Real-world solutions earn nods at national-level hackathon
Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation (APU) continues to solidify its reputation as a leader in technological excellence and innovation.
At the recent Varsity Hackathon (VHack) 2025, held on April 26 and hosted by Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) in Penang, two outstanding APU teams won top accolades, further cementing the varsity's position as a powerhouse in technology-driven education.
The spotlight was on five-member 'Team The Try People' from APU's School of Engineering (SoE) and School of Computing (SoC), which secured the coveted first runner-up title. They received a cash prize of RM5,000 for their achievement in the national-level competition.
The award-winning team comprised Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Computer Science (Cyber Security) students Chong Jinn Xiang, Chia Jing Liang, Bryan Low Zhern Yang and Evin Kor Kar Hei, as well as Kok Jia Yin, a student from the Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Software Engineering programme.
The team was guided by SoC lecturer Tan Li June and Assistant Prof Dr Lau Chee Yong from the SoE.
Their innovative project envisions a holistic smart city management system designed to tackle key urban challenges, including waste management, traffic congestion, and flood and weather predictions.
By integrating real-time data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI), the system enables efficient and proactive city operations – ranging from optimised waste collection routes and traffic flow adjustments to advanced alerts for inclement weather conditions.
Team CheeseB: Amad (far left) with the winning trio of APU software engineering students behind DeNate.
Importantly, the project is closely aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities. It aims to contribute meaningfully to building inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable urban environments.
The solution not only enhances public safety and infrastructure but also empowers urban planners with data-driven insights for long-term development strategies.
In another standout performance, 'Team CheeseB' from APU made waves in the blockchain category, winning the Excellence Award for their cutting-edge solution, DeNate – short for 'Decentralised Donate'.
Comprising three software engineering students – Thien Wei Jian, Ivan Wong Hong Zheng and John Paulose – the team impressed judges with their novel approach to reimagining charitable giving through blockchain technology.
Mentored by SoC senior lecturer Amad Arshad, the team designed DeNate as a transparent, secure and user-engaging donation platform.
The project features several pioneering components, including real-time donation tracking, milestone-based fund disbursements, T-based recognition for top donors, an AI-powered chatbot offering donation forecasts and interactive dashboards to encourage community engagement.
By leveraging the power of decentralised systems, DeNate aims to restore trust and increase accountability in the donation ecosystem, ultimately bridging the gap between donors and charitable organisations.
Interdisciplinary collaboration
The students' double achievement reflects APU's deep commitment to cross-disciplinary collaboration and industry relevance.
SoC head Assoc Prof Dr Tan Chin Ike praised the synergy between departments: 'These outstanding achievements exemplify what we can accomplish when different disciplines come together.
'The collaboration between our SoC and SoE has created a powerful ecosystem where technological innovation meets practical implementation.'
He added, 'Our students have demonstrated not only technical prowess but also the ability to address real-world challenges through multidisciplinary approaches.
'This success reinforces our commitment to fostering an environment where cross-disciplinary collaboration thrives, preparing our graduates to become versatile problem-solvers ready to make meaningful contributions to society.'
The recognition earned at VHack 2025 reflects APU's enduring mission to equip students with the skills, mindset and opportunities needed to thrive in an increasingly complex digital world.
These accolades highlight not only the quality of education and mentorship provided by APU's academic staff, but also the forward-thinking spirit of its student innovators.
As the university continues to nurture creativity, foster collaboration and champion sustainability, its students are proving to be well-equipped to take on the technological challenges of tomorrow – and to shape a better, smarter and more inclusive world.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
3 hours ago
- The Star
Factories give fresh graduates a stepping stone
GEORGE TOWN: You graduate as an engineer and take your first career step, only to find your gross pay is about RM3,000. Seeking a higher quality of life, you switch to another job or even start a small business. To keep the engineering talent pool intact, 11 local factories in Penang, seven of them publicly listed, are using human resources strategies to ensure engineers' salaries are eye-catching enough. A registered industry and education NGO called the 88 Captains and Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) are developing HR management and training systems so that fresh engineering graduates can earn at least RM4,000 a month, while diploma-level personnel can get at least RM3,000. Called the Apprenticeship, Internship, Reskilling and Upskilling (Airu) talents programme, it recently started in Penang and begins even when the engineers are still undergraduates. 'Airu is done through assessment of degree students starting from apprenticeships and their requisite internships. 'There's no reason not to give them premium salaries after they graduate because they are deemed to have been 'home-grown' by those companies even before the students earn their bachelor's degrees,' said 88 Captains chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ooi Eng Hock. A check on recent online job advertisements shows that junior electrical engineers start at as low as RM2,500 a month. Offers for fresh mechanical engineering graduates tend to be higher, at about RM3,800 a month, and for most other fields, the starting pay of engineers tends to be a little over RM3,000. Under Airu's apprenticeships and internships, Ooi said local factories guide the undergraduates so that they would be uniquely suited for the companies after completing their studies. The students can then assimilate with the companies' work culture, specific machinery and operating systems, and thus, from the perspective of those factories, they will not be 'fresh graduates'. As for those with technical and vocational education and training (TVET) diplomas, Ooi said Airu would allow them to skip the degree route and sign up for a master programme being developed by USM. 'The master programme is about reskilling and upskilling those who have started working after earning TVET diplomas, and should be finalised by the last quarter. 'It is now being brainstormed in USM with all relevant stakeholders,' Ooi added. He said eligibility to join Airu's master programme will consider factors such as the amount of work experience of diploma holders, and it is not meant to compete with degree programmes of tertiary institutions. He said a starting pay of RM4,000 was also the target of the Higher Education Ministry's Research and Industry-Infused Incubator, led by the Malaysian Electrical and Electronics Consortium comprising 19 public universities headed by USM. 'For TVET diploma holders, the minimum pay of RM3,000 is as per the government's goal,' he said. Key companies that are part of Airu include Vitrox Corporation, UWC, Hotayi Electronics, Swift Bridge Technologies, M Summit Group, MyCO2 Group, ASP Medical Group, Solarvest, Sky Resources Group, YBS International and Chung Chambers, Advocates & Associates. Launched simultaneously with Airu last week was the Intangible Asset Commercialisation & Strategy Association, a grouping meant to empower youths not only in innovation but also in protecting, valuing and commercialising their ideas. Ooi believes that collectively, all these initiatives will help the country retain local talent rather than lose them to other countries. 'We need to start small by encouraging local talent developed in Penang and the northern region to remain here,' he said. Present at Airu's launch were Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow and USM vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Seri Dr Abdul Rahman Mohamed.
The Star
3 hours ago
- The Star
Engineering losing lustre due to negative perception
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia may see massive shortages of engineers for all fields in the coming years if no concrete steps are taken to address the unfavourable perception of engineering jobs, warns industry stakeholders. Institution of Engineers Malaysia president Prof Dr Jeffrey Chiang Choong Luin said the negative perception of engineering jobs has begun to take a toll on youth interest in related fields. He said this, combined with tumbling interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects in schools, have resulted in a noticeably lower enrolment of new students in engineering courses this year. 'It has become a widespread perception among a lot of the youth that engineers are paid low salaries compared to those in business, banking, finance, marketing, law and economics. 'Another long-perceived view is that engineers work with their hands in dirty, dangerous and difficult jobs, which are undesirable for the younger generation. 'This perception has resulted in me observing low enrolment in mechanical, mechatronics, chemical and even civil engineering disciplines for this year so far compared to previous years,' he said when contacted. In June last year, Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Chang Lih Kang said Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia students taking science and mathematics subjects had declined over the last six years, with subjects like Additional Mathematics seeing a decline of 17.37% in student registration from 2018 to 2023. In two separate written parliamentary replies, the Education Ministry revealed that the number of students enrolled for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) streams dropped from 47% in 2020 to 40.94% in 2022, though the figures rebounded to 45.73% in 2023 and 50.83% in 2024. Chiang said this decrease could see a massive drop of graduate engineers in these fields in the next five to six years, resulting in a shortfall of between 25% and 50% in engineers for all fields across the country. To help address this, he called on the government to consider raising remunerations for technical staff in the civil service, which would help dispel salary concerns plaguing the profession. 'They should also widely advertise the ample opportunities for career advancement in the civil service, especially for technocrats to serve in the upper echelons of government,' he added. Malaysian Association of Engineers president Datuk Feroz Hanif Mohamed Ahmad also expressed similar concerns, noting that the negative perception of engineering jobs has been a result of poor enforcement of the legal minimum wage for skilled engineers. 'I have heard of many smaller companies offering salaries of only RM1,500 to RM2,000 for new engineering graduates, cases of which are then spread by word of mouth or online among youth. 'This ends up discouraging many of them from even considering engineering as a career path, even from a young age, due to this misguided perception of the industry. 'This could potentially create an entire generation of youth that are disinterested with the fields of engineering,' he said, calling on the government to enact stricter minimum wage enforcement on such companies. In this regard, he also called on the government to publicly set a specific minimum wage for engineers to at least RM3,000. 'This can be done by providing incentives for engineering companies to increase their minimum salary, maybe through tax rebates as an example,' he added. Feroz Hanif said there was also a need to increase consultation fees for engineering-related requests through amendments to the Registration Of Engineers Act, which would help open up more employment opportunities for engineers after graduation to become consultants. The two concerns are not unfounded as the latest 2022 annual report by the Board of Engineers Malaysia found the country only had 212,713 registered engineers, which includes technologists. This means the country's engineer-to-population ratio is at a significant low of about one to 163, which pales in comparison to developed countries like Germany, where the ratio is at one to 100.
The Sun
15 hours ago
- The Sun
Leading digital payments shift in Southeast Asia
KUALA LUMPUR: NTT Data Payment Services is strategically positioning itself at the forefront of transformation in Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand, as digital payments continue to reshape the economic landscape across Southeast Asia. The company aims to lead the evolution of digital payment solutions in the region by building an integrated ecosystem that blends global best practices with the demands of local markets. This forward-looking approach involves significant investment in next-generation payment platforms designed to enhance efficiency and security. Executive director and group CEO Sean Hesh (pic) said NTT Data Payment Services is expanding its cross-border payment capabilities to support growing regional commerce and facilitate smoother financial interactions. 'With a clear focus on meeting the diverse needs of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), large corporations, and government-linked initiatives, we are setting the stage to become a trusted partner in driving digital inclusion and economic growth across these dynamic markets,' he told SunBiz. Sean said with over 500,000 payment touchpoints, the company leverages data insights to enhance both customer experience and merchant performance. Its data platforms deliver actionable information – such as transaction patterns, customer preferences, and peak business hours – enabling merchants to optimise their operations. Additionally, by using predictive analytics, the company helps merchants personalise their services and increase customer engagement. 'We invest heavily in real-time fraud monitoring and maintain strong, multi-layered cybersecurity frameworks to safeguard our systems and customers. 'Compliance with regulations like Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is fundamental to our operations. 'Additionally, we collaborate closely with cybersecurity experts and regulators to stay ahead of emerging threats, ensuring safe and trusted transactions throughout the region,' he said. Sean said NTT Data Payment Services actively collaborates with banks, regulators, and fintech partners to advance cross-border payment integration across Asean. He said these efforts focus on aligning payment standards, promoting interoperability, and streamlining onboarding and compliance processes. 'By working together, the goal is to build a more connected and inclusive payment ecosystem that enables seamless, secure, and scalable transactions throughout the region,' Sean said. Further, in supporting SMEs and microbusinesses in Malaysia's growing digital economy, Sean said NTT Data Payment Services is introducing a range of tailored solutions, including simplified onboarding, instant merchant approval, SME financing, and affordable payment acceptance options like QR pay and mobile POS systems. Touching on new technologies, Sean said: 'Artificial intelligence and machine learning are set to fundamentally transform the future of payments in Southeast Asia. 'They will enable real-time fraud detection, dynamic risk assessment, and highly personalised customer experiences. 'As digital adoption continues to grow, these technologies will play a crucial role in building trust, reducing friction, and ensuring secure, scalable transactions across the region.' Sean also noted that sustainability is becoming a core part of the company's technology and corporate roadmap. He said green fintech initiatives are being explored, including paperless onboarding, digital receipts, and energy-efficient infrastructure to minimise environmental impact. Internally, the company is also adopting eco-friendly workplace practices, such as reducing single-use materials and promoting responsible energy consumption.
