Through a tough fight with 28,000 competitors and 4,534 teams from 162 countries, the joint team of KUET and BAUET named “Mohakash” (The space) became the “World Champion” in the “Best Mission Concept” category of the Space Aps Challenge organized by the US space agency NASA.
The team that became the world champion was nominated by NASA as the champion from Khulna, Bangladesh. Led by Sumit Chanda, a student of Mechanical Engineering Department of KUET, the other members of the team are: Trisha Basak, a student of Computer Science and Engineering Department of Army University of Engineering and Technology in Bangladesh; Alvi Ronak, a student of Leather Engineering Department of KUET, Sameer Imtiaz of CSE Department, Shishir Kairi of Civil Engineering Department and Mominul Haque CSE Department of BAUET.
Congratulating the winners, Zunaid Ahmed Palak, State Minister for Information and Communication Technology, said: “Our young people can solve the space-related problems as well and the team Mohakash (The space) consists of BAUET and KUET has set an example of their talent. This time, the ICT department will take care of them so that they can go to NASA to receive the award.”
The state minister also thanked Ariful Hasan Apu, director of BASIS and convener of BASIS Students Forum, who was the hero behind the team’s victory.
In past human missions to the moon, astronauts have complained that they have trouble working in the dust on the surface. At low gravity, dust particles are easily raised and floated, making it difficult for astronauts to collect samples, as well as ionizing due to cosmic radiation, which could have caused damage to the spacesuit. Team Mohakash invents an effective solution to this problem, inventing a toolset that traps these dust particles in a closed chamber and prevents the dust from floating.
The ARSS-Advanced Regolith Sampler System, a tool invented by Team Mohakash will be used by astronauts to control the free flight of cosmic dust during space missions.