Siti (third from left) and Loke (fourth from left) with the champion, Team Soft Shell Crab and representatives from UTM.
KUALA LUMPUR: Shell’s road safety programme for tertiary education students, #ShellSelamatSampai Varsity Challenge crowned Team Soft Shell Crab from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) as the grand winner for 2025, in an event, which was officiated by Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook.
Themed Innovate! Captivate! Save Lives!, this challenge is open to all university and college students in Malaysia, aiming to empower youth to apply science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in proposing innovative solutions to mitigate road safety issues.
“Too many lives are lost each year to preventable road incidents caused by reckless behaviour and a lack of awareness.
“As a community, we have a shared responsibility to drive change and advocate for safer roads.
“At Shell, we are committed to cultivating a strong road safety culture among young people by inspiring them to develop creative solutions and take proactive roles in promoting safety within their communities,” shared Shell Malaysia country chair and Upstream Malaysia senior vice president Siti Sulaiman.
The winning team consisting of Samin Sarwat, Tanhim Jashim, Huzaifa Saoman and Tanveer Ahmad came up with a project called CarBuddy. This is an AI-powered app that tackles Malaysia’s deadliest hidden road risk — microsleep accidents. Using smartphone or in-car cameras, it tracks drivers’ eyes and facial cues to spot drowsiness early and give gentle alerts before microsleep strikes. Affordable and accessible for all drivers, CarBuddy could cut accidents by half — saving 500 lives and RM4.1bil each year.
Team Soft Shell Crab from UTM was one of the five finalist teams that competed against students from Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), UCSI College, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation (APU).
“Participating in the Shell #ShellSelamatSampai programme has truly transformed our approach towards tackling road safety challenges. The exposure to innovative tools and strategic problem-solving skills has empowered our team to design and implement solutions, which we believe can make a real difference in reducing road accidents.
“We are truly grateful for Shell’s support throughout this journey and are excited to empower wider community engagement, encouraging others to adopt and amplify our project’s impact on safer roads,” shared Team Soft Shell Crab.
The 2025 grand finale was judged by a panel of distinguished judges comprising of Shell regional high risk transport advisor Harnamdav Singh, Road Transport Department automotive engineering division deputy director Mohd Fairuz Izani, Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research director-general Assoc Prof Dr Siti Zaharah Ishak, Higher Education department principal assistant director Wan Noor Sheila Mior Sharifuddin and GYL Media Services Sdn Bhd (PanduLaju) digital director and managing director Gan Yong Li.
Shell’s road safety journey in Malaysia began over six decades ago in 1957. Over time, the company’s road safety programme evolved to working very closely with government stakeholders to innovate and find impactful ways to help build a road safe culture among the community.
Under the road safety programme called #ShellSelamatSampai, the Varsity Challenge was introduced in 2017. It is aimed to empower tertiary education students to help find solutions in mitigating road safety issues.
Over the years, #ShellSelamatSampai Varsity Challenge has contributed towards nurturing brilliant young minds across Malaysia to propose out of the box ideas to help improve the road safety conditions.
For further information on Shell’s STEM and community development initiatives, visit Road Safety Malaysia - #ShellSelamatSampai | About Us
