One hundred candidates from around the world, out of over 1500, have been shortlisted for the Moonshot Awards 2022. Amongst them are three Bangladeshis – Sheikh Rakib Shahriar Rimen, Farhin Ahmed, and Murshidul Alam Bhuiyan.

Moonshot Platform is a digital non-profit movement connecting young people with impactful ideas to key change-makers in pursuit of solving 21st century challenges. It is an initiative of the Class of 2019 of Henry Crown Fellows.

Architects of the Moonshot Platform are c-suite leaders from different corners of the world, from a wide spectrum of disciplines with significant cultural and political diversity.

Moonshot Awards 2022 is the inaugural year of their global ceremony recognising exceptional young mission-driven founders and change-makers.

The Awards will reward leaders in sustainable development, helping them move closer to addressing the UN SDGs by providing prize money, connections, and PR exposure that allows them to inspire on a global scale. Additionally, the winners will be joining the Moonshot Youth Leaders Camp.

About the projects

Sheikh Rakib Shahriar Rimen was shortlisted under the "Idea" category.  His project, "O-zone" is a greenhouse gas filtration device. It can control the greenhouse emission by more than 60 percent, according to the test report of the Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR). He believes the mass implementation of O-Zone could potentially reduce the risk of climate change and can contribute to a better and sustainable future.

Farhin Ahmed came up with the idea for "Inside", an early-stage healthcare platform that provides virtual reality therapy services to its patients. They plan to introduce VR exposure therapy (VRET) in South Asia to treat major symptoms among mental health patients in different hospitals and healthcare centres. These features would allow the patients to immerse into a simulated environment specific to the patient's requirements. Farhin was shortlisted under the "Learning" category.

Murshidul Alam Bhuiyan was shortlisted under the "Borderless" category for the founding of Team Bertho. It is a global platform that gathers and publicises stories from a diverse demographic of people. Founded in 2016, Team Bertho works on documenting the life experiences gathered from all races, nationalities, ethnicity, religion, gender identity, sexuality, etc, with the mission to foster sustainable positive global connections.

The shortlisted submissions will be assessed by a jury, consisting of leaders working in relevant fields for each category, and the four winners from each of these categories will be announced on November 17, in New York.