Dhaka Residential Model College’s Arup-Bit team won the secondary-category championship at South Korea’s education ministry-organized 16th e-Icon World Contest. The final competition was held on August 7. The team included ICT department lecturer Syed Mahbub Hasan Amiri, Grade 12 student Md. Shafiul Alam Siddiqui Shreshtho, and SSC examinee Aranya Abir Khan Prapyo. The college disclosed the achievement in a press release on Sunday.

The contest received 242 projects from 37 countries, with 10 selected for the final. Finalist projects included teams from Bangladesh, the Philippines, Thailand, Rwanda, Moldova and Uzbekistan. The competition required participants to develop web applications to support implementation of SDG-3. Professors from three well-known South Korean universities and senior Samsung officials served as judges.

The contest had two stages. From July 1 to 31, the Bangladeshi team collaborated online with a Korean team; from August 2 to 7, it travelled to South Korea to present its project. Arup-Bit’s web application, Light House, focuses on reducing students’ screen time. It uses AI hardware intended to assist students, help prevent excessive workload-related problems, and encourage them to stay away from screens. The app is available at arupbit.com.