The largest social gathering of young enterpreneurs in Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) ended up with the Grand Finale of “Hult Prize at BUET 2019” on December 6 this year.
Provided by Hult Prize Foundation the platform turns the lively campus into a cloud of ideas from the aspiring social entrepreneurs. BUET was privileged for the fourth consecutive time to host the local round of Hult Prize 2019.
The challenge this year was about diminishing youth unemployment and the diversity of ideas submitted was truly phenomenal. Undergraduate students came up with unique solutions to this global issue.
The ideas ranged from Jackfruit processing to digital health care service. Participants not only tried to solve unemployment issue but also offered to resolve some of the greatest problems commoners face everyday.
Young participant enterpreneurs had both technical and industry experts as their honorable judges who have in-depth knowledge and experience on social entrepreneurship.
However, it proved pretty challenging for the judges to pick out the best among such diverse presentations. After much anticipation, finally the group “Team Luminous” along with the 1st runner up “Team PI” and the 2nd runner up “The Good, The Bad and The Plagiarists” got the championship.
A member of the winning team Tabia Binte Farazi said, “Hult Prize at BUET was not a competition for us, it was a journey where we managed to reach a transit only. We are looking forward to going a long way with our idea.”
All three of the teams are now preparing for their Regional Finale where they have to compete with teams from renowned universities around the globe. In fact, almost all the participants are really motivated to keep working on their projects in near future.
“Every year, with the local round of Hult Prize, we get some really amazing social start-ups started from the campus. It was an honor to be a part of the whole process this year. Hult Prize gave me one of the biggest platforms to work on and I will always be grateful for that.” said Sadman Sakib, a participant.
Being glad and excited with the moment, Mustafa Rafid, Campus Director of this year’s “Hult Prize at BUET” hoped, “The freshly formed ideas this year will eventually turn into successful businesses and will create social impact.”
Note that “Hult Prize at BUET 2019” commenced with an online submission round where around 105 teams were found to submit their solutions to the challenge provided by former US President Bill Clinton. Among the numerous, extraordinary solutions, top 30 teams were selected for the Pitch Perfect round.
After one month of severe researching, experimenting and toiling, what the teams managed to produce in front of judges were truly marvelous. Nevertheless, only top 6 teams were selected to exhibit their ideas in the stage of Grand Finale.
Hult Prize with this year’s challenge is tackling Youth Unemployment issue head-on and Bangladesh is also becoming a part of it. This provides the students with their desired platform to flourish their entrepreneurial mindset.
Ensuring the growth of social entrepreneurship in Bangladesh, hence creating inspiration, is the ultimate motto of “Hult Prize at BUET”.
