Four students from Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation (APU) achieved national recognition after securing the Champion title in the Engineering Track (Category B) at the National AI Competition 2026, held on 13th June 2026 at Sunway University.

The winning team comprised Lavinesh Ravindran, Wong Jia Hern, Ivan Ho Jing Ming, and Chan Hao Wen, who competed under the team name “The Team” and represented APU among finalists from institutions across Malaysia, with their innovative solution titled “SentinAI: Privacy-Preserving Elder Care through Wi-Fi Channel State Information sensing.”

The team’s success was guided by the mentorship of Ir Ts Dr Denesh Sooriamoorthy (Assistant Professor, School of Engineering at APU), whose support and technical guidance helped the students refine and develop their innovative solution.

The National AI Competition 2026, jointly organised by Sunway University and Rakan Tutor, is one of Malaysia’s largest artificial intelligence (AI) competitions.

Centred on the theme “Sustainable Innovation for a better future,” the competition challenges participants to develop AI-driven solutions that address real-world issues, while contributing towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

The competition features multiple tracks, including AI Engineering, where participants are tasked with designing practical and impactful solutions to contemporary societal challenges.

SentinAI: Privacy-Preserving Elder Care through Wi-Fi sensing

Designed to support Malaysia’s growing ageing population, SentinAI transforms existing household Wi-Fi infrastructure into an intelligent fall-detection system for elderly residents.

The solution utilises six low-cost ESP32-S3 sensor nodes to passively analyse Wi-Fi signal variations caused by human movement, enabling a machine learning model to identify falls in real time and instantly notify family members through mobile alerts.

Unlike conventional monitoring systems that rely on cameras or wearable devices, SentinAI preserves user privacy by requiring no behavioural changes from elderly individuals and capturing no visual data.

The solution is also highly affordable, with an estimated hardware cost of approximately RM500, making advanced elder care monitoring significantly more accessible compared to traditional caregiving alternatives.

Empowering the next Generation of Innovators

Dr Denesh noted that this achievement reflects the students’ commitment, creativity, and perseverance in applying engineering knowledge to develop practical and impactful AI-driven solutions.

“Their work in addressing real-world challenges in elderly care demonstrates strong technical capability, coupled with a thoughtful approach to privacy, accessibility, and real-world usability, highlighting how student innovation can translate into meaningful contributions that align with both societal needs and technological advancement.

“Through initiatives like this, APU continues to create opportunities for students to engage with applied learning beyond the classroom, strengthening their technical competencies, critical thinking, and confidence in developing solutions for complex global challenges and a more sustainable future,” he said.