APU undergraduates win global industry energy track at SAS Hackathon 2025

• Project LUCID delivers AI-driven solution to strengthen energy grid resilience
• All-undergraduate team outperforms global field of postgraduates and professionals

A team of ten undergraduates from Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation (APU) has been named Global Champion of the Industry Energy Track at the SAS Hackathon 2025, competing against more than 100 international teams that included Master’s students, PhD researchers, industry professionals, and former champions.

Led by data analytics student Lam Yu Yan, Team Decathon developed Project LUCID, an AI-powered energy analytics system designed to improve grid resilience, reduce outages, and optimise renewable energy usage.

The month-long virtual hackathon, held from 15 September to 10 October 2025, is regarded as one of the world’s most rigorous analytics competitions. Participants are required to design deployable AI solutions addressing real-world industry and sustainability challenges using advanced analytics and cloud platforms.

Rather than selecting narrower use cases, the team addressed systemic obsolescence in energy infrastructure — a challenge that has significant economic and operational implications worldwide.

“As the world accelerates towards a hyper-connected future, our energy systems are struggling to keep up,” Lam explained. “By 2030, an estimated 125 billion IoT devices will be connected worldwide. Yet today’s power grids still react too slowly to disruptions. The consequences are devastating—large-scale blackouts, billions in economic losses, wasted renewable energy, and threats to public safety and national resilience. In the United States alone, power outages cost approximately US$150 billion every year.”

Project LUCID integrates IoT connectivity, AI forecasting using SAS Viya and Python, real-time anomaly detection, predictive maintenance models, and digital twin simulation to enhance power grid responsiveness and long-term resilience.

The international judging panel commended the solution’s technical integration and real-world applicability, noting its comprehensive approach to forecasting, response automation, and simulation.

All team members were undergraduates, most balancing internships during the competition period.

Assistant Professor Dr Preethi Subramanian of APU’s School of Computing provided academic guidance, while SAS Malaysia offered professional mentorship.

Reflecting on the achievement, team leader Lam Yu Yan said the experience strengthened their leadership and problem-solving capabilities under pressure.

Dr Preethi added that the team’s complementary skill sets and disciplined execution were key factors in their success.

“This achievement reflects that, with the right training, mindset and mentorship, our undergraduates can compete alongside the world’s best,” said associate professor Dr Tan Chin Ike, head of the School of Computing.