By UOW Malaysia 

The University of Wollongong Malaysia (UOWM) celebrated a remarkable achievement at the AI F.R.I.E.N.D. Competition 2025, held on 8 November at MRANTI, Bukit Jalil, by clinching 2^nd Place at the national level.

Represented by four engineering students—Jeffrey Chua Keong Quan, Choy Kah Chun, Kelvin Lai Hong Fai, and William Tan Chong Hee—from the School of Engineering, and guided by Ms Gee Chia Chen, Senior Lecturer, UOWM competed against teams from higher learning institutions across Malaysia.

The team impressed judges with ONE FOR ALL BIN (OFAB), an AI-powered smart recycling system designed to enhance waste identification accuracy and reduce contamination in recycling streams. The innovative solution combines image and sound recognition, automated sorting, and sustainable design into a compact, cost-effective prototype.

This achievement underscores UOW Malaysia’s ongoing commitment to applied artificial intelligence, sustainability-driven innovation, and hands-on engineering education, equipping students to tackle real-world environmental challenges.