AI ideas from 7,000 students of 70 universities, Labdab's 'EcoClip' wins FutureMakers

The grand finale of the second edition of Grameenphone's 'FutureMakers' competition was held at a hotel in the capital. At the finale, organised on Tuesday (10 November), Team Labdab won first place for its project 'EcoClip'.

The competition was organised for university students across the country around artificial intelligence (AI)-based ideas. This year's theme was 'AI for Social Good'. In this edition, more than 7,000 students from more than 70 universities in the country submitted 1,103 ideas. Student participation this year was 40 percent higher than in the first edition in 2025.

In the second edition of FutureMakers, university students from both STEM and non-STEM streams were called on to develop AI-driven ideas on seven challenging topics. The topics were digital inclusion and education, healthcare and mental well-being, skills development and employment opportunities, gender equality and inclusion, environmental balance and climate response, and safety, security and data privacy, alongside other areas.

Rehan Asif Asad, adviser to the Prime Minister on posts, telecommunications and information technology, attended the grand finale as chief guest. The special guest was Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) Chairman Major General Md Emdad Ul Bari. Also present were Norwegian Ambassador to Bangladesh Hakon Arald Gulbrandsen, senior Grameenphone officials, industry experts, technology professionals and participating students.

The finalists presented their solutions before a judging panel. The panel included BTRC Commissioner for Engineering and Operations Brigadier General Iqbal Ahmed, Grameenphone Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Yasir Azman, Chief Human Resources Officer Syeda Tahiya Hossain, Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer Andreas Hagberg, Chief Product Officer Solaiman Alam, Chief Business Officer Dr Asif Naimur Rashid and Chief Information Officer Dr Niranjan Srinivasan.

The judging panel evaluated the ideas considering innovation, feasibility, how much social impact they could create, and the practical application of AI.

The winning Team Labdab's 'EcoClip' is an AI-powered clip-on device that transforms an ordinary stethoscope into a tool for detecting possible early signs of heart disease.

Team River Sentinel came second. They built an AI-powered system to forecast river erosion; it can identify at-risk areas and give forecasts or advance warnings to people at risk.

Team Jinxed came third, for the project 'Sposto AI'. It is an AI-assisted speech-therapy application through which guided practice at home and progress measurement are possible, so that treatment can be ensured according to an individual's needs.

The winning teams were awarded in recognition of their creativity and the potential of their solutions. They received prizes of Tk 3 lakh, Tk 2 lakh and Tk 1 lakh respectively.

Alongside the prizes, the winning teams will also get the opportunity to join Grameenphone's flagship talent development programme 'Next Business Leader' and the 'Nextern Internship Programme' directly, it was announced at the event.