(S City, 15th) The 2025 International Higher Education Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Commercialization Summit and Exhibition (IHEEIC 2025) recently held its closing ceremony at the Mutiara Hall, Mutiara Exchange Center in Jerudong, marking a successful conclusion.
This two-day event was organized by the Office of Assistant Vice-Chancellor (Industry, Cooperative Engagement and Enterprise Development) (OAVCIEED) of Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD), with the support of the Office of Assistant Vice-Chancellor (Research, Innovation and Sustainability) (OAVCRIS).
The UBD Vice-Chancellor Hazri attended the closing ceremony. Also present were UBD department heads, domestic and international partners, sponsors, guest speakers, mentors, and participants, who together celebrated breakthrough innovation achievements and recognized outstanding accomplishments in entrepreneurship and research commercialization.
In the “Seed” category, the Startup Incubation Grant was awarded to two projects: “AlphaSense” and “Agriboost”; both from UBD's Discovery Year Incubation Program. AlphaSense aims to revolutionize early literacy education through built-in sensors, which can trigger audio feedback and strong visual contrasts to help low-vision learners learn better. Agriboost is an IoT-based on-site biotransformation bin that can convert organic waste into organic fertilizer, reducing Brunei's dependence on imported inputs and processing costs. The winning teams in this category each received BND1,000.
In the “Accelerator” category, “CircularEat” and “Simulated Pharmacy Center” each received BND3,000. CircularEat, originating from the Entrepreneurship Lab Program, is a platform that transforms surplus food from restaurants and markets into affordable time-limited special offers and targeted donations. The project was recognized in the 2025 ASEAN Data Science Explorers Competition and aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the ASEAN Blueprint Framework. The Simulated Pharmacy Center, led by Dr. Valeria of UBD's PAPRSB Institute of Health Sciences, is the first simulated pharmacy facility providing practical training in dispensing accuracy, clinical decision-making, and patient-centered communication, while integrating sustainable practices in line with UN SDGs 3, 4, 9, and 12.
At the closing ceremony, IHEEIC 2025 launched its flagship initiative—the Venture Pitch Award (VPA), aiming to promote commercialization and patent development of research results, reinforcing the university’s strategy to incubate more spin-off companies from research innovation. The top three winners in the pre-patent application category were: “The Fusion of Technology and Biology: Using C. elegans to Understand Human Diseases,” led by Associate Professor Dr. Mas of UBD's PAPRSB IHS; “IoT-based Water Quality Monitoring System for Brunei’s Flood and Drought Responses,” led by Dr. Wida from Politeknik Brunei; and “Innovative Integration of Virtual Reality and Psycho-Spiritual Counseling (Ar-Rahmah),” led by NLP practitioner and founder of MuBn Learning & Growth, Dr. Mona. The winners received a BND10,000 sustainable research fund from UBD’s OAVCRIS and a BND1,000 cash prize.
In the post-patent category, the top three projects were: “Antibacterial and Antifungal Photocatalytic Coating Films and Their Preparation Method” led by Dr. Lecha of UBD; “GoSwiet,” a high-quality mahogany seed oil extracted using supercritical CO₂ green technology, led by Associate Professor Dr. Licha from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM); and “BreSih,” an innovative patient-centered bedpan system with an ergonomic inflatable design integrating water supply and drainage mechanisms, led by Dr. Asmah of UBD's PAPRSB HIS. Each winner received BND2,000 cash prizes.
The Venture Pitch Award is an important milestone in accelerating the commercialization of university research outcomes. The initiative aims to support institutional goals, cultivate an entrepreneurial ecosystem, transform cutting-edge research into market-ready solutions, and establish spin-off companies, thus empowering researchers to turn their results into impactful products and services that address real-world challenges.
IHEEIC 2025 successfully showcased the power of collaboration, innovation, and entrepreneurship in advancing higher education excellence and creating sustainable solutions for regional and global challenges.