BRAC University

BRAC University
ব্র্যাক বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়
Seal of BRAC University
Other name
 BRACU
Motto Inspiring Excellence
Type Private
Established 2001 (2001)
Chancellor President Abdul Hamid
Vice-Chancellor Shib Narayan Kairy (acting)[1]
Academic staff
 658[2] (2014)
Students 6513[2] (2014)
Undergraduates 5305[2] (2014)
Postgraduates 1208[2] (2014)
Location Mohakhali, Dhaka, Bangladesh
23°46′49″N 90°24′26″E / 23.7802°N 90.4072°E / 23.7802; 90.4072Coordinates: 23°46′49″N 90°24′26″E / 23.7802°N 90.4072°E / 23.7802; 90.4072
Campus Urban
Colours              Blue Black Grey
Nickname BRACUIAN
Affiliations University Grants Commission Bangladesh
Website bracu.ac.bd

BRAC University (BRACU) is a private University in Bangladesh. It was founded as a branch of the BRAC organization by Fazle Hasan Abed in 2001 under the Private University Act, 1991.[3][4]

BRAC University founder Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, KCMG,delivering speech at 11th Convocation of the university

History

Fazle Hasan Abed, a Bangladeshi social worker is the founder of BRAC University.[5]

Campus

The campus of BRACU is located at Mohakhali, Dhaka. The university is also building its permanent campus located at Pragati Sarani, Dhaka. The university is supposed to shift to its permanent campus by 2021.[6]

Academic features

Schools

  • BRAC Business School
  • School of Law
  • James P Grant School of Public Health
  • School of Engineering and Computer Science

Institutes

  • BRAC Institute of Governance And Development
  • BRAC Institute of Languages
  • BRAC Institute of Educational Development

Centres

  • Centre for Climate Change and Environmental Research
  • Centre for Entrepreneurship Development
  • Control and Applications Research Centre
  • Professional Development Centre

Departments

  • Department of Architecture
  • Economics And Social Sciences
  • Department of English and Humanities
  • Department Mathematics and Natural Sciences
  • Department of Pharmacy
  • Department of Computer science and engineering[7]

Resources and facilities

  • Ayesha Abed Library[8]
  • GDLN Center[9]
  • Counselling Unit[10]
  • Writing Center[11]
  • Cafeteria

Financial support

BRAC University provides financial support to the students starting from full funding to partial tuition waivers.[12]

Scholarships

  • Performance Based Scholarship
  • Merit Based Scholarship

Financial waiver

  • Siblings
  • BRAC Scholarship
  • Need based Scholarship
  • Physically Challenged Students
  • BRACU Employee Child Scholarship
  • Children of Freedom Fighters
  • Spouse, Father - Son/Daughter, Mother - Son/Daughter
  • Children of BRAC Employees
  • Debater’s Blue

Vice-chancellors


BRAC University Vice-chancellors
Year of JoiningExpiration of Tenure of OfficeName
20012010Jamilur Reza Choudhury
20102014Ainun Nishat
2014PresentSyed Saad Andaleeb

Residential campus

BRAC University's residential semester is mandatory for every undergraduate students to attend and usually the duration is around 3 months. The residential semester is situated in Savar, Dhaka District. A number of separate dormitories for male and female students, teacher's quarter, computer lab, class rooms, seminar hall Sulla, common places, four dining (Tripti, Sugondha, Tushti, Shurovi & Kosturi), library, medical center and psychological consultation center exist in the campus.[13]

Convocations

BRACU celebrated its first convocation in 28 January 2006.

BRAC University Convocation
No.YearConvocational SpeakerAcquaintance
1st Convocation28 January 2006Allan RosenfieldDean Mailman, School of Public Health, Columbia University, USA[14]
2nd Convocation8 February 2007Professor Gowher RizviDirector, Ash Institute Kennedy School of Government Harvard University[15]
3rd Convocation30 December 2008Professor Rehman SobhanChairman, Centre for Policy Dialogue[16]
4th Convocation5 February 2009Rajat GuptaMcKinsey & Company, Inc. United States[17]
5th Convocation7 February 2010Professor Martha ChenHarvard Kennedy School[18]
6th Convocation7 February 2011Mary RobinsonFormer President of Ireland[19]
7th Convocation19 February 2012Muhammad Habibur RahmanJustice, Supreme Court of Bangladesh[20]
8th Convocation17 February 2013Rahul BosePhilanthropist and Bollywood Actor[21]
9th Convocation20 November 2014Professor Emeritus AnisuzzamanUniversity of Dhaka[22]
10th Convocation5 November 2015Matiur RahmanDaily Prothom Alo[23][24]
11th Convocation5 December 2016Shabana AzmiPhilanthropist and Bollywood Actress[25][26]
12th Convocation13 December 2017Dr. Shahidul Alam, MDActivist and Social Reformer[27]

Launching of nano-satellite BRAC Onnesha

Initial steps

On 15 June 2016, Syed Saad Andaleeb, Vice Chancellor at BRAC University, signed a contract with the Kyushu Institute of Technology (Kyutech), Japan, on behalf of BRAC University. This led to the collaborative building of the first experimental university-made nano-satellite of Bangladesh, designed, developed and assembled by three students from the EEE Department of BRAC University. On 8 February 2017, Andaleeb received BRAC Onnesha from Kyutech's President Yuji Oie and Mengu Cho, Kyutech's Director of the Laboratory of Spacecraft Environment Interaction Engineering.[28]

BRAC Onnesha

BRAC Onnesha is a nano-satellite shaped as a 10 centimetres (3.9 in) cube capable of completing one orbit 400 kilometres (250 mi) above the ground in 90 minutes and passing over Bangladesh four to six times a day.[29]

BRACU took up an initiative to start space and remote sensing research in collaboration with Kyutech and the Space Research and Remote Sensing Organization (SPARRSO).[30] Three students from BRACU – Kafi, Antara and Maisun – went to Kyutech to design, develop and assemble the first nano-satellite.[31] BRACU will also build a ground station in its Mohakhali campus to analyse data and photographs sent from space for further research purposes.

Ground station inauguration

The ground station built for BRAC Onnesha was set up on the rooftop of the university's Building #4. Fazle Hasan Abed, Chairperson for the BRACU Board of Trustees, inaugurated the ground station on 25 May 2017.[32] The ground station is capable of receiving topographical data gathered by BRAC Onnesha when deployed into low Earth orbit. The BRACU researchers will analyse and interpret data, taken in the form of high quality photographs, on space environment, which is expected to serve the academic and research goals of the university and the nation as a whole.

Launch to space

BRAC Onnesha was launched on 3 June 2017 at 21:07 UTC (4 June at 03:07 BST) aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as part of the CRS-11 mission to the International Space Station. The launch took place from Kennedy Space Center, Florida.[33]

Research and innovations

BRACU Chondrobot-2

BRAC University had sent a robot named Chondrobot-2 to NASA for competing NASA Lunabotics Mining Competition on May 2012. "ChondroBot-2" a robotics team from the School of Engineering and Computer Science of BRAC University received the Asia's Best title in the recently held NASA`s third "Annual Lunabotics Mining Competition (LMC)" in USA.[34]

Chondrobot-2 team from Brac University was the only university from Bangladesh which was successful to collect samples by their lunar excavation device in mining stage and also discharge those in the designated place. The team also received best position in "Joe Kosmo Award of Excellence" segment which eventually helped Chondrobot -2 to secure 12th among all the teams around the world. Mobile Phone operator Robi Axiata Limited was the co-sponsor of Chondrobot lunar excavation device of this tour to NASA Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA.[35]

Solar ambulance for rural areas

The Control & Applications Research Centre (CARC) of BRACU has redesigned and developed an ambulance van with required modifications based on valuable feedbacks obtained from drivers, patients and BRAC Health Nutrition and Population Program (HNPP) personnel during the field test conducted at Genda, Savar. The upgraded and modified version of the electrically assisted ambulance van has thicker and smaller wheels to ensure the vehicle can be driven smoothly on all types of road conditions, stronger chassis for better stability, two motors and increased battery power to increase the speed and mileage.[36]

On 26 May 2016, the modified ambulance van was delivered to the CARC research facility located at Genda, Savar to conduct the performance test of this vehicle on the roads. The field test has been conducted and the performance of this vehicle has improved remarkably. Patients were carried from their houses to nearby hospitals using this modified ambulance vans. Local people and patients expressed their gratitude and satisfaction with this innovation and they felt that this vehicle can provide better health services to rural people in rural community.[37]

Hult Prize at BRAC University

BRAC University's Synergy Global team won the regional round of the HULT Prize in Shanghai, China held on 12 March 2016.[38] The team competed against other teams of 40 countries and is the first ever team from other Bangladeshi universities to win the regional round.The members of the winning team from BRAC University were: Mirza Tanzim Sami, Tasneem Omar Ava, Arafat Ahmed, and Mohammad Saad.

Team 'Resurgence' presented their social business idea in the regional finals of the Hult Prize 2017 held at Shanghai.The team was among top 6 in the finals.[39]

References

  1. ↑ "The Vice Chancellor (Acting) | BRAC University". www.bracu.ac.bd. Retrieved 2018-08-28.
  2. 1 2 3 4 2016 Annual Report, Published by The University Grants Commission of Bangladesh, p. 160. Accessed 26 April 2017
  3. ↑ "Private University Act, 1992". the original. Archived from the original on 2003-04-25.
  4. ↑ University, BRAC. "POLICIES AND PROCEDURES". www.bracu.ac.bd. BRAC University.
  5. ↑ "শুভ জন্মদিন স্যার ফজলে হাসান আবেদ" [Happy Birthday Sir Fazle Hasan Abed]. Samakal. 27 April 2016. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  6. ↑ "BRAC University: "ground breaking announcement program brac university new campus"". BRAC University.
  7. ↑ "BRAC University (academics)". BRAC University.
  8. ↑ "BRAC University (Ayesha Abed Library)". BRAC University.
  9. ↑ "BRAC University (GDLN Centre)". BRAC University.
  10. ↑ "Counseling Service at Residential Semester of BRACU". Dhaka Tribune.
  11. ↑ "BRAC University". BRAC University.
  12. ↑ "বেসরকারি বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়, বৃত্তি নিয়ে পড়ালেখা" [Study with scholarship]. Prothom Alo (in Bengali). 15 January 2007. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  13. ↑ "Residential Campus". BRAC University.
  14. ↑ "1st Convocation BRAC University". BRAC University.
  15. ↑ "2nd Convocation BRAC University". BRAC University.
  16. ↑ "3rd Convocation BRAC University". BRAC University.
  17. ↑ "4th Convocation BRAC University". BRAC University.
  18. ↑ "5th Convocation BRAC University". BRAC University.
  19. ↑ "6th Convocation BRAC University". BRAC University.
  20. ↑ "7th Convocation BRAC University". BRAC University.
  21. ↑ "8th Convocation BRAC University". BRAC University.
  22. ↑ "9th Convocation BRAC University". BRAC University. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  23. ↑ "10th Convocation BRAC University". BRAC University. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  24. ↑ "ব্র্যাক বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ের সমাবর্তন আজ" [The convocation of BRAC University today]. Prothom Alo (in Bengali). 5 November 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  25. ↑ "11th Convocation BRAC University". BRAC University. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  26. ↑ "ব্র্যাক বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ের জমকালো সমাবর্তন" [The brilliant convocation of BRAC University]. Bangladesh Pratadin (in Bengali). 6 December 2016. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  27. ↑ "12th Convocation BRAC University". BRAC University. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  28. ↑ "Brac University says 'hi' to first nano-satellite". The Daily Star. 8 February 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  29. ↑ "First nanosatellite ready for launch". The Daily Star. 9 February 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  30. ↑ "Bangladeshi nano satellite to be in orbit mid 2017". New Age. 16 June 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  31. ↑ "BRAC Onnesha: First nano-satellite in BD". The Daily Observer. 8 February 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  32. ↑ "Ground station ready to receive data from country's first nano-satellite". The Independent. 26 May 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  33. ↑ "BRAC Onnesha launches into space". Daily Sun. 5 June 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  34. ↑ "Made for the moon". Dhaka Tribune. 15 March 2015.
  35. ↑ "ChondroBot". The Daily Star. 17 May 2012.
  36. ↑ "Improvised, new look 3-wheelers in the making The environment-friendly, cost-effective vehicles show promising future". The Daily Star. 21 October 2016.
  37. ↑ Mushfique Wadud (14 February 2017). "Cheap solar ambulances to speed into service in rural Bangladesh". Reuters.
  38. ↑ "Brac University students win big in Shanghai". New Age.
  39. ↑ "BRACU team set for Shanghai regional round of Hult Prize 2017". Dhaka Tribune.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.