Bangladeshi Innovators to compete in Microsoft Imagine Cup 2017

Team Parasitica, a group of three young innovators, has earned the nomination to represent Bangladesh in the South East Asia Regional Final Round of 15th Microsoft Imagine Cup 2017, Microsoft’s global accelerator program to empower the next generation of computer science students.

Team Parasitica is going to participate in the South East Asia regional final round, to be held in Philippines from April 23 to April 26.

Their project, fasTnosis, is an app that allows users to self-diagnose parasitic diseases like tuberculosis, malaria, etc.

To represent the Government of Bangladesh, Md. Ashadul Islam, Secretary-In-Charge, Ministry of Youth and Sports, is joining the Imagine Cup Regional Finals in Manila.

By March 10, 2017, 17 teams submitted projects online, comprised of project proposals and video demonstrations. Top 5 projects were selected and announced within March 20, 2017, who fought it out to be selected as the winner on April 06, 2017.

Each selection process was done by panels of judges consisting of esteemed personalities belonging to the tech and digital sector.

Team Parasitica comprising of 2 students (Thohidul Islam and Syed Nakib Hossain) from Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE) and 1 student (Fazle Rahat) from Department of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), all 3 being final year, students emerged as ultimate winners to represent Bangladesh in Philippines.

10 Winning teams, one each from Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Srilanka, Nepal, Laos and Bangladesh will take part at the competition at Manila in Philippines. Top 7 teams from South East Asian Finals move to World Finals.

‘The opportunity to participate in and showcase our idea at a global platform has propelled our drive towards introducing greater convenience and comfort in the lives of the people of the world through innovative services. We are proud to be able to present Bangladesh in the event, and are going to give our best to make our country and her people proud,’ said Thohidul Islam, Team Leader of Team Parasitica.

Sonia Bashir Kabir, Managing Director of Microsoft Bangladesh, said, ‘Imagine Cup is Microsoft’s attempt at providing a platform to talented computer science students around the world to use their creativity, skills, and drive for excellence, and make the world a better place through digital solutions to our everyday problems. This year, we have observed highly innovative ideas from the participating students in Bangladesh, and I am hopeful that the winning team is going to make a mark in Round 2 in Philippines’.

This year, teams from over 100 countries are expected to compete at various rounds and top 30 teams worldwide will head to Redmond for the world Finals competition round. Microsoft Imagine Cup is a global competition that empowers the next generation of computer science students to team up and use their creativity, passion and knowledge of technology to create applications that shape how we live, work and play. Every year tens of thousands of students from across the globe compete for cash, travel and prizes and for the honor of taking home the Imagine Cup.

Over the years, the competition has given the world promising young innovators and entrepreneurs platforms to work with their ideas and take it to the next level. It has become one of the biggest accelerator programs in the world with the backing of Microsoft, one of most notable global tech giants.