19 year old Bangladeshi Research Project won award

SEOUL — Nineteen-year-old Bangladeshi researcher Zabeer Zarif Akhter has won an Outstanding Award at the World Water Challenge 2026 in Daegu, South Korea.

His research project, titled “UrbanSentinel: A Deep-Learning Node Network for Predicting, Tracing, and Neutralizing Urban Water Contamination,” is an artificial intelligence and deep-learning-based system that integrates water contamination detection, purification, and verification into a single system.

Competing at the international forum held during Korea International Water Week, Zabeer secured the honor and a cash prize for his groundbreaking project, UrbanSentinel. Developed with research support from BUET, the AI-powered deep-learning system is designed to predict, trace, and neutralize urban water contamination in real-time, bringing global recognition to Bangladeshi youth-led technological innovation in water resource management.