Top 9 ‘Seeds for The Future 2022, Bangladesh’ to go to Thailand

Huawei announced the top nine participants of "Seeds for The Future 2022, Bangladesh" in a gala event held at Hotel Sheraton, Banani, Dhaka on 2 July.

The winners will go to Thailand for the next round of the event to join the other winners of Asia Pacific countries, said a press release.  

Based on merit score from various tests and exams, the top nine students have been selected from 30 students of the second round, while 1000 students took part in this year's programme.  In the next round in Thailand, these students will get various types of trainings and compete with their project idea and submissions. The winners of Thailand round will travel to Singapore to participate in "Tech4Good Accelerator Camp". After finishing the whole programme, Champions will get Huawei Matebook laptop.

The nine winners are: Golam Mahmud Samdani from BUET, Shadmin Sultana from University of Dhaka, Madiha Binte Zakir and Mehreen Tabassum from RUET, Wasifa Rahman Rashmi and MD Sumit Hasan from IUT Bangladesh, Mohammad Iftekher Ebne Jalal from CUET, Lazib Sharar Shaiok and Mohsina Taz from BRAC University.    

The chief guest of the gala event was Mustafa Jabbar, minister of the Posts and Telecommunications Division. Meanwhile, special guests were Yue Liwen, cultural counselor of Embassy of China in Bangladesh, Beatrice Kaldun, head of the office and UNESCO Representative to Bangladesh and Prof Dr Mohammad Rafiqul Islam, vice-chancellor, Islamic University of Technology. Jason Li, board member, Huawei Technologies (Bangladesh) Limited, also graced the event with his presence. 

Posts & Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar said, "We need to explore the STEM fields and equip our next generation with advanced ICT knowledge. Through such programmes, we are walking towards that goal. I find Seeds for the Future to be very inspiring, and I am sure our students feel the same way too. I applaud Huawei for carrying out this initiative and congratulate the winners for their participation."

Beatrice Kaldun, head of the office and UNESCO Representative to Bangladesh, said, "Huawei is creating such a wonderful opportunity for the youth to learn and inspire others to learn. I truly believe that lessons learnt from participating in this program will help the participants in their future endeavors, which will in turn, be beneficial for the society and the country's growth."

Yue Liwen, cultural counselor of Embassy of China to Bangladesh said at the event, "Huawei believes in collaborative effort and empowerment of the ecosystem. Since the youth are a very important part of this ecosystem, Huawei is committed to improving the digital skills of the youth across the globe." He added, "Seeds for the Future is such a program that has been successfully nurturing students of different universities and helping them to obtain industry-oriented knowledge. The Chinese Embassy also has been dedicated to helping develop young talents of Bangladesh. Every year we provide China government scholarships, provincial scholarships, university scholarships, and Confucius scholarships. We hope, with this kind of effort from the embassy and the companies like Huawei, will help the realization of Digital Bangladesh as well as Smart Bangladesh."

Jason Li, Board Member of Huawei Technologies (Bangladesh) Limited, said, "Developing a sound ecosystem to nurture ICT talents in the industry is what Huawei is striving for. Huawei has plan to invest USD 150 million in this Seeds for the Future programme globally to improve the capacity of our young talents. Bangladesh has a good portion of youth and Huawei will always be there with different types of unique initiatives to take the country nearer to its Smart Bangladesh dream."

Student representative Mohammad Iftekher Ebne Jalal, EEE student of Chittagong University of Engineering & Technology said, "In the seeds for the future program we have participated in many stages. There was a mentorship stage where I got to learn a lot. This programme has helped me, and many like me, to articulate ideas into a substantial plan, leading us closer to our ambition."

Huawei has been contributing in various ways to develop a comprehensive ICT ecosystem in Bangladesh. The global ICT infrastructure provider is helping the country reap the benefits of digital transformation. 'Seeds for the Future' is one such initiative by Huawei, which was launched globally in 2008 in Thailand. So far, this program has been implemented in 137 countries worldwide, and around 12,000 students and 500+ universities around the world have been benefitted through this initiative. Dedicated to top STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) and non-STEM students, SFTF offers huge learning opportunities to the participants.