Bangladeshi student teams secured two gold and two silver medals at the World Invention Creativity Olympics 2026 in Seoul, South Korea. Held from July 16 to 18 at Seoul National University of Education, the competition gathered nearly 2,000 young inventors, researchers and innovators. Projects were assessed for originality, technical development, practical value and participants’ performance during questions from the judging panel.

Four of the six participating Bangladeshi teams won medals. Kinjal Nag Dibbo, Manha Suad and Md. Mihran Tamim received gold for Project Sync, an autonomous robot designed to remove floating waste from rivers. A second gold went to Abtahi Md. Shadman Haq Taqui of Eco Fusion BD for an environmental project.

Project Sync, also called Echo Aqua Rover, includes an HD camera and an emergency recovery system. The team plans to add machine-learning functions to improve navigation and waste identification. Its members have also studied ways to turn collected material into products such as plastic tiles and paper, supported by a business plan for possible commercial use.

Team RoboCore members Muhtasim Rahman Bhuiyan, Tahsin Bhuiyan and Raiyan Bhuiyan earned silver for Project Demeter. Their proposal is a low-cost autonomous farming robot that could assist small farmers with irrigation and fertiliser use. Navid Bin Shafi Shuvo and Mahir Shahriar Abedin of Team Maya Belt won the other silver medal for an assistive-technology project.

Dibbo said the journey required months of preparation and significant self-funding, which left the team uncertain until travel documents were approved. The students now want to develop their prototypes into complete systems and seek the financial and technical support needed for wider use. Their results placed Bangladeshi work in robotics, agriculture, environmental protection and assistive technology before an international audience.