Team FeedRight, made up of six talented students Ang Qi Yuen, Chai Hong Jie, Phang Shin Ni, Soo Mun Gian, Ang Tyen and Wong Chai Fuu, emerged as the champions of the Ocean Hackathon Kuala Lumpur 2025 and will represent Malaysia in France this December.

Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation (APU) proudly hosted the 3rd Edition Ocean Hackathon Challenge Kuala Lumpur Edition 2025, in collaboration with Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) and Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT), with support from the Embassy of France in Malaysia. 

This marked a historic milestone as the first-ever Ocean Hackathon edition held outside the French Embassy, bringing the spirit of global marine innovation to Malaysian shores.

Organised by Campus Mondial de la Mer in France, the event is a worldwide collaboration involving universities and organisations from across the globe.

The Ocean Hackathon is a thrilling 48-hour innovation sprint that brings together scientists, developers, innovators, and ocean enthusiasts to tackle real-world marine challenges through creativity, technology, and teamwork.

This year, the event ran simultaneously in 10 cities across the globe, tackling 64 pressing challenges from 17 to 19 October 2025.

Team Feedright, a dynamic collaboration between APU and USM, emerged as the champions of the inaugural Kuala Lumpur edition. 

The team is made up of six talented students Ang Qi Yuen, Chai Hong Jie, Phang Shin Ni, Soo Mun Gian, Ang Tyen, and Wong Chai Fuu.

They will proudly represent Malaysia at the International Grand Finale in Brest, France, on 2 December 2025, where they will showcase their innovative marine solutions on the global stage.

APU Chief Innovation & Enterprise Officer, Professor Ir EUR ING Dr Vinesh Thiruchelvam, highlighted the event’s alignment with the university’s sustainability agenda.

“We practise sustainability through various initiatives, and today’s hackathon is one of them. We are grateful to the French Embassy for enabling this collaboration.”

APU integrates the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into over 780 academic modules, involving more than 300 lecturers and 1,000 student projects annually. 

The university has also established an Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Task Force and planted over 1,000 trees to reduce carbon emissions and promote campus sustainability.

“This event exemplifies French-Malaysian cooperation, uniting creativity to save the Earth,” said Yohann Breard, Attaché for Science and Higher Education, representing the French Embassy.

“Malaysia’s continued success reflects the strong links between education, research, and industry.” 

A heartfelt thank you goes out to the dedicated organising teams and individuals who made the Ocean Hackathon Kuala Lumpur a success. 

Special appreciation to Professor Ir EUR ING Dr Vinesh Thiruchelvam, APU Chief Innovation & Enterprise Officer; Ms Harjinder Kaur, Senior Lecturer School of Marketing & Management (SoMM); Mr David Ng Kok Meng, Senior Lecturer SoMM; Ms T. Tulasi Sathyabama Appalasamy, Senior Lecturer School of Computing (SoC); and Mr Lee Chee Nian, Lecturer School of Mathematics, Actuarial and Quantitative Studies (SoMAQS).

Gratitude also goes to APU colleagues, mentors, tutors, and speakers from APU, USM, and UMT, as well as the passionate student volunteers whose energy and guidance kept participants inspired throughout 48 hours of non-stop innovation and creativity.