PENANG, 11 February 2023 – Congratulations to Sim Yee Kwang, a senior science officer from the Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies (CEMACS) for leading Team Malaysia in winning the Grand Finale of the 7th Ocean Hackathon held in Brest, France on 9 February 2023.

The team, comprising of students from local institutions [Universiti Malaya (UM) and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM)], came up with a cool idea with the innovation of a jellyfish tracking mobile application, JellyGo for their project entitled the ‘Development of the first prediction model for the jellyfish distribution and appearance in Penang Island.’

It collects data of jellyfish abundance through citizen science and also uses data from long-term monitoring by CEMACS to predict the blooming periods of jellyfish around the coastal areas of Penang.

According to Sim, the app can be used to monitor, identify and predict the distribution and appearance of jellyfish in Penang Island, report on jellyfish stings, jellyfish sightings and others which are related to jellyfish incidences.

“The app also provides information on first aid assistance/emergency measures for jellyfish stings through a smart image detection system offering advice on the best response for the incident,” he added.

CEMACS-USM under its Director, Professor Dato’ Dr. Aileen Tan Shau Hwai, has been actively carrying out regular monitoring of jellyfish since 2017 and has collected extensive data sets to develop a model to predict the blooming period and occurrence of jellyfish around the coastal area of Penang.

Aileen Tan said, “Due to their painful and, in some cases, fatal stings, jellyfish have serious detrimental effects on the tourism industry in Malaysia – and Penang Island has been particularly affected by their blooms over the years, and it is hoped that this app will help to tackle the threat of jellyfish in Penang.”

The team would like to thank the Penang State Government for their support in funding the research over the years to monitor the jellyfish bloom in Penang waters, and also a special thanks to the Attaché for Science and Higher Education at the Embassy of France in Malaysia, Dr. Valérie Barbosa.

For their tremendous effort in bagging first prize, Team Malaysia will receive a subsidy of 5,000 euros (RM23,000) to develop their promising project.

Team Malaysia earned the right to represent the country after they won the 7th edition of Ocean Hackathon held in Kuala Lumpur from 2 – 4 December 2022.

In the Grand Finale in Brest, France, Team Malaysia defeated the winners of the 11 local finales of Ocean Hackathon® namely teams from Abidjan (Ivory Coast), Boulogne-sur-mer (France), Brest (France), Cape Town (South Africa), Klaipeda (Lithuania), La Rochelle (France), Mexico City (Mexico), Noumea (French Polynesia, France), San Francisco-Sausalito (USA), Santiago (Chile) and Toulon (France).

Ocean Hackathon® is an international pitching competition first launched in 2016, which centred on developing prototypes driven by digital data to solve complex oceanic challenges globally.

Text: Nur Farrah Ezlin Mohd Suhaimi & Tan Ewe Hoe/Infographic: Norhaslin Salehuddin/Photo: Sim Yee Kwang