From UNDP.org or The Daily Star.
We are proud to announce that our Founder and CEO, Muhammad Imtiaz, has been featured in Transformers—a joint publication by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the HerStory Foundation—for his outstanding contributions to Sustainable Development Goal 9 (SDG 09): Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure.
My Way or High Way, No Matter What i will do it
This recognition celebrates his visionary leadership and relentless pursuit of innovation that empowers communities and builds climate-resilient infrastructure. His transformational journey is now immortalized alongside 16 other young changemakers in Transformers, a book that captures stories of resilience, innovation, and hope.
As the inventor of FreeFall, a life-saving AI-powered emergency evacuation system, Imtiaz continues to push boundaries to make cities safer and smarter. His inclusion in Transformers is a testament to the global relevance of his work, which intersects safety technology, inclusive innovation, and climate action.
We are honored by this recognition and grateful to UNDP and HerStory for amplifying voices that are shaping a sustainable future.
📘 Read more on UNDP.org or The Daily Star.
Goal 9: Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure
MD. Imtiaz Uddin Chowdhury
When fires, earthquakes or other catastrophes strike, a blocked exit door can result in death. Many buildings do not follow safety rules and people working or living on the top floors risk being trapped with no way to escape but the windows. This is why, our next Transformer, Muhammad Imtiaz Uddin Chowdhury took it upon himself to create an inflatable escape slide that is used on the ouside of a building to save people from falling.
Long before creating Free Fall, when Imtiaz was just a little boy, he dreamed of becoming a computer engineer. Obsessed with programming and graphic design he learned everything he could online and at 15 Imtiaz got his first paid job to make a company logo – all those days and nights in front of the screen were finally paying off! In 2011, at just 19 Imtiaz opened his own IT firm, Sigma IT Institute.
He felt successful and things were going well, but then on April 25, 2015 something happened that changed him. An earthquake shook Nepal, so strong that the aftershocks were felt all the way in Bangladesh. Nepal was in ruins and 9,000 people lost their lives. This natural tragedy deeply affected Imtiaz, he could not stop thinking about the people who died because they were stuck in buildings with no way out.
A graduate of computer science and engineering, Imtiaz began to apply his problem solving skills to this challenge. He wanted to create a cheap, easy and fast solution for buildings. He began to research safe exit strategies especially the inflatable airplane slide, which is fast and easy to use. He thought of ways to innovate the design to use it in tall buildings on crammed streets.
In 2016, Imtiaz formed a small team of seven people, and designed an inflatable emergency tornado slide which is a spiral that can be inflated in six seconds. The Free Fall slide comes with sensors that detect earthquakes and fires and send warnings to nearby fire-stations. The slide can go as high as 20 stories and up to 35 people can come down at a time. It took the team a few years to perfect the model but since it was unveiled hundreds have been sold. The BGMEA, one of the biggest garments associations in the world, agreed to buy Free Fall slides for many factories to prevent another disaster like Rana Plaza.
Experts Always Ready to Maximizing Products
Imtiaz understood that changing the buildings themselves is a difficult and expensive task, so he created a solution that is low-cost and easy to install. And if not in an emergency, it is quiet fun to go down. One man at a demonstration even tried to climb up it. And even though he got to the top, it took his breath away! That’s what you get for using something the wrong way.
Get Start Your Next Project
Imtiaz was always clear about who he wanted to be; a computer engineer. He never imagined that his work could save lives. But because he followed his heart, and applied his mind, he was able to create an innovatice sollution to a very big problem. “If you look up at a mountain, it is useless to worry about reaching the top. Start climbing, and you will reach the top one day,” is his motto.