For the 11th consecutive year, the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS), in collaboration with the BASIS Students’ Forum, is set to organize the Bangladesh chapter of NASA’s Space Apps Challenge 2024.

BASIS signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the American International University-Bangladesh (AIUB), which will be the title sponsor for this year’s competition.

The MoU signing ceremony took place at AIUB, with BASIS President Russell T. Ahmed, BASIS Vice President (Finance) Iqbal Ahmed Fakhrul Hasan, Convener of the NASA Space Apps Challenge 2024 Bangladesh Chapter Abhijit Bhowmik, Local Leads Anisul Haq, and Sanjar Adnan Alam representing BASIS.

On behalf of AIUB, Nadia Anwar, Founding Member and Chairperson of the Board of Trustees, AIUB Proctor Manzur H Khan, and Deputy Director of the Office of Student Affairs Ziarat Hossain Khan were present.

The global competition, scheduled for October 4-5, 2024, will be held across 185 countries and cities. Bangladesh has previously earned the distinction of becoming the world champion four times, including a hat-trick of victories.

NASA, through this international event, brings together talented young professionals from various fields—technologists, scientists, designers, artists, educators, and entrepreneurs—to find innovative solutions to global challenges.

As part of this initiative, BASIS will organize the competition in nine cities across Bangladesh, including Dhaka, Chattogram, Sylhet, Rajshahi, Khulna, Barishal, Rangpur, Mymensingh, and Cumilla.

BASIS President Russell T. Ahmed commented on the occasion, “BASIS is consistently working to create new opportunities for the youth. These young minds will lead to the prosperous future of Bangladesh. Our creative young participants have successfully solved the challenges posed by NASA’s Space Apps Challenge, earning the honor of being world champions four times, including three consecutive wins. This year marks our 11th participation in this competition, and I am confident that our participants will again make our nation proud on the international stage.”