AKSADRON Releases Impact Report 2025, Showcasing the Growth of Malaysia's Drone Sports Talent Ecosystem

CYBERJAYA, Malaysia, Sept. 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Academy for Drone Sports Excellence (AKSADRON), an initiative under Futurise Sdn Bhd (Futurise), today announced the release of the AKSADRON Impact Report 2025, documenting the progress and achievements of its efforts to develop Malaysia's drone sports ecosystem between 2022 and 2025.

The report highlights AKSADRON's role in building a structured national platform for drone sports by combining competitive sports, technical learning and the use of drone sports to strengthen STEM, TVET, innovation and future-ready skills. It also reflects the growing participation of students, educational institutions, government stakeholders, industry partners and drone sports communities in programmes conducted across Malaysia.

The report also outlines AKSADRON's alignment with the National Drone Sports Strategic Roadmap 2023–2027, or NADSAR, which provides a five-year framework for developing drone sports as both a competitive and recreational activity and as a talent pipeline supporting the broader drone and aerospace industries. This initiative also supports current government priorities, including the Thirteenth Malaysia Plan 2026–2030, National TVET Policy 2030 and Visi Sukan Negara 2030. The roadmap is anchored on three strategic priorities: strengthening the national drone sports landscape, building a collaborative ecosystem and increasing public awareness in drone sports.

Guided by these strategic priorities, AKSADRON's work has translated into positive and measurable outcomes. From 2022 to 2025, AKSADRON achieved the following:

• Reached more than 10,000 participants through nationwide awareness programmes and activations;
• Trained 2,000 participants, contributing to the development of new drone pilots and emerging athletes;
• Conducted 70 programmes and events, namely, Dronecubator and Drone Hero;
• Organised 7 drone sports tournaments such as Drone Hub Innovation for Future Talent (DRIFT) & Sky Battle;
• Engaged more than 20 stakeholders across government, academia and industry;
• Collaborated with 8 academic and learning institutions and 6 industry stakeholders; and
• Established more than 10 Memorandum of Understanding and Letters of Intent to accelerate collaboration and ecosystem growth.

Shafinaz Salim, Acting Chief Executive Officer of Futurise, said, "The AKSADRON Impact Report 2025 represents an important milestone in our journey to develop a structured and inclusive drone sports ecosystem in Malaysia. The progress achieved since 2022 demonstrates that drone sports are more than a recreational activity. They provide a practical and engaging platform through which young Malaysians can develop technical knowledge, confidence, teamwork, problem-solving abilities and competitive experience".

Established by Futurise following a mandate from the Malaysian Government in 2022, AKSADRON advances the development of Malaysia's drone sports ecosystem across four key segments: drone racing, drone soccer, drone e-sports and AI-enabled drone racing.

AKSADRON's training facility is in Cyberjaya, where it offers public and customised training programmes for individuals, schools, higher-learning institutions and corporate organisations, covering areas such as drone piloting, flight safety, drone handling, technical skills, teamwork and competitive drone sports.

Shafinaz further added, "Through AKSADRON, we are making drone technology more accessible by providing a structured environment where participants can learn, practise and progress. Our Cyberjaya training facility serves as a platform for students, educators, organisations and members of the public to develop practical skills and experience drone sports in a safe and guided setting. We want every training programme to open a pathway, from initial exposure and participation to technical development, competition and future opportunities within Malaysia's growing drone ecosystem".

For more details, the AKSADRON Impact Report 2025 will be available soon in Futurise's website. For those who are keen to explore collaboration opportunities with AKSADRON for trainings and events, may contact aksadron@futurise.com.my for more information.

About Futurise

Futurise is a company under the Ministry of Finance. It is mandated by the Government of Malaysia to manage the National Regulatory Sandbox, providing public policy advisory and acting as a key enabler of regulatory solutions to expedite innovation and future-proof Malaysia's economy.

Follow Futurise & AKSADRON social media for updates:
FB: https://www.facebook.com/futurisemy/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/futurisemy ; https://www.instagram.com/aksadron/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@aksadron
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/futurise/ 

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AKSADRON Releases Impact Report 2025, Showcasing the Growth of Malaysia's Drone Sports Talent Ecosystem

HONG KONG, Sept. 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Monitoring marine life helps scientists track ecosystem health, improve conservation, and manage fisheries. A promising approach is environmental DNA (eDNA), which refers to trace genetic material naturally released into the water by organisms, such as skin cells, mucus and excreta. By analysing eDNA in water samples, scientists can determine which species are present in a given body of water without the need to physically capture or observe the organisms. This method is of great significance for monitoring marine ecosystems and conserving biodiversity. In practical applications, however, DNA concentrations in seawater are extremely low, making it difficult for traditional membranes to capture it effectively.

A research team from City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK), in collaboration with researchers from several other universities, has successfully developed a novel functionalised membrane that significantly improves the efficiency of collecting and detecting marine organisms' eDNA, providing a more sensitive and reliable technical tool for monitoring marine biodiversity.

The CityUHK team was led by Professor Kenneth Leung Mei-yee, Vice-President (Research) and Director of the State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Health (SKLMEH); and Professor Zeng Zhiyuan from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the SKLMEH. The study, titled "A tailored MoS₂ membrane with strong DNA-binding capability enhances aquatic biota detection through environmental DNA metabarcoding", was published in the leading international journal National Science Review.

The research team coated the surface of a common membrane with an ultra-thin layer of 2D material molybdenum disulphide (MoS₂), enabling the membrane to capture DNA in water more effectively. Experimental results show that this novel membrane significantly improves the detection sensitivity of fish eDNA in both laboratory and field tests.

In controlled experiments, the researchers successfully used the membrane to accurately identify a variety of tropical coral reef fish, including Acanthurus dussumieri, Chrysiptera cyanea, Dascyllus trimaculatus, Microcanthus strigatus, and Paracanthurus hepatus.

For field testing, the research team conducted on-site sampling tests at the Hoi Ha Wan Marine Park. The results showed that the new filter membrane could detect a greater number of fish species, including anchovies, flathead gray mullet and carangid fish, without affecting the overall assessment of the fish community, demonstrating its potential for applications in practical marine monitoring.

"The membrane is simple to prepare and cost-effective, and can be directly integrated into existing water sampling filtration processes. It is expected to find future applications in marine conservation, ecological surveys and long-term environmental monitoring, and is particularly suitable for use in marine areas rich in biological resources but difficult to survey," noted Professor Leung.

He added that the Ministry of Ecology and Environment is currently promoting the use of eDNA technology in biodiversity surveys, and that the research team's innovative technology will support and drive the development of this technology.

The corresponding authors of this study include Professor Leung; Professor Zeng; Professor Huang Bolong from the Department of Chemistry at CityUHK; and Professor Qiu Jianwen from the Department of Biology at Hong Kong Baptist University. The findings demonstrate the interdisciplinary integration of advanced materials science and environmental ecology research, creating new avenues for more precise and sensitive marine biological monitoring technologies.

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CityUHK team invents novel eDNA membrane to advance understanding of inshore fish diversity