UTAR team wins second place at IEEE Global Startup Competition 2025 in Glasgow

UTAR achieved remarkable international recognition when its student team, Team OceanPulse, won second place at the prestigious IEEE Global Startup Competition 2025 (CleanTech Grand Challenge) under the Ideation Track. The event was held on 2 October 2025 during the IEEE Tech Summit 2025: CleanTech Solutions at the Scottish Event Campus (SEC) in Glasgow, Scotland.

Organised by IEEE Entrepreneurship, the IEEE Global Startup Competition is one of the world’s leading entrepreneurship platforms that spotlights groundbreaking innovations driving sustainability and environmental stewardship. This year’s challenge attracted 181 applications from over 40 economies, featuring two tracks, Ideation and Start-up, with only five finalist teams per track selected to pitch their ideas live before an international panel of judges.

Representing UTAR and Malaysia, Team OceanPulse showcased their invention titled Smart Marine Pollution Monitoring System with Integrated IoT and Edge AI, which integrates Internet of Things (IoT) water-quality sensors with AI-powered trash detection. The solar-powered device measures water parameters such as temperature, pH, and turbidity while using machine vision to classify floating debris in real time. Designed for scalability and low power consumption, the system offers an efficient, cost-effective solution for monitoring water pollution in rivers, lakes, and coastal regions.

The team comprised Assoc. Prof. Ir. Ts. Dr. Hum Yan Chai (Team Leader and Project Manager), Chan Jing Yao (Chief Technical Engineer and Final Pitch Presenter), Dr Wong Yi Jie, Voon Wingates, and Tan Jing Jie, all from UTAR’s Lee Kong Chian Faculty of Engineering and Science (LKC FES), Department of Mechatronics and Biomedical Engineering.

Following their selection as one of the Top 5 Semi-Finalists in July, the team underwent a mentorship phase with global CleanTech experts and IEEE leaders from July to September 2025. As part of the semi-finalist recognition, IEEE provided full sponsorship covering event registration, three hotel nights, and a USD1,500 travel stipend for one team member to attend the CleanTech Solutions Summit 2025 in Glasgow, acknowledging the project’s global potential.

The final pitching session, titled Bright Sparks: IEEE CleanTech Finals, was moderated by Ms. Molly Wood, Founder and CEO of Molly Wood Media, and evaluated by a distinguished panel of IEEE leaders including Ms Susana Lau, Prof Roxana Saint-Nom, Dr Subodha Charles, Prof Tariq Durrani, and Assoc Prof Antonio Luque.

Delivering the final pitch, Chan, who was selected by Dr Hum to represent the team in Glasgow, impressed the judges with his clarity and technical insight, earning the team the second-place (first runner-up) award, just behind Imperial College London. As part of their prize, the team received a partner ticket to attend the Web Summit 2025 in Lisbon, Portugal.

Reflecting on the win, Dr Hum shared, “Winning second place among world-class teams is an incredible honour that validates our mission to engineer clean technology with real environmental impact. This recognition reinforces UTAR’s research direction in bridging Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), and sustainability to address pressing environmental challenges. Our system demonstrates how AI and edge computing can revolutionise environmental monitoring through intelligent automation and data-driven insights. Moving forward, we are pursuing startup funding to extend the system’s functionalities, particularly toward AI-enhanced aquaculture applications and broader environmental conservation efforts. We welcome interested collaborators, investors, and users to connect with us on this journey toward sustainable innovation.”

Chan, who presented the project in Glasgow, said, “This competition provided a fantastic opportunity to showcase our team’s hard work on an international stage. It was a rewarding experience that deepened my understanding of real-world innovation challenges. I am especially grateful to Dr. Hum for his visionary guidance from the early conceptualization of the project, his technical expertise in integrating AI and IoT technologies, and his mentorship that sharpened my pitching and presentation skills. My heartfelt thanks also go to my teammates and family for their unwavering support throughout this journey.

The team also expressed heartfelt appreciation to UTAR President Ir. Prof. Dato’ Dr Ewe Hong Tat and LKC FES Dean Prof. Ts. Dr. Yap Wun She for their continuous encouragement and support in fostering innovation-driven education and research. They also extended their gratitude to the Centre for Healthcare Science and Technology (CHST) and the Department of Mechatronics and Biomedical Engineering (DMBE) for their invaluable research support and collaborative environment that contributed to the project’s success. They further thanked Dr. Polat Goktas, Chair of the IEEE CleanTech Grand Challenge; Mr. Fred Schindler, General Chair of the IEEE Tech Summit; and Mr. Sarvesh Karkhan, an entrepreneur from the United States assigned by IEEE to provide guidance in refining the team’s pitch.

As part of their continuing recognition, Team OceanPulse plans to attend the IEEE Web Summit 2025 in Lisbon, Portugal, to explore opportunities for further showcasing their innovation, marking another important step in their journey toward commercialisation and sustainable impact.