TAR UMT Engineering Students Clinch First Place at Tech 4 Good Challenge

Three TARCians brought home the top prize in the Agriculture track of the Tech 4 Good Challenge (T4G) 2025. The national-level invention competition was held on 26 July 2025 at ViTrox Corporation Berhad.

The winning team, comprising Ch’ng Jun Ping, Kong Kit Weng, and Lim Yek Chuan, are all students from the Bachelor of Electronics Engineering Technology (Honours) programme. They impressed the judges with their innovative solution aimed at solving a pressing issue for local farmers, particularly durian farmers. Their project, i-DOMAS, addresses the significant crop losses faced by Malaysian durian farmers due to premature fruit drops. They developed an affordable and practical durian drop monitoring system, which ultimately secured them first place in the Tertiary category's Agriculture Track. The team was awarded a cash prize of RM3,000, gold medals, and certificates. They plan to use the prize money to further refine their prototype for real-world application on farms.

Innovation for Agriculture

The Tech 4 Good Challenge, an annual competition organised by ViTrox Technologies, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR), and Cytron Technology, calls on students to develop creative STEM solutions for real-world problems in agriculture, healthcare, and manufacturing.

Motivated by a desire to make a tangible impact, the TAR UMT team focused on the agricultural sector.

Overcoming Hurdles with Teamwork and University Support

The journey to victory was not without its obstacles. The team's primary challenge was logistical: transporting their large and delicate prototype, a scaled-down durian tree simulation model equipped with sensors, to the competition venue.

Through perseverance and resourcefulness, they found a solution. "We asked for our supervisor's help to borrow a lorry from TAR UMT," the team explained. To ensure the prototype's safety, they carefully disassembled it before transport and reassembled it on-site, a task that required precision and teamwork.

The Role of Mentorship in Success

The students credit their success in large part to the guidance of their supervisor, Ts. Dr. Beh Chong You. They highlighted his unique mentoring style as a key factor in their win. "Rather than giving us direct answers, he challenged us with thought-provoking questions, which pushed us to think critically and innovate on our own," the team shared. This approach fostered an environment of independent problem-solving, which was crucial in transforming their ambitious idea into a functional, award-winning prototype. "It's safe to say that without his comprehensive support, we wouldn't have been able to overcome the complexities of our solution," they added.

The success of Ch’ng Jun Ping, Kong Kit Weng, and Lim Yek Chuan at the Tech 4 Good Challenge is a proud moment for TAR UMT and a shining example of how practical education and dedicated mentorship can empower students to create innovative solutions that address real-world needs.