The inauguration of the first Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) Research Lab in Bangladesh was held on December 12 at 5:30 P.M. at UIU Campus, Madani Avenue, Badda, Dhaka.
Mr. Zunaid Ahmed Palak, MP, Honorable State Minister of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Division, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh was present as the Chief Guest in the inaugural ceremony. Mr. N M Zeaul Alam PAA, Senior secretary of ICT Division, Dr. Bikarna Kumar Ghosh, Managing Director, Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority, Mr. Moinuddin Hasan Rashid, Chairman & Managing Director, United Group were present as the Special Guests in the ceremony. Welcome speech delivered by Prof. Dr. M Rezwan Khan, Executive Director, Institute for Advanced Research, UIU. Prof. Dr. Chowdhury Mofizur Rahman, Vice-Chancellor of UIU presided over the inaugural ceremony.
The Chief Guest said that “It is a timely demand to establish a Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) Research Lab for enhancing research capacity to build our strength and help to improve quality of life of people through 4IR technologies”.
This Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) Research Lab in Advanced Intelligent Multidisciplinary Systems Lab (AIMS Lab) at United International University was established with funding from the Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority (BHTPA), ICT Division. This Lab will play a very effective role in enhancing the research and development capacity in the fields of Human-Computer Interface, Brain-Machine Interface, Biomedical and Rehabilitation Engineering in Bangladesh. This Lab ensures opportunities for Neural Engineering research and its applications in Bangladesh. The successful execution of research works in this lab will create new knowledge and interventions for impacting human lives with opportunities for commercialization in Bangladesh for the First Time.
Since 2015, Advanced Intelligent Multidisciplinary Systems Lab (AIMS Lab) at UIU was founded by Prof. Dr. Khondaker Abdullah Al Mamun and he is the Director of this lab. AIMS Lab has consistently maintained high standards of research and development and made significant contributions from innovation to commercialization in Bangladesh.
Recently, AIMS Lab achieved 4 Awards out of Top 10 in Mujib100 Idea Contest 2021 in the International Conference on 4th Industrial Revolution and Beyond (IC4IR) 2021, 10 & 11 Dec 2021, Dhaka, Bangladesh. The 4 projects are AI Customer Service: The Future Smart Customer Support for Better Customer Satisfaction, PVDoctor: Smartphone-based Virtual tool for Parkinson’s Disease Identification and Monitoring, DEEP-DEPRESSION: Smart Diagnostic Tool for Early Identification of Depression Biomarkers, and iPower: An Intelligent Electricity Demand Forecast and Optimization Application.
Faculty members, officials, academicians, medical specialists, government officials, researchers and other distinguished guests from various universities and institutions in Bangladesh were present at the inaugural ceremony.