12 December 2025
22 September 2025
Department of Physics Publishes in Classical and Quantum Gravity →
10 September 2025
15 July 2025
20 September 2023
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XMUM Shines at the 2026 SEA-CICSIC with 12 Awards
Twelve teams from Xiamen University Malaysia (XMUM) achieved outstanding results at the Southeast Asia Division Contest of the China International College Students' Innovation Competition (SEA-CICSIC) 2026 and the Malaysia-China Youth Innovation Competition (MCYIC) 2026, winning 2 Gold Prizes, 5 Silver Prizes, and 5 Bronze Prizes.Organised by the Organizing Committee of the China International College Students' Innovation Competition, with Xiamen University and Xiamen University Malaysia serving as co-organisers, the Southeast Asia Division Contest attracted more than 2,054 projects from 11 Southeast Asian countries, namely Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam. The participating projects spanned a wide range of fields, including sustainable technology, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and social entrepreneurship.Recognised as one of the world's largest innovation competitions for university students, the China International College Students' Innovation Competition has received more than 24.95 million project submissions and over 102.18 million participant entries since its launch in 2015. Since the introduction of its international track in 2017, the competition has attracted more than 50,000 international projects from over 150 countries and regions, providing a global platform for university students to showcase innovative ideas, strengthen cross-border collaboration, and translate innovation into practical solutions. SEA-CICSIC Gold Prize-Winning Project:Postgraduate CategoryT-Shield: Revolutionary Bidirectional Active Shield Face MaskDescription: T-Shield is a next-generation bidirectional self-powered active-disinfecting face mask designed to transform respiratory protection through active neutralization of pathogens during both inhalation and exhalation instead of trapping them on filter surfaces. Unlike traditional masks, T-Shield features a reusable mask system with replaceable biodegradable filter cartridges, offering superior hygiene, lower long-term costs, reduced medical waste, and improved sustainability. Targeting hospitals, laboratories, industrial sectors, government healthcare procurement, and health-conscious consumers, T-Shield combines healthcare innovation with scalable commercialization potential and sustainable revenue generation in the rapidly growing PPE market. Undergraduate CategoryNeuraGO--Multimodal BCI-Controlled Smart Wheelchair with Safety Guard & AI CompanionshipDescription: The product targets individuals with ALS, high-level paraplegia, and severe disabilities lacking upper limb mobility. Its core buyers are middle-to-high-income families and premium rehabilitation centres that prioritise safety and dignity. It features multimodal control by utilising the internationally renowned Muse headband to fuse EEG, EMG, and SSVEP signals for precise hands-free navigation. Its asynchronous “task-level” control significantly minimises cognitive load, while radar and physiological monitoring enable auto-braking upon detecting fatigue or stress. The AI ecosystem, featuring an unobstructed transparent screen and AI Agent, enables smart-home control and emotional support. SEA-CICSIC Silver Prize-Winning Project:Postgraduate CategoryRootIQ AgriBiologicsDescription: RootIQ helps Southeast Asian farmers cut fertilizer waste, protect yields, and restore soil health. Our DAISY engine combines satellite, soil-sensor, and farm data to generate field-specific fertilizer reduction plans, Microbial Efficiency Scores, and targeted biofertilizer recommendations. Unlike standalone farm software or generic biofertilizers, RootIQ links geospatial AI with immobilized microbial consortia produced using fluidized-bed bioreactor and agricultural-residue technology. Target users include paddy, plantation, orchard, and smallholder farmers, plus cooperatives, agribusinesses, and carbon project developers. RootIQ won the Hult Prize 2026 Malaysia Nationals, reached the global Top 60 from 15,000 student startups, and is ready to scale pilots across Southeast Asia. Undergraduate CategoryGBC-3Description: The GBC-3 Grain-Bacteria-Energy Triple Closed-Loop System is an original, full-chain and implementable innovative solution for the green and low-carbon transformation of modern agriculture, food security guarantee, and efficient utilization of biomass energy. Based on the core logic of grain planting – bacteria conversion – energy production – nutrient return to farmland, the project constructs a triple closed-loop system integrating agriculture, biology and energy. The whole process does not compete for food with humans, rely on fossil energy or generate waste pollutants, achieving carbon-neutral operation, energy self-sufficiency and 100% resource recycling. It is a benchmark project combining synthetic biology, smart agriculture, distributed new energy and rural revitalization.DuriAceDescription: DuriAce is an AI-enabled durian grading and pricing system that helps users evaluate durian quality more accurately and transparently. It combines image recognition, 3D contour analysis, weight measurement, and gas-based maturity sensing to inspect durians without damaging them. The system provides maturity level, estimated flesh yield, quality grade, and suggested price, helping distributors, wholesalers, and retailers reduce subjective judgment and improve pricing decisions.MindSight AIDescription: MindSight AI is an AI-driven VR mental healthcare platform that combines real-time eye-tracking, multimodal behavioral analysis, and reinforcement learning to deliver adaptive psychological assessment and intervention. Unlike traditional questionnaire-based methods, our system provides immersive, data-driven, and personalized cognitive support through continuous behavioral sensing and intelligent scene adaptation. Designed for universities, enterprises, medical institutions, and mental wellness programs, MindSight AI enables scalable early screening, stress assessment, and cognitive intervention while improving accessibility, engagement, and long-term mental healthcare outcomes across Asia.Tospine Intelligent Posture Correction SystemDescription: The product is an intelligent posture correction system that integrates flexible sensing, edge computing, low-power IoT, and multi-sensor fusion technologies to provide stable and convenient posture monitoring. It balances comfort and practicality for daily wear, while offering high-accuracy posture recognition, fast response, personalised adaptation, and rapid user calibration. For privacy and compliance, the system operates through a fully offline AI data processing mode and complies with mainstream privacy regulations. SEA-CICSIC Bronze Prize-Winning Project:Undergraduate CategoryHerWell Maternal Mental Health Care Platform ProjectDescription: HerWell is a digital health platform for maternal mental health, serving women during pregnancy and the first year postpartum. We integrate EPDS clinical screening, EMA real-time monitoring, TCM constitution assessment, and a smart wristband into a "Screening → Intervention → Companionship → Consultation → Family Support" closed loop via WeChat mini-program. Targeting 10–12 million annual perinatal women in China (14.7% postpartum depression rate), our tri-end B2B + B2C + B2G model serves mothers, family caregivers, and healthcare institutions. With full-cycle specialization, Tech + TCM + Empathy integration, and family-inclusive design, HerWell bridges the critical gap between hospital screening and accessible, destigmatized care.EcoSphere Pod: A Smart Aquaponics EcosystemDescription: EcoSphere Pod is a smart aquaponics ecosystem product designed for homes, schools, and commercial display spaces. It integrates an ornamental fish tank, hydroponic plant growth, ecological filtration, sensor monitoring, ESP32-based control, website/app data visualization, and AI-assisted analysis into a compact modular pod. Through the ecological interaction among fish, plants, nitrifying bacteria, shrimp, and substrate, the system supports water-quality stability, nutrient cycling, and low-maintenance operation. Users can monitor water conditions, receive maintenance reminders, and interact with the ecosystem through a digital platform. EcoSphere Pod aims to transform traditional complex aquaponics into a smart, sustainable, visually attractive, and user-friendly product for urban living.Rubbrain: Intelligent Digital Twin Management System for Southeast Asian Rubber Tapping and PlantingDescription: Rubbrain is an innovative agricultural technology project featuring an intelligent management platform for rubber plantations that integrates IoT, Digital Twins, and AI Agent-driven automated tapping. It automates tapping with ±0.1 mm precision, reducing reliance on manual labor, while increasing latex yield by more than 15% and extending tree lifespan by over 5 years. By replacing high labor costs with a fixed investment, the system offers an estimated three-year payback period. The target users include Southeast Asian rubber smallholders, particularly aging operators and non-resident landowners, as well as medium-sized private plantations and cooperatives facing labor shortages.i-BIS: Intelligent Biorefinery Systems for Invasive Species Mitigation Description: i-BIS converts Indonesia's invasive Suckermouth Catfish into pharmaceutical-grade chitosan ($35/kg) and organic fertilizer ($1.80/kg), transforming ecological crisis into profit while accessing a $2.20B market growing at 10.2% annually. AI computer vision detects fish, Graph Neural Networks map contamination, and predictive analytics optimize harvesting. Dual biosensors (ASV + NIR) ensure EU pharmaceutical compliance. Fishermen receive mobile app harvest guidance, pharmaceutical companies gain verified traceable materials, and government agencies access real-time contamination mapping—uniquely integrating invasive species control, premium production, AI safety verification, and environmental intelligence in one platform.PrintFlow-X — An Affordable Smart Manufacturing PlatformDescription: PrintFlow-X is an industrial robotic linked production line system designed to make automation more affordable for Malaysian SMEs and educational institutions. Conventional automated production lines are often expensive, highly customized and difficult to maintain, making them hard for smaller companies and schools to adopt. Compared with similar products in the same market direction, PrintFlow-X is estimated to reduce the cost by around 76%. This advantage comes from its cost-effective and modular design, integrating PLC control, robotics, conveyors, machine vision, AGV transportation and industrial communication. It helps SMEs upgrade production and provides schools with a practical platform for automation training, research and talent cultivation.
XMUM Postgraduates Showcases Research Excellence at the 3-Minute Thesis Competition
Postgraduate students at Xiamen University Malaysia (XMUM) showcased their research communication skills at the 3-Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition, organized by the Postgraduate Studies Unit (PSU) of the Research and Postgraduate Centre (RPC) on 10 July 2026.The event brought together master's and PhD students from various schools at XMUM, challenging them to present the significance of their research within three minutes using only one static presentation slide. Through this unique format, participants demonstrated their ability to transform complex research ideas into clear, concise and engaging messages for a wider audience.Presentations were evaluated based on two key criteria: Comprehension and Content, as well as Engagement and Communication. Audience members also had the opportunity to vote for the People's Choice Award, recognizing presentations that were particularly engaging and impactful.In the PhD category, Lau Hui Shen was awarded Champion, followed by Reza Godary as First Runner-up and Faisal Fareed Bukhari as Second Runner-up. In the Master category, Tiu Jessin emerged as Champion, while Khandoker Ashik and Lilian Ong Zi Qi secured the First and Second Runner-up positions, respectively. The People's Choice Award went to Lau Hui Shen in the PhD category and Lilian Ong Zi Qi in the Master category.Winners Name List of 3-Minute Thesis Competition XMUM 2026Some of the Winners Recipient of 3MT Competition XMUM 2026Group Photo of 3-Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition XMUM 2026
XMUM 10th Anniversary Special Feature | The Silence That Changed Everything: My 8,000-Kilometer Journey
The first night in my single room at XMUM, sleep refused to come. My body was still running on Nairobi time, but that was not the real problem. It was not simply the excitement of finally being here either. What kept me awake was the silence: the absence of matatu engines at dawn, the missing sounds of my mother in the kitchen, and the sudden awareness that I was now 8,000 kilometers away from everything I knew.Back home, ambition and comfort existed side by side. After long commutes on the Wamasaa bus, I would return to the smell of ugali and sukuma wiki, my mother’s way of softening the exhaustion of the day. Dreams felt real, but still safely distant. Malaysia was just a name on a scholarship portal, a possibility that felt almost too far away to take seriously. I never imagined that clicking “submit” would one day mean waking up thousands of kilometers from home.The first month stripped me bare. I called home three times a day. My single room felt less like a space of independence and more like a cage. In the cafeteria, I watched groups of students laughing together while I sat alone, ordering nasi lemak every day because it was the Malaysian dish I had read about online. Each night brought the same question: Had I made a terrible mistake? I slowly learned that freedom often means trading the warmth of the familiar for the uncertainty of the new.But isolation also forces you to look up. And when I did, I found people reaching out.Dr. Abdulkhaliq taught me entrepreneurship, but what he really gave me was a mirror I did not know I needed. One afternoon after class, he asked about my journey. I told him about the matatu rides, the scholarship, and the loneliness of being so far from home. He leaned back, studied me for a moment, and said something that changed the way I saw myself:“You already are an entrepreneur. You invested three hours daily in your future before you had proof it would pay off. Now you are investing in discomfort. That is the real currency.” Image I had never seen myself that way. Back in Kenya, I thought I was simply surviving: enduring long commutes, chasing a certificate in full-stack development, and trying to keep my dreams alive. But Dr. Abdulkhaliq helped me reframe survival itself as entrepreneurial. If I could endure those long journeys for a future I could not yet see, what else could I build?Suddenly, entrepreneurship was no longer just a subject in class. It became a lens through which I understood my journey to Malaysia, my loneliness, and my growth. It became a framework for wanting more — not merely accepting opportunities, but learning how to create them.That realization changed everything. I stopped only attending classes and started paying attention to real-world problems I could help solve with the knowledge I was gaining. I stopped only making friends and started building teams. The same student who once called home three times a day was now staying up late brainstorming startup ideas, thinking about gaps on campus, and asking what I could create rather than simply consume.XMUM became the place where this transformation began to take shape. I joined the School of Computing and Data Science Student Council and helped organize events that brought students together. The cafeteria that once made me feel isolated slowly became a place of community and connection. I launched Amanah Logistics, a web application born from late-night brainstorming sessions and built with friends I had met in the very spaces where I once felt alone. Through opportunities facilitated by XMUM, I also attended events such as the ASEAN AI Summit, where I connected with professionals and saw how technology is shaping the region. Image Image I was not building a nation or changing the world overnight. I was building a life I could not have imagined two years earlier: a life where my study group includes voices from different countries, where my startup team meets in the library I once used as a refuge from loneliness, and where “investing in discomfort” has become more than a quote from a lecturer. It has become a way of living. Image On that first night, I was terrified of the silence. Now, I understand what it was making space for: my own voice. The voice that pitches Amanah Logistics to potential partners. The voice that contributes to student council discussions. The voice that now encourages freshmen who arrive looking as lost as I once did.Dr. Abdulkhaliq saw an entrepreneur in a lonely student who only wanted to stop feeling homesick. The XMUM scholarship saw potential in someone doing homework on crowded buses in Nairobi. Both gave me more than belief. They gave me a platform to prove myself, a community to grow with, and the space to transform long commutes into reclaimed hours of possibility. Image Because freedom, I have learned, is not only about climbing out of your own circumstances. It is also about turning around and helping those who are climbing behind you.It represents the belief that a student from Nairobi, once doing homework on a crowded matatu, could become someone who builds, leads, and gives back. By Abdifatah Ibrahim 2023/09Computer Science and Technology