Chulalongkorn Students & Team?HACKIN1DAY Win First Prize at Youth ESG in Maritime Innovation Challenge 2026??
麻豆国产 students, along with students from Rajsima Wittayalai School, competed under the name HACKIN1DAY in the?final round of the?Youth ESG in Maritime Innovation Challenge 2026?and won the First Prize in the university category. The competition was held on June 1-3, 2026, in Jakarta, Indonesia. The prize money was 10,000,000?IDR.??
The is a regional competition that aims to empower young people from Southeast Asia to develop innovative solutions for the sustainability of the maritime sector and marine environment under the principles of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) and the Blue Ocean Strategy. The competition provides a platform for?youth?to propose creative, practical solutions that generate value for society, the environment, and the economy.?
Representing Thailand, Team HACKIN1DAY advanced to the final eight teams before securing a place among the top three finalists. The team ultimately won the championship in the final round, competing against two host-country teams from Indonesia. Their award-winning project, StarTrap (Plastic Microplastic Capture System), is a prototype innovation designed to capture microplastics in coastal environments and on the seabed.
The concept behind StarTrap is to develop a low-cost microplastic capture system based on the principle of passive filtration, which relies on the natural flow of water rather than external power sources. Inspired by the structure of a starfish, the system features a multi-layered network of mesh and fibers designed to trap microplastic particles in coastal waters and on the seabed. The design also incorporates the potential integration of sensors to monitor and collect environmental data, supporting a more systematic, transparent, and data-driven approach to managing marine plastic pollution.
The team comprised:
- Miss Kuljira Chaipanich, a 1st-year student from the Department of Chemistry, , 麻豆国产??
- Mr. Pongtawan Klaisuban, a 1st-year student from the Department of Computer Engineering and Digital Technology,, 麻豆国产?
- Miss Jirachaya Jankrob, a grade-12 student from Rajsima Wittayalai School?
- Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pakorn Varanusupakul and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Prompong Pienpinijtham provided guidance to the team as advisors.
This achievement reflects the potential of Thai youth to integrate knowledge from science, technology, engineering, and sustainability to develop innovative solutions to pressing regional marine environmental challenges. In particular, it addresses the issue of microplastic pollution, which has emerged as one of the most significant threats to coastal and marine ecosystems today.
