DHAKA, Oct 6, 2024 (BSS) - Bangladesh edition of NASA Space Apps Challenge 2024 concluded here last night (Saturday) selecting 27 teams to complete in the final round of the competition to be held in NASA headquarters in the USA in December. 

The teams were selected from nine cities across the country through the 36-hour hackathon. 

Talking to BSS, HM Imam Hasan, Deputy Manager of Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) today said that the final round of the main competition is scheduled to take place in December in the NASA headquarters in USA, while result of the competition would be published in January next year.

"Now, the projects of the 27 teams will be sent to NASA to compete with other projects from across the globe," he added. 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) implements this initiative to bring together talented individuals from 185 countries, including technologists, scientists, designers, artists, educators, and entrepreneurs, to develop innovative solutions to global challenges. 

NASA Space Apps Challenge aims to engage 1 million students on social media and involve 200,000 students directly in the competition.

In line with this, BASIS organized the event in nine cities across Bangladesh: Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet, Rajshahi, Khulna, Barisal, Rangpur, Mymensingh and Cumilla.

BASIS, with the support of BASIS Students' Forum, organized the Bangladesh edition for the 11th time and it concluded successfully at American International University-Bangladesh (AIUB). The award giving ceremony took place on Saturday evening at the AIUB auditorium.

The winners of the Bangladesh edition of NASA Space Apps Challenge 2024 were: Barisal: Champion: Team Phoenix, 1st Runner Up: Aqua-Agropredicta, 2nd Runner Up: Team YottaByte; Chottogram: Champion: Urban Utopians (Virtual), 1st Runner Up: Team Blusentry, 2nd Runner Up: Team Recursion; Comilla: Champion: T Minus Zero (Virtual), 1st Runner Up: Helio Alchemist (Virtual), 2nd Runner Up: Exoverse (Virtual); Dhaka: Champion: Quantum Voyagers, 1st Runner Up: Team Titan, 2nd Runner Up: Team Hydro (Virtual); Khulna: Champion: Team Atlas, 1st Runner Up: Team NovaFlare, 2nd Runner Up: Global Protector; Mymensingh: Champion: EcoRangers (Virtual), 1st Runner Up: MonsoonFive, 2nd Runner Up: Lunar_Harvesters (Virtual); Rangpur: Champion: Team Innovators BD (Virtual), 1st Runner Up: Team Novochari, 2nd Runner Up: Agri Vision; Rajshahi: Champion: Envo_Fighters (Virtual), 1st Runner Up: CodeBlack (Virtual), 2nd Runner Up: The OrbVengers (Virtual); Sylhet: Champion: Team ORCA (Virtual), 1st Runner Up: Team NOVO, 2nd Runner Up: SUST Brainstormers.
 
In 2018, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology's "Team Olik" became the global champion in the "Best Use of Data" category with their lunar VR project, offering a virtual experience of traveling to the moon. 

Besides, in 2021, "Team Mohakash" from Khulna University of Engineering & Technology (KUET) and Bangladesh Army University of Engineering & Technology (BAUET) became world champions in the "Best Mission Concept" category, and in 2022, "Team Diamonds" won in the "Most Inspirational" category. 

Most recently, "Team Voyagers" from Bangladesh won the Best Storytelling category in NASA International Space Apps Challenge 2023.