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Team I-Eco, OnCampus Champions of Hult Prize 2023 Bangladesh national rounds from Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB), participated in the Hult Prize Regional Summit in Mumbai, India from 9-11 June 2023.
At the Mumbai Summit of the prestigious global competition, the IUB team showcased their low-cost, eco-friendly "Bio-polymer Eyewear", which is a frame for spectacles made out of jute derivatives. The base material of the frame is the famous bio-polymer or jute polymer, invented by celebrated Bangladeshi scientist Dr. Mubarak Ahmad Khan, now known worldwide for his trademarked “Sonali Bag”. Bio-polymer is a cellulose-based biodegradable polymer that is rapidly gaining acceptance as an alternative to plastics.
The theme for Hult Prize 2023 is "Redesigning Fashion", which aims to encourage student entrepreneurs to design and launch innovative social ventures in the clothing and fashion industry to make it more sustainable.
“There were a lot of great things to learn about entrepreneurship, presentation and pitching techniques from some of the most brilliant entrepreneurs of global caliber. We are also forever grateful to our alma mater, IUB, for sponsoring a major part of our travel and accommodation expenses in Mumbai. During our stay in Mumbai, we also got to interact with budding entrepreneurs from many renowned universities from across the globe. This experience is invaluable and will most definitely help us become real changemakers in the future. I am really grateful to IUB for this opportunity,” said Nahian Islam Asif, a member of the team.
“Our mentor and chief Advisor Dr. Mubarak Ahmad Khan is our main source of inspiration. Along with Ms. Farheen Khan, Director of IPR at IUB, who initially made the meeting with Dr. Mubarak possible and guided us through the difficult path of reaching the Mumbai Summit. We wouldn’t have been able to come this far without their generous guidance and support.” said Zahana Islam, another member of the team.
The other three members of the team are Nabeel Rahman, Hasib Al Mahmud and Sapnil Sarker Pollob. They competed with more than 60 teams from different universities from across the globe including University of Oxford, Princeton University, University of California, Berkeley, Columbia University, University of Toronto, Cornell University, New York University, Indian Institute of Technology and Indian Institute of Management.
“We are eternally grateful to our respected faculty members and officials for providing us with wholehearted support. The Global Gatekeepers Club of IUB also deserves a pat on the back for supporting the six-month journey starting from the OnCampus events, the campus Grand Finale to the Mumbai summit,” said Allin Mohana Biswas, Hult Prize Campus Director at IUB.
The Hult Prize, presented by the Hult International Business School, is an annual competition for ideas solving pressing social issues such as food security, water access, energy, and education, and so on. Named after Swedish philanthropist Bertil Eric Hult, the prize is awarded to college and university students from around the world. Former US president Bill Clinton selects the challenge topic and announces the winner each September, with the selected idea receiving USD 1 million in seed capital to be launched into a social enterprise. Launched in 2010, the Hult Prize Flagship Competition will be hosted this year in Paris, France following national and regional selections including Hult Prize OnCampus, Hult Prize Regional Summits, the Hult Prize Accelerator and the Hult Prize Global Finals.
Hult Prize1
Independent University, Bangladesh
