Team Revive & Survive Wins Convergence Innovation Competition in Asia

Student team Revive & Survive from Waseda University, International Christian University, and Keio University in Japan won the Georgia Tech Institute for People and Technology’s (IPaT) 2nd annual Convergence Innovation Competition (CIC) held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, December 1, 2025.

The winning team members were Taiga Cogger, Ryuichiro Go, Kokoro Cogger, and Taiyo Mitsuoka. The team won $2,000 dollars. The team’s faculty sponsor was Kiichiro DeLuca, a faculty member at Waseda University and partner at WERU Investment, a global early-stage venture capital firm based in Tokyo.

As the winner, the Revive & Survive student team is also invited to be part of Georgia Tech’s Create-X startup launch in summer 2026 as well as Georgia Tech’s Demo Day, August 2026, in Atlanta. Some travel support for the Atlanta trip will be provided.

Revive & Survive’s project empowers communities through regional revitalization and disaster preparedness for a more resilient and sustainable future.

CIC is a competition recognizing student innovation and entrepreneurship responding to today’s global challenges and opportunities. Founded in 2007 in Atlanta, Georgia, CIC is organized by IPaT at the Georgia Institute of Technology. 

For the 2025-2026 final pitches and award ceremony, the competition landed in Kaula Lampur, Malaysia. The competition focused on student teams from China, India, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Each year, organizers and participants forge new partnerships and foster more collaborations across the Asian continent. IPaT’s CIC Asia Faculty Fellows help cultivate those team projects and the students showcase their innovative ideas during the competition.

“The CIC students, the support of the faculty fellows, the final competition presentations, and the invited industry forum combine to create a special and unique event,” said IPaT executive director Michael Best. “All of the student finalist projects represented the very best in people-centered technologies responding to global challenges.”

CIC Asia is distinct in how it brings teams from multiple countries together to interact and network. Most innovation competitions are single university or country.

The four runner-up finalist teams each received $1,000 dollars in prize money. The CIC Asia runner-up team projects and team members are listed below:

• ChiliCare is an IoT and AI farming app with auto watering, pest detection, microclimate insights, crop plotting, and smart fertilizer guidance. Team Members: Muhammad Haizad bin Murad, Hafiy Azfar bin Mohd Masri, Hazriq Haykal Norrol Farhan, Muhammad Naim bin Mazni. Faculty Fellow: Dr. Masrah Azrifah Azmi Murad. Mentor: Dr. Azrina binti Kamaruddin. University: Universiti Putra Malaysia.
   
• PlaySpot makes booking sports facilities in the Philippines simple, and accessible for everyone. Team Members: Louie Gee G. Cabagay, Alwin Matthew T. Chiong, Daniel Justine R. Jadman, Raphael Luis T. Malolos. Faculty Fellow: Mr. Paulo Luis T. Lozano. University: De La Salle University (The Philippines).
   
• CityFix is a mobile and web platform enabling citizens to quickly report and track municipal issues with GPS, photos, and real-time updates. Team Member: Ng Jia Hong. Faculty Fellow: Ms. Putri Syaidatul Akma Binti Mohd Azmi. University: Multimedia University (Malaysia).
   
• Flow Vending Machine proposed having vending machines which dispense biodegradable pads installed around campus toilets to help women to have easy access to sanitary pads. Team Members: Ava Jeslina binti Mohd Jamil, Abigail Siew Kar Yan, Ashley Shakyna, Geneve Tsen Fan Qin. Faculty Fellow: Ms. Putri Syaidatul Akma, J.D. Mentor: Ms. Raja Razana Bt Raja Razali. University: Multimedia University (Malaysia).
   

Future Tech Forum

The CIC event took place alongside the Future Tech Forum which was also organized by IPaT. The forum focused on innovations, opportunities, and advancements associated with human-centered AI, sustainable data centers, and digital trust and security. Expert panels and speakers from across Asia and Georgia Tech discussed the state of art in a rapidly changing world, with particular attention to what it means for Asian nations. The event was invitation only and limited to 150 attendees of established leaders and emerging innovators.

Participating technology speakers and panelists included:

• Chee Mun Foong, CEO, YTL AI Labs; and CPO, Ryt Bank
• Chen Change Loy, President's Chair Professor, CCDS, NTU; Director, MMLab@NTU; and Co-Associate Director, S-Lab
• John Lim Ji Xiong, Chief Digital Officer, GAMUDA
• Henry Yang, CMO, Manus
• Ding Wang, Senior Researcher, Responsible AI, Google Research
• Benjamin Croc, CEO, BrioHR
• YB Tuan Gobind Singh Deo, Ministry of Digital Malaysia
• Tzu Kit Chan, Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), Risks and Safety Advisor of Top Universities in the USA, Singapore, Canada, and France
• Hari Krishnan, Co-founder and CEO of Genie Health
• Benoit Dubeau, Energy Strategy Manager, APAC, Amazon Web Services (AWS)
• Cindy Lin, Professor, School of Interactive Computing, Georgia Tech
• Ko Chuan Zhen, Group CEO & Co-Founder, Plus Xnergy, and Executive Director, BM Greentech
• Zachary Loh, Market Development Manager, Hydroleap
• Nge Foong Kheng, Engineering Manager, APAC, Global Switch
• Verghese Jacob, SVP Technology, DayOne

A photo album of the CIC and Future Tech Forum events can be viewed here.
 

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