Representing UTAR and Malaysia, Team OceanPulse showcased their invention titled Smart Marine Pollution Monitoring System with Integrated IoT and Edge AI.
UTAR student Team OceanPulse won second place at the prestigious IEEE Global Startup Competition 2025 (CleanTech Grand Challenge) at the IEEE Tech Summit 2025: “CleanTech Solutions” in Glasgow, Scotland.
Representing UTAR and Malaysia, Team OceanPulse showcased their invention titled Smart Marine Pollution Monitoring System with Integrated IoT and Edge AI, which integrates the 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.
It is designed for scalability and low power consumption while the system offers an efficient, cost-effective solution for monitoring water pollution in rivers, lakes, and coastal regions.
The IEEE Global Startup Competition organised by IEEE Entrepreneurship represents one of the world’s leading entrepreneurship platform which 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.
The team comprised Assoc Prof 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 from UTAR’s Lee Kong Chian Faculty of Engineering and Science (LKC FES), Department of Mechatronics and Biomedical Engineering.
Being one of the selected top 5 semi-finalists in July, the team underwent a mentorship phase with global CleanTech experts and IEEE leaders from July to September 2025.
The final pitch session, “Bright Sparks: IEEE CleanTech Finals” was moderated by Molly Wood, founder and CEO of Molly Wood Media and evaluated by a distinguished panel of IEEE leaders including Susana Lau, Prof Roxana Saint-Nom, Dr Subodha Charles, Prof Tariq Durrani and Assoc Prof Antonio Luque.
Chan, 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.
Dr Hum said: “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.”
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.
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.
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