‘Engineering edu must contribute to sustainable dev’

City Desk :

The three-day “5th International Conference on Electrical, Computer and Telecommunication Engineering (ICECTE 2026)” was officially inaugurated on Friday at Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology (RUET).

The opening ceremony, held at RUET’s central auditorium, was attended by researchers, faculty members, and students from 15 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, Australia, China, Japan, Germany, India, South Korea, and Malaysia, says a press release.

RUET Vice-Chancellor Professor SM Abdur Razzak inaugurated the conference as the chief guest.
In his speech, he said, “Such conferences create opportunities for us not only to participate, but also to ask questions and connect with the world.

Engineering education must contribute to sustainable development.”
The conference, organized by RUET’s Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), features participation from both local and international researchers.

The inaugural session was chaired by Professor Dr. Bashir Ahmed, Dean of the Faculty of ECE. Special guests included Emeritus Professor Dr. Yoshinori Namihira of the University of the Ryukyus, Japan.

Professor Shahid Uz Zaman of RUET’s Department of Computer Science and Engineering spoke as a technical patron, while Professor Dr. Mohammad Imamul Hasan Bhuiyan, Chairman of IEEE Bangladesh Section, also addressed the audience.

The welcome speech was delivered by Professor Dr. Ajay Krishna Sarkar, Technical Chair of the organizing committee and Professor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering.

According to the Faculty of ECE, 995 research papers were submitted for presentation at the conference. After careful review, 335 papers were selected, of which 286 will be presented in person and later published in the internationally recognized IEEE Xplore Digital Library.

Conference Chair and ECE Dean Professor Dr. Bashir Ahmed said the conference highlights emerging topics such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Cybersecurity, Robotics, the Internet of Things (IoT), and Nanotechnology. Keynote sessions are being conducted by renowned professors from the United States, Australia, and Japan.
Although technical sessions began on Thursday, today marked the official inauguration. The conference will conclude with a closing ceremony on the evening of January 31.