Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (Sust) administration on Sunday said when team Olik won Nasa's 2018 International Space Apps Challenge in the "Best Use of Data" category and was invited to visit Nasa (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) for the first time in 2019, they had a sponsorship of Tk8 lakh.
The team was allocated a total of Tk5 lakh from the University Grants Commission (UGC) and Tk3 lakh from the Sust administration.
Sust Vice-Chancellor Professor Farid Uddin Ahmed said: “A total of Tk8 lakh - Tk5 lakh from University Grants Commission and Tk3 lakh from the university administration - was allotted for sponsorship when team Olik received an invitation to go to Nasa in 2019.”
“When they were having visa complications, I personally talked to the foreign minister and a letter was also given to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The ministry then sent a note verbale to the American embassy to resolve their visa complications,” he said.
“No one has informed the university administration about Nasa's invitation this time. They (the team) managed the sponsorship themselves,” he added.
Meanwhile, one of the members of the team, Kazi Mainul Islam, said they were looking for private sponsors from the beginning.
“That is why no cooperation was sought from the university authorities,” he added.
The four members of team Olik started their journey to America from Dhaka's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Sunday.
Team Olik will participate in a Nasa event on Wednesday and Thursday.
In 2019, the team members were invited to visit Nasa for the first time. Even though they did not have the opportunity to go to Nasa due to visa complications, they were invited to visit Nasa for the second time again on December 2, 2022.
On February 27, the US Embassy in Dhaka issued visas for them to go to the Nasa headquarters.
However, due to financial complications, the members of the team faced problems in booking tickets.
Therefore, they took a loan as they failed to get a sponsor.
Olik's project was a Lunar VR that allows users to virtually explore the landing site of Apollo 11, orbit the moon with the LRO satellite, and also observe the eclipse from the lunar surface.
The team collected 3D models and information from various resources from Nasa.
They ranked in the top four, leaving behind 2,729 teams selected from 79 countries of the world.
The team members are - S M Rafi Adnan from the physics department and Kazi Mainul Islam, Abu Sadik Mehedi and Sabbir Hasan from the geography and environmental sciences department of Sust.