Become a UPG Sustainability Leader & Drive Global Impact

Why do you want to be a UPG Sustainability Leader?

I plan to start a multi-faith climate action network in Uzbekistan.

Select ONE of UPG’s 4 Pillars and tell us how this pillar can contribute to positive action on sustainability.

Community

Please use this pillar (selected above) to give us an example of something that you consider to be positive action on sustainability.

Last year, I joined TechVisionaries Research Community, a student-led organization at New Uzbekistan University. TechVisionaries aims to advance the Sustainable Development Goals making MRI diagnosis easier, faster, and cheaper using artificial intelligence and deep learning.

Recently, I founded the Open Community, bringing together over 150+ developers with a shared interest. We are all from diverse countries and nationalities including India, Uzbekistan, USA. Currently, we are actively participating in the hackathons with a solid vision building a more inclusive future focusing on sustainable energy development and climate action.

During my time at Dugree, I engaged in discussions on difficult topics including poverty, hunger, climate change, extremism, sustainable energy and human rights discrimination.

In addition to my academic work, I am an active member of the IT Community of Uzbekistan. We gather together twice in a month for “Hashar” and clean the environment.

Please give us a list of any strengths that you have which you believe make you capable to be a UPG Sustainability Leader.

Communication, Leadership, Teamwork, Problem-Solving, Networking, Resilience, Empathy, Creative, Research-Oriented

Please choose ONE of the strengths above and tell us about a time when you used this strength to achieve something.

Recently, I participated in the Huawei Seeds For The Future 2024 program, working in a team of seven diverse students. We faced constant challenges with our project. I stepped up to take the lead and convinced my team to work together more effectively. I clearly outlined the roadmap, created a comprehensive plan, and divided tasks accordingly. We not only finished the project on time but even submitted it earlier than expected. As a result, we advanced to the second stage.

Do you have experience where you acted as a volunteer? If so, tell us what you did/do AND what you learned from the experience. If you have never done any volunteering, please tell us why.

I am the founder and a volunteer at Open Community, where we actively participate in hackathons and develop open-source software. Our goal is to bring together motivated people from different backgrounds to work on impactful projects. In a recent project with a team of three, we used AI to integrate voice commands into open-source software, reducing build time by 33%. This experience highlighted my organizational skills and ability to meet tight deadlines. At Open Community, I also help young tech enthusiasts by providing a collaborative space for learning and innovation through hackathons, tutorials, and live sessions.

If you were to lead a sustainability-related project in your community, or within your organization, what would it be and why?

If I were to lead a sustainability-related project in my community, I would focus on developing AI-powered hybrid filtering systems to reduce emissions in energy production, especially in bioenergy plants. This system combines ESP, nanofiber-based filters, and wet scrubbers, using AI to optimize performance and enhance sustainability. By minimizing harmful emissions, it contributes to cleaner energy generation and supports renewable energy efforts.

In addition, I am researching how neural networks can improve climate event forecasting, as traditional methods struggle with complex patterns in climate data. AI has shown promise in predicting extreme weather events like hurricanes and heat waves with greater accuracy. This project would help my community better prepare for climate-related disasters and aligns with my broader goal of using technology to address climate change effectively.

Please share challenges that you expect to have doing this project. And how would you overcome the challenges?

The main challenges I expect to face when implementing the Hybrid Filtration System for thermal power plants include technical integration, resource availability, and high initial costs.

First, integrating new filtration technologies, like nanofiber-based filters and wet scrubbers, into Uzbekistan's older thermal power plants will require significant modifications to the existing systems. This could be technically complex and time-consuming.

Second, the availability of resources, such as nanofiber materials and the technical expertise for installation and maintenance, may be limited. This could lead to the need for importing both materials and specialists, increasing costs and logistical challenges.

Lastly, the initial investment for setting up such a system is high, due to the advanced technologies involved. Although long-term benefits, such as improved air quality and reduced health costs, will eventually outweigh these expenses, securing funding could be difficult at the start.

To overcome these challenges, I would propose starting with pilot projects at select plants to test the integration process. This phased approach allows us to refine the system before scaling. Additionally, I would seek international partnerships to bring in the necessary expertise and explore funding options, such as government incentives and international grants, to help manage the upfront costs. Lastly, training local engineers on maintaining and operating the system will ensure long-term sustainability.

Video LINK – OPTIONAL and STRONGLY RECOMMENDED – Submit a 2-minute video, speaking in ENGLISH and answering any of the questions from any section above. Or use the video to tell us more about yourself.

My current research focuses on building AI-powered hybrid filtering systems for reducing emissions in energy production, particularly in bioenergy plants. This system, which combines ESP, nanofiber-based filters, and wet scrubbers, dynamically optimizes performance using AI to enhance efficiency and sustainability. By minimizing harmful emissions, it supports cleaner renewable energy generation. I believe participating in the UPG Sustainability Leader program will provide valuable feedback and opportunities to collaborate with climate-conscious young leaders and industry experts to refine this project and explore its startup potential.

In addition to this project, I am actively working on a research paper titled 'Analyzing the Role of Neural Networks in Forecasting Climate-Related Events.'. Traditional methods often struggle with the complex patterns in climate data, but neural networks have demonstrated proficiency in identifying correlations within vast datasets, enabling more precise predictions of extreme weather events such as hurricanes, heatwaves, and heavy rainfall. This advancement has the potential to significantly improve disaster preparedness and response strategies. My paper explores both the practical applications and challenges of implementing neural networks in climate forecasting, with studies showing up to a 20% reduction in prediction errors compared to conventional models. This work aligns with my broader goal of leveraging technology to address climate change and further supports the need for innovative approaches to mitigating its impacts.