Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) Mechatronics Engineering student Ho Wei Liang clinched the Merit Prize in Category 4 (University) of the Engineering Innovation Challenge (EIC) 2022, which was held from 8 to 19 November 2022 at Marina Square Singapore.

He walked away with a cash prize of SGD500 as the project fund and SGD1,000 as the winning prize along with a certificate of achievement for his project titled “Fire detection and monitoring using federated learning approach”. Ho was supervised by LKC FES academics Ir Ts Dr Tham Mau Luen and Dr Kwan Ban Hoe.

Ho mentioned his intention to build a more equitable and sustainable world with the application of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and drones in the face of mounting global climate crises and disruptions. “This project uses the computer vision method with a fire and smoke detection algorithm to spot the warning signs of a wildfire before it fully breaks out. I presented an innovative approach that uses drones to monitor the forest according to a schedule, whilst protecting the data at the same time to avoid any privacy laws, using the Federated Learning approach. To develop the system, multiple Intel technologies were used such as the OpenFL framework, OpenVINO Toolkit, and Intel’s Next Unit of Computing (NUC),” Ho explained.

“The National Engineers Day (NED) is Singapore’s largest engineering festival for students, engineering professionals and the public. There are insightful talks, interactive workshops and guided tours to transport students into the exciting world of engineering. This is a good opportunity to showcase my project and idea to the EIC judges from Singapore’s industries and educational institutions. I wish I can inspire more students to come out of their comfort zones to give themselves a chance to explore and learn how they can make a positive impact on the world. I would like to extend my deepest appreciation to my FYP supervisor, Ir Ts Dr Tham and Dr Kwan for their support and guidance,” Ho added.

EIC 2022 aimed to encourage the application of artificial intelligence for a sustainable future and increase the knowledge and understanding of sustainability as well as artificial intelligence in everyday life.

Organised by The Institution of Engineers, Singapore (IES), under the theme Artificial Intelligence for a Sustainable Future, the challenge aimed to present students in secondary schools, junior colleges, Institute of Technical Education (ITE), polytechnics and universities with a unique opportunity to not only participate in an engineering competition, but also embark on an insightful learning journey to discover the spirit of innovation, build new technical skills in prototyping and product development, and develop presentation and collaboration skills under the mentorship of practising engineers.