After a long and tedious hunt for the country’s most innovative preacher of science, we have finally found the national winner of FameLab 2018 from Bangladesh. Alvee Islam, a student of electrical engineering from North South University won the chance to compete internationally and to represent Bangladesh in the FameLab International at Cheltenham Festivals in the UK this coming June.
In association with the Information and Communication Technology Division, Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh and Times Cheltenham Science Festival, supported by the First Security Islami Bank Ltd. The British Council organises FameLab for the first time in Bangladesh. The competition was a tough one. Out of 158 national participants,12 deserving finalists were selected through vigorous auditions through a month-long process and forwarded to the gala round.
The day-long gala event was divided into three major stages. The first stage began with the performances from each of the finalists. These talented individuals showcased their three-minute presentations in front of the judges, esteemed guests and audiences. A Q and A session then followed this phase. The judges' panel consisted of Dr Timothy Green, Mathematician and Physicist, Mr Mynul Islam, Head of Technologies, Multimedia Content and Communications Ltd and Ms Humaira Akhter, Professor, University of Dhaka. The finalists were judged based on their content, clarity and charisma.
The second stage consisted of speeches from the guest panel. The guests - giants in their own fields - included Zunaid Ahmed Palak MP, Minister of State for Information and Communication Technology Division, Govt. of People's Republic of Bangladesh, Faye Nicholls, Teaching Centre Manager, British Council in Bangladesh, Syed Waseque Md Ali, Managing Director, First Security Islami Bank Ltd., Professor Dr. M. Golam Shahi Alam, VC, Sylhet Agricultural University, Dr. M. Omar Rahman, VC, Independent University, Bangladesh, Mir Motahar Hossain, Advisor to Chairman, ATN Bangla and Asha Mehrin Amin, Deputy Editor, Editorial, The Daily Star.
The final stage was full of excitement and nervousness. It was the moment of truth. All the participants and their supporters were eager to hear the name of the winner. It was a moment of pride for Alvee and his FnF to receive the winners' ticket to FameLab International from Zunaid Ahmed Palak MP, Minister of State for Information and Communication Technology Division, Govt. of the People's Republic of Bangladesh.
Alvee was chosen for his extreme creativity and innovation related to the human mind. He created musical charm with Ukulele, a Hawaiian musical instrument. With the tunes of Ukulele Alvee talked about neuro-plasticity, in which our brain changes in three primary ways while learning new things and those are chemical, physical and functional. Alvee believes, through this knowledge, we can understand the technical dimensions of individual brains. This creative way to predict brain activity can act as a preventive measure for medical science as well as to gauge the individuals learning capacity. Bringing out this felicitous innovation and presenting with such creativity made him different from all other fellow FameLabbers.
FameLab is the world's leading science communication competition. It is designed to inspire, motivate and develop scientists and engineers to actively engage with the public and stakeholders