REACHING OUT TO YOUNG SCIENTISTS

Last weekend, the picturesque campus of Adamjee Cantonment College took on a festive look for the IBBL 2nd ACC National Science Festival. It's one of the premium events of the year for one of the oldest, most reputed institutions in the city, and it lived up to its standards as it welcomed hundreds of young science enthusiasts from across town.

Adamjee Cantonment College's Neutrino ACC Science Club hosted this festival at the school premises on January 21-23, and opened its doors to almost 800 students from more than 100 schools nationwide, who participated in as many as 20 events. The science project exhibition itself had around 200 entries, divided into 4 categories: mechanical, non -mechanical, psychological and IT. 

The projects included many interesting titles, including ones that reflected real creativity from the part of the young scientists. There was one team who had shown up with a project called "Petroleum from Water Hyacinth", and talked about it to visitors and judges alike with undeniable passion and ambitious plans for the future. A team put up all sorts of boards and graphs and offered a project called "Urea's Alternative" that would provide a greener solution to the many problems the farmers in rural Bangladesh face. A lot of the participants really took up on the psychological category, and offered their views on and solutions to the problems that the human mind faces. A project that interested many visitors was called "Cyber Bullying", drawing people's attention to its adverse effects and offering scientific solutions to counter it. 

Mushfik Rahman and Samin Safayat from St. Joseph Higher Secondary School had a rather modest looking project with an interesting name. "Our project is called 'Psychology of a Dictator'," they said, "and I am hoping to explain to people what components of the human brain might possibly make people act like these crazy, often deluded, world leaders."   
The list of events at this year's ACC Science Festival extended well beyond just science projects. They had 9 different Olympiads, which garnered a huge response. Wall magazine display, IQ test, Sudoku, science fiction story writing, scrapbook display, science-based extempore speech, crossword and criminal identification were among events that the participants could choose from. They also had a Rubik's Cube competition that was special because it had a different category for girls, something the organisers believe will encourage more participation from girls. The General Knowledge Quiz Competition was also deemed a special event because it was orchestrated by celebrity quizmaster Ferdous Bappy. 

The general proceedings of the whole affair were smooth, and General Secretary of the Neutrino Science Club, Mubasshir Ahmed Sadman, believes it was down to the guidance and adeptness of the club members. 

"I would like to say that the success of this event was really down to the cumulative effort of all the members, the Chief Advisor, the President, mentors and organising secretaries of the club," he said. 

Wasi Ahmad Ananta, President of the club, thanked the volunteers, the panel members and moderators of the club. "There weren't too many bumps along the road, but whenever they did come, it was well handled thanks to everyone's sincere efforts. We are happy to say that we put up a successful event and helped in doing justice to the reputation of our college," he said. 

Md. Mizanur Rahman, Associate Professor of Physics at Adamjee Cantonment College acted as the chief moderator of the Neutrino ACC Science Club, and he talked about the bigger picture behind events such as these: "In these modern times, the nation that pursues scientific progress goes the furthest. Bangladesh is well on its way to achieve that, and we, as an educational institution, are trying our best to contribute by helping the students reach a certain level. Hopefully events such as these will help push us along to something great." 

Major General Siddiqur Rahman was present as the special guest for the inauguration ceremony. The prize giving ceremony was attended by renowned scientist, Professor Mohammad Kaykobad, and Major General Abdus Salam. Principal of the college, Brigadier General Tameem Ahmed Chowdhury, OSP, ndc, psc, was present for both ceremonies. 
Adamjee Cantonment College has joined in and declared itself proudly in the commendable practice of schools in Dhaka organising grand events to promote scientific thinking and create interest in the sciences. They have set the bar high in terms of quality in organising and given the students a truly wonderful experience. 

Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited was the title sponsor of this event, co-sponsored by Walton, with magazine partner REHAB, media partner Channel I and Radio Foorti, and print media partner Kaler Kontho. SHOUT was Youth Partner for the festival.

When he's not obsessing over football, Azmin spends his time devising way of not getting mugged, only to fail miserably. Give him advice at fb.com/azminazran