Two students from Islamabad’s Institute of Space Technology, Ahmed Iqbal and Hanzila Bin Younas, have turned their final-year university project into an international success. Their project, called GeoGemma, has won the Best AI Use Case award at the APAC Solution Challenge 2025, held in Manila.
GeoGemma is an open-source Geospatial Large Language Model (GeoLLM) that works with Google Earth Engine. Its main goal is to make satellite images and geospatial data easier to access and use for researchers, students, and professionals.
By simplifying how people interact with complex satellite data, the model helps make geospatial analysis more user-friendly and widely available.
Their idea caught the attention of Google DeepMind, a major player in artificial intelligence research. The team also received a $10,000 grant, which helped speed up the development and improvement of the project.
This achievement is a big step forward for the field of Geospatial AI, which combines satellite imagery with the power of artificial intelligence to understand and solve real-world problems such as climate change, urban planning, and disaster response.
Ahmed and Hanzila’s work not only brings pride to Pakistan’s tech and academic community but also shows how student innovations can have a global impact. Their success story proves that with creativity, determination, and the right support, young minds can solve big challenges and shape the future of technology.
