KUALA LUMPUR, July 28 – The National Sustainability Innovation Challenge 2024 (NaSIC’24) concluded with a two-day physical Grand Finale event on July 26 and 27, 2024, held at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) Kuala Lumpur and Lotus’s Kepong. The event was jointly organised by the Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology (MJIIT)–UTM and Lotuss Stores (M) Sdn. Bhd. (Lotus’s Malaysia). This marked the second edition of the NaSIC series.

NaSIC’24 began on April 1, 2024, attracting 429 participants across 143 teams from higher secondary schools (Form 4-6, vocational colleges, and private schools). The challenge aims to foster innovation and critical thinking as participants work on developing practical solutions to minimise waste generation and maximise resource efficiency in the retail industry. NaSIC’24 seeks to enhance students’ problem-solving skills, offering a learning experience that can be applied to challenges they may encounter in the future. The competition was divided into three phases:

• Phase 1: Infographic Competition
• Phase 2: Virtual Pitching Competition (Top 50 teams)
• Phase 3: Grand Finale – Poster Pitching (Top 15 teams) and Final Pitching Competition (Top 5 teams)

YB Tuan Ts. Zahir Hassan, the Member of Parliament for Wangsa Maju, delivered a speech at the opening ceremony of the NaSIC’24 Grand Finale on July 26, 2024, showing his support for youth development programs, particularly in sustainable development and environmental issues. YB also provided financial support of RM 5,000 to ensure the success of NaSIC’24. The Grand Finale Opening Ceremony was also attended by Prof. Ts. Dr. Abd Latif bin Saleh, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of UTM Kuala Lumpur; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Shahrum Shah Abdullah, MJIIT Deputy Dean of Research, Innovation, Commercialisation and Linkages; Assoc. Prof. Ir. Ts. Dr. Nurulakmar Abu Husain, MJIIT Deputy Dean of Academic and Student Development; and Miss Hanim Hamdan, Head of Communications and Sustainability at Lotus’s Malaysia.

The Top 15 teams in the Grand Finale, from Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Perak, Pahang, Pulau Pinang, Sabah, and Sarawak, pitched their innovative ideas in the Poster Pitching Competitions to the judges from UTM and Lotus’s Malaysia. The session selected the Top 5 finalist teams to pitch their ideas in the Final Pitching Competition to Lotus’s top management, UTM and Unilever representatives in public. The ideas pitched are Internet of Things (IoT)-based lighting systems for fresh fruit refrigerators, waste material bricks, digital receipt systems, durian seed-based bioplastic material and waste recycling vending machines.

The Closing Ceremony of NaSIC’24 was held at Lotus’s Kepong on 27 July 2024, which was attended by Azliza Azmel, Corporate Services Executive Director and Assoc. Prof. Ir. Ts. Dr. Dayang Norulfairuz Abang Zaidel, Head of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, MJIIT- UTM.

“Inspiring and empowering youth, including teachers, to be more involved in identifying real-world solutions to impact the environment positively is close to our heart in Lotus’s. We believe it is our corporate responsibility to grow further in our efforts to divert waste from our business operations away from landfills and encourage innovation and fresh perspectives from talented young minds in the country. We are excited to hear from the finalists and celebrate the winning proposal. We look forward to continuing our partnership with MJIIT, UTM,” said Azliza Azmel, Corporate Services Executive Director of Lotus’s Malaysia.

The final results of the NaSIC’24 are:

1. Champion:  Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Bandar Seri Putra, Kajang, Selangor
2. First Runner-Up: Kolej Vokasional Taiping, Perak
3. Second Runner-Up: Maktab Rendah Sains MARA (MRSM) Bentong, Pahang
4. Third Runner-Up: Sekolah Menengah Jenis Kebangsaan (SMJK) Tsung Wah, Kuala Kangsar, Perak
5. Fourth Runner-Up: SM Sains Seri Puteri, Kuala Lumpur
6. Best Presenter Award: Az Zahraa binti Azhan, SMK Bandar Seri Putra
7. Best Infographic Award: SMK Elopura, Sabah

Two virtual workshops are conducted for the selected Top 50 teams to guide them in solving a specific problem based on the newly copyrighted “Workbook on Systematic Innovation for Solving Sustainability Problems”, which is the outcome of the research by the program advisors. In workshop 1, the participants went through the problem-based learning cycle, in which they met the problem and identified facts and knowledge gaps using the KNL (know, need-to-know, learning issue) table. Then, the participants are guided to plan for learning and collecting the data and knowledge needed for empathising (design thinking cycle) with the needs (SRI’s NABC value proposition) of the targeted user group, which could help them to define the exact needs that are aimed to solve. In workshop 2, the participants synthesised the solution based on the literature search done, which ideated the solution (approach) and identified its benefits and potential competition, which could help to validate, improvise and justify the solution proposed. Lastly, according to the NABC value proposition model, the participants pitched their proposal in Phases 2 and 3.

During the Grand Finale on 26 July 2024, several research exhibitions were set up to showcase university research works to the students and promote  science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education. All the Top 15 teams also visited the research facilities in the UTM Kuala Lumpur campus. They also participated in cultural activities at the Japanese Language and Cultural Center (JLCC-MJIIT) and STEM games organised by the committee members. The Chemical Process Engineering Student Society, UTM Kuala Lumpur, manages events for NaSIC’24. NaSIC’24 is designed to demonstrate the application of Quadruple Helix. It involves the University-UTM, industry-Lotus’s Malaysia, UTM Holding Sdn. Bhd., Nature Loop Sdn. Bhd., Unilever Malaysia, government-Ministry of Education Malaysia (MOE), Malaysia National Commission for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and communities-schools.