This kind of filter is not something new to be invented, it has already existed in many forms for many years. Most outdoor sports like mountain biking, hiking, camping people already know and use for a long time.
It does appear that this prof is a scammer just like a few other profs in Malaysia. From my personal experience most of the people who did phds were those who were not very smart in the first place. All the smart people already went to work in commerce and industry after degree. The laggards stayed on to do masters and phds coz couldn't get jobs. In the end this is what they end up doing, scamming for funds to do "research".