Year 2015 will see the AEC (ASEAN Economic Community) where the flow of goods and services between ASEAN countries will get easier. The AEC serves as the media to extend the market for Indonesian products. On the contrary, it will pose dangers if Indonesian products are not competitive.
This condition has triggered five UGM students, who are Muhammad Nabil Satria Faradis, Hibran Sabila Maksum, and Irkham Maulana (Mechanical Engineering), and Rizka Islami Ratnasari and Yulisyah Putri Daulay (Industrial Engineering), to help small enterprises to compete internationally by using technology. They work with a company in Kotagede area that produces ‘carved’ helmets.
“The market potential of this helmet is big and the helmet has been used by energy companies such as Pertamina, Chevron, Wyatt Oil, Seadrill, and also countries like Switzerland and Canada,” said Nabil on Monday (7/7) at UGM.
The company still finds it difficult to meet orders in time as they produce the helmets traditionally. The five students then make semi-automatic hydrolic pressing machine to save time for helmet production. It is expected that the helmets can be produced more quickly, thus the company will be able to compete at the AEC level. The funding for the project is from the Student Creativity Programme and Research Grant. The idea is accepted as initiator on the crowdfunding web of UGM, IdeaConnect. This can encourage the government to introduce technology to small and middle enterprises to level up their production and quality. It is also expected to raise student’s awareness about problems in their surroundings, inspiring them to find solutions.