UTAR wins at global “Internet-of-Things” competition in New York

• Team emerges tops for river pollution monitoring system, bags US$50,000 worth of prizes
• UTAR win is testament of high level of innovation that Malaysian talent possess

A team of students from Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR), Malaysia, has emerged winners at the Keysight IoT Innovation Challenge grand finals held in New York on Sept 22. They were crowned champions under the Smart Water category and received a prize of US$25,000 (RM105,000) in cash and US$25,000 worth of select Keysight Technologies test equipment.

The UTAR team, which comprised Lim Wen Qing, Yap Sheng Yao, Tan Kai Siang, Au Jin Cheng and Khor Jun Bin, emerged the winner out of nearly 300 participating teams from around the world and were ranked at the top alongside leading universities like Stanford University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The group won with their project entitled IoT Detachable Waterway Monitoring Device with LoRa and Self-Sustainability. The team was inspired to design the water monitoring system to prevent gas leak disasters such as the incident in Johor which occurred in March 2019, where more than 2,500 people fell ill from gas poisoning as a result of illegal dumping of chemical waste in a river.

The UTAR students presented their innovation at a live event to an esteemed panel of judges including Ariel Alexovich from the United Nations division for Sustainable Development; Martin Rowe, Senior Technical Editor Aspencore Media, the largest media company for the electronics industry; senior representatives from Keysight Technologies and more.

Their project was scored based on metrics such as sensor ingenuity, measurement quality & frequency, cost/manufacturability/durability, insight gained from data analysis and battery life.

“This outstanding achievement by the team from UTAR is testament of the high level of innovation that Malaysian talents possess, with the capability to compete amongst the smartest and greatest on the world’s stage,” said Ee Huei Sin, Vice President of Keysight Education and Vice President & General Manager of Keysight’s General Electronics Measurement Solutions group.

“At Keysight, we are proud and committed to enable next-generation student innovators in Malaysia and all over the world. This competition is one of the many ways Keysight is inspiring them to use technology to address real-world challenges, to innovate new solutions that positively impact the world,” said Ee. Competition judge Alexovich said that it was inspirational to see young smart talents creating projects that contribute towards achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals – solving some of the world’s biggest issues in public health, water, air and food sources amongst others.

The Keysight IoT Innovation Challenge is a design competition challenging graduate and undergraduate engineering students to conceptualize low-power sensor networks to tackle issues brought on by today’s rapid urbanization. The contest had two tracks: the Smart Land challenge and the Smart Water challenge. Students submitted IoT sensor network ideas via online written and video submissions from April 1 – May 15, 2019.

The competition attracted nearly 300 participating teams of which 6 were shortlisted for an all-expenses paid trip to New York to compete live at the grand finals.