UTM ChemEng Breaks Top 5 at Southeast Asia Global Innovation Challenge 2025

IChemE UTM-SC | Nurfadilla Hanim

JOHOR BAHRU, 14 Dec — A team of Chemical Engineering students from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia has proven that classroom ideas can compete on a regional stage, securing fourth place at the Southeast Asia Global Innovation Challenge (SEA-GIC) 2025.

Competing against teams from across Southeast Asia, the UTM ChemEng team emerged among the Top 5 finalists with an AI-driven solution addressing a real and pressing industry challenge. The competition, themed “AI-Driven Chemistry for Planetary Health”, was organised by the American Chemical Society International Student Chapter UTM in collaboration with the ACS Malaysia Chapter.

Representing UTM’s Bachelor of Chemical Engineering (Hons) programme, the team led by Aidi Irfan Azman, together with Muhd Hazim Azatul Amery and Nurfadilla Hanim Fadil, presented an innovative Final Year Project titled “Deep Learning Approach for Oil Palm Fresh Fruit Bunch Ripeness Detection.” The project was supervised by Dr. Amnani Shamjuddin from the Faculty of Chemical and Energy Engineering.

What makes this achievement particularly significant is that the project goes beyond theory. Developed under UTM’s University–Industry Exchange (UNIX) programme in collaboration with industry partner Victory Enghoe Plantation Sdn. Bhd., the AI solution applies deep learning-based object recognition to improve the accuracy and efficiency of oil palm fruit grading. Branded as “PalmEye: AI grading for oil palm fruit,” the innovation supports smarter agricultural practices, reduces yield wastage, and enables data-driven decision-making in the palm oil industry.

Following the competition, the ChemEng team and other finalists were selected for a fully sponsored educational visit to Singapore, where they explored advanced research facilities at Nanyang Technological University, including the Facility for Analysis Characterisation Testing Simulation (FACTS). The exposure offered students valuable insight into international research environments while expanding their professional networks beyond Malaysia.

This achievement reflects more than competition success. It highlights how UTM trains chemical and bioprocess engineers to solve real-world problems using cutting-edge technologies, industry collaboration, and global exposure — even before graduation.