TAR UMT students demonstrated their engineering and architectural prowess at the Reka Cipta dan Inovasi Penjimatan Air (REKA+) 2025 competition. Organised by the Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Air Negara (SPAN), this annual national event challenges university students to design and build working prototypes or innovative solutions to address real-world water management and sustainability issues.

Competing against approximately 42 to 45 teams from various institutions, two teams from TAR UMT successfully secured top honours, bringing home both the Second Place and a Consolation Prize during the prize-giving ceremony in December 2025.

Engineering Success: Securing Second Place

The team led by Ong Yee Yer, alongside team members Lau Teng Cong and Jee Ming Hong, achieved an impressive Second place finish with their project, AquaGuard. Their journey involved designing, building, and presenting a working prototype focused on Green Technology and sustainability.

Their dedication earned them a RM4,000 cash prize, a trophy, and certificates. Ong credited TAR UMT’s supportive environment for their success, noting that the university’s dedicated faculty advisors provide the essential guidance needed to help students step out of their comfort zones.

Architectural Innovation: Consolation Prize Winners

Representing the Master of Architecture program, Lim Yi Chee and Tan Ming Shu focused their efforts on water reuse strategies. Their proposal, Laundry2Leaf, emphasised a balance between creative design and practical, real-world application, earning them a cash prize of RM1,000.

Lim and Tan highlighted that their education at TAR UMT was instrumental in their win. "Our architecture studies emphasise sustainable and technical design thinking," they explained. "This enabled us to produce a realistic, industry-relevant solution".