had entered IGNITE with the aim to secure a prize. Considering Bangladesh's current problems, she chose to deal with the issue of dwindling resources. “Instead of wasting resources we can try to use them efficiently,” she explained. Their project was about making musical instruments from waste products at a very low cost. Nabanma and her teammates -- Tasnima Marjana and Adri Das Kotha (All students of class 6, Holy Cross Girls' High School and College) -- won second place in the Idea Flight category.

Tanha Tanzia, Tabassum Mehnaz, Ishrak Nawarof (class 8) were third place winners. These enthusiastic students of Viqarunnisa Noon School were thrilled to learn that IGNITE would be visiting their school. Their project involved a boat that would clean the polluted Buriganga river. They said that IGNITE was a well-organised, fun competition.
The 1st prize went to Aniruddhah Chowdhury and SM Taufique of Mastermind School, Dhaka.

Sakib Ahmed of class 8, Anandaniketan School, won 2nd place in Sylhet Division. Sakib's idea was green irrigation, powered by wind. IGNITE seemed very interesting to him as it urged students to invent something, so he decided to give it a shot. He explained that it was a very wonderful but competitive experience.

From Sylhet Division the other winners were: Syeda Iqtira Afzal, Fariha Sarjida and Malihat Joynul Khan from Scholars Home (1st place) and Md Nayem Islam, Mahfujur Rahman and Ferdous Islam from The Aided High School (3rd).

Idea Flight (Senior)
This was the same as the above category except it was for students from class 9 to 10. Fateem Anam Rafid secured 3rd place in the Dhaka Division. He is a student of class 9, St. Joseph Higher Secondary School. “I really admire the fact that this science competition is taking place in my country. I participated with teammates Sami and Farhan and each of us received 30 science related books. Our project included hydrogen power plants and hydrogen powered vehicles,” he said.

Shakti Banik is a student of class 10, Bir Shreshtha Noor Mohammad Public College. He explained that IGNITE was an excellent and helpful platform for him to showcase his ideas. “The Judges were very knowledgeable and I learnt a lot from them,” he said. Shakti's idea which won him the 1st place in Dhaka Division was a mobile controlled 'Rescue Robot', to save lives during disasters like fires, especially when the fire department vehicles do not have the means to reach the scene.

From Dhaka Division, the 2nd place was secured by Akib Ahmed, Sadmin Sarkar and Abu Junaid Hossain of Ideal School and College.

In the Chittagong Division, Ashraf Mahmud Rayed won 1st prize in Idea Flight. He is a student of class 9, Bangladesh Navy School and College. “When I signed up, I didn't really expect to win. In fact my goal was to just participate. I was overjoyed when I was announced the winner. IGNITE has inspired me a lot and my prize (a laptop), has proved very useful for my studies,” Ashraf said. His ideas included an automated message system during rescue missions, an automatic water tank and effective security systems.  

Farhana Ahmmed and her team members (Sanzida Sultana and Sharah Tonima) also won 1st prize in Idea Flight, Chittagong Division. Farhana, a student of class 10, Kapasgola City Corporation Girls High School, explained how much IGNITE helped her: “Previously, I was very unsure about my ambition but after IGNITE, I have made the decision that I want to study engineering. I'm so glad that it has helped me choose my career. As for my aim -- it was to win the competition.”

The 2nd prize went to Zarin Zahara, Fahmida Faria and Tanjim Arefin of class 9, BAWA Girl's High School and College, Chittagong.

Tawsif Mahmud, Niloy Datta and Orchi Datta from class 9, Chittagong Government High School, were 3rd in  this category. Tawsif thanked his supportive school and teachers for his achievement. “I basically participated to be a part of the competition which sounded interesting, and indeed it was. I want to help my country and I hope my project about sustainable power sources like wind energy will help drive Bangladesh forward,” he said.

Another group -- Masuma Rahman and Faizun Nahar of class 10, Silver Bells Kindergarten and Girls High School -- won 3rd place along with Tawsif's group.

From Sylhet, Idea Flight Senior winners are -- Arup Dey (1st Place); Hadiuzzaman Raktim, Fahidul Khan and Azad Ahmed (2nd Place). All are students of Hajrat Shah Paran (R:) High School.

Sakil Ahmed who is a student of class 9, Sylhet Government Pilot High School won 3rd place, and mainly participated in IGNITE to get more ideas about science. “It was a very beneficial experience and I loved working on my project about ultramodern electronic devices.”

Imagine the Future
Students of classes 9-10 competed in this category by showcasing their idea of what Bangladesh might look like in the future, say year 2050.

Zafreen Sultana and her teammate Anogh Zaman, students of class 10, The Aga Khan School, Dhaka became 1st with their project 'Evolution of the Mind'. For Zafreen, IGNITE was a unique experience and she had a great time participating with so many contestants. Their project highlighted facts about the subconscious human mind and focused on how brain structures may evolve in the future.

Monalia Islam and Afra Ramisa of The Aga Khan School, Dhaka won 2nd place.

The 3rd position went to Md. Golam Sarwar, Moin Khan and Iftekhar of Motijheel Model High School and College, Dhaka.

In the Chittagong Division, for this category, Abrita Bhattacharjee won 3rd place. She is a student of class 9, St. Scholastica's Girls High School. “I imagine the future of Bangladesh to be 'green'. My project shows various ways in which we can achieve that, hopefully by 2040. My ideas are about sustainable energy, mainly solar power. I am thankful to IGNITE for all the things I've learnt from it, though I would've really liked to participate in the Discover Science Quiz, sadly it was only for classes 6 to 8,” she said.

The 2nd place winners are Abhisek Chakraborty, Amit Ghosh and Abu Riyadh of Chittagong Government High School.

The 1st place winners are Antu Datta and Md. Rouhit Arman, also of Chittagong Government High School.
Mumtahina Tasnim of Government Agragami Girl's High School, Sylhet won 1st Place in Sylhet Division. “In my opinion, IGNITE was a great initiative, as we don't see many of these educational competitions in our country. My project was about a 'Future City'. The overall competition was great but I think the management could have been a bit better,” she said. Mumtahina, now in class 9, says that she would love to participate again next time.
The other winners in Sylhet Division are Ahamed Chowdhury (2nd) and Shouvo Goswami along with Md Abdul Azziz (3rd) who are students of Border Guard Public School and College.

Winners of the 1st place each received a laptop; the 2nd prize was a tablet and those who won 3rd place received around 30 books each.

This was just the first time for IGNITE and it already seems to have sparked a passion for science among the students of Bangladesh.

PHOTOS: DARSHAN CHAKMA & RASHED SHUMON