Young scientists were bombarded with questions from curious visitors as they put on show their creations at Chattagram O Bigyan Charcha (Science in Chittagong) festival Friday.
Abdul Awal and friends, including Farzana Parvin and Omar Faruk, from Chittagong University showcased what they called "Ultrasonic Object Detector".
The device, Awal said, could produce signals as soon as an object enters its four-metre range. Users can apply the object detector as a door opener and a receiver tool for visually challenged people or have it installed in toys and other security appliances.
It takes only Tk 500 to Tk 700 to build the device, said Awal, who came with his team from the Department of Applied Physics, Electronics and Communication Engineering at CU.
Like Awal and friends, 1,157 students from 47 educational institutions of Chittagong took part in different events of the daylong science festival held at Fulki auditorium Friday. It was part of The Daily Star-Odommo Chattagram (Indomitable Chittagong) programme.
Dwaipayan Ghosh, Pappu Saha, Sunny Rodrigues and friends, all class VIII students of Saint Placid School, were displaying their project “Perfect House”, which needs no electricity from outside. The house taps sunlight to generate power for itself.
The house also consists of environment-friendly garbage treatment and water management systems, and thus making, the team said, it a perfect house.
A team from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Chittagong University has developed a software tool called "Result Management System". The software, as claimed by the students, can ease the process of publishing results.
Another project exhibited was "Automatic Entrance with Counter and Limiter" developed by a team of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at International Islamic University Chittagong (IIUC). The device automatically shuts itself after a certain number of items as commanded pass through it.
The science festival also included "Robotic Show", where ASROW, a science club at Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (Cuet), and Premier University Robotics Club presented different projects.
The ASROW team presented "Dual Tone Multi Frequency (DTMF) Control Robotic Arm". Factories and mills, the team said, could use the apparatus for carrying hot iron or dangerous items. Another Cuet team presented what they called "Line Follower Robot".
Two more Cuet teams displayed "Industrial Product Counter Robot" Digital Thermometre project and "Smart Home Security System" at the festival respectively.
Students Climate Cell, Cuet, exhibited "Climate Change Show", while students of Chittagong University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (CUVAS) presented "Experimental animal and alternative medicine exhibition".

IDEA CONTEST
The science festival also awarded three best ideas among 10 concepts which have been developed by young scientists from different institutions of the port city.
The idea of “Hybrid Rapid Sand Filter” by Mahmudul Hasan, a student of the Department of Forestry and Environmental Science at CU, was adjudged the top one.
Hasan showed in his concept how water could be purified in a simpler and easier way, and how it could remove the crisis of drinking water in future.
Winning the second prize was “Automatic Money Receiver”, an idea of Kawsar Hamid Miji, a student of the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (EEE) at Cuet.
The device enables clients to withdraw cash from bank accounts using a separate password, and thus eliminating the hassles of cheque transactions and saving time, he said.
The third prize was won jointly by Biplab Roy, student of Department of Marketing at CU, for his “Green Mosquito Coil” idea and Khalilur Rahman, student of the Department Pharmacy of IIUC, for his concept of “Vita Juice”.
Green Mosquito Coil is an environmentally clean item, which eliminates mosquitoes and avoids producing dangerous smoke. The production cost is also reasonable.
Khalilur's "Vita Juice" differs from ordinary juices in the market in that it is nutritious and contains a number of food values. It is consumable for people of all ages.
More ideas appearing in the Idea Contest were “Idea for the Development of Chittagong”, “Herbal Fat Reducer”, “Digitalisation of Academic Institutions in Bangladesh”, “Renewable Source of Energy”, “Automatic Power in Road Speed Breaker”, and “Bio-Detergent”.