The NewClear team members Noor Fahima Wardaningrum (Nuclear Engineering 2022) and Maulana Istar (Nuclear Engineering 2021) won first place in a national essay competition.
The competition, titled “On Birthday Riset Goes On (ORION 4.0),” is a national-level essay contest regularly held by the UKMF-Riset Study Program, Trunojoyo Madura University.
The ORION 4.0 series began with registration and submission of works from April 15 to May 15, 2024. Judging occurred from May 17 to May 21, 2024, and the finalists were announced on May 23, 2024.
The technical meeting, which was held on May 24, 2024, the final presentation on May 26, 2024, and the announcement of winners on June 2, 2024, had the theme “The Urgency of Generation Z in Achieving and Anticipating SDGs 2030.”
“This event was held to celebrate the anniversary of the UKMF-Riset Faculty of Social and Cultural Sciences, as well as a platform for the nation’s youth to present their works, ideas, suggestions, and creativity in written form,” said Noor Fahima Wardaningrum, the team leader, at UGM Campus on Monday (June 24).
Wardaningrum explained that the entire process started with evaluating submissions, narrowing down to the top 6 entries. These finalists then competed for the top 3 prizes and two consolation prizes.
The final round was conducted online. The competition saw participation from 130 teams from various public and private universities across Indonesia.
“We are grateful that the NewClear team managed to win first place. This achievement is a source of pride for the Department of Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics, the Faculty of Engineering (FT UGM), and Universitas Gadjah Mada,” she said.
Wardaningrum explained that in this competition, the NewClear team proposed the idea of carbon capture and storage (CCS) material made from rice husk waste integrated with an IoT system. According to her, the issue addressed by NewClear is crucial because many industries still emit exhaust gases, primarily carbon dioxide.
“The team offered a solution by designing CCS technology from rice husk waste, which would also economically benefit farmers,” she added.
Maulana Istar mentioned that the NewClear team was named after their Nuclear Engineering program and a similar phrase. Initially, Maulana admitted they were hesitant to participate in the competition because it was organized by FISIB UTM rather than in the field of science and technology.
Moreover, the judges were experts in sociology and psychology. The NewClear team had to explain their ideas more generally in writing and presentation to make their ideas easier to understand.
“This has been a valuable experience. This is the first time I have won after several attempts in competitions. Alhamdulillah, we won first place. In the first year, I practiced writing for competitions. Even though I didn’t win, I kept participating, and finally, the moment came,” Istar said.
Istar and Wardaningrum hope their idea will benefit the industrial sector, particularly in reducing carbon emissions. They also hope this innovation will solve the problem of worsening environmental conditions and help farmers socially. This innovation is expected to support the government’s program on SDG point 13 and net zero emissions by 2060.
“We hope that this idea will be noticed and supported by various parties, especially the campus so that further research can be conducted to achieve more accurate and effective results. We also hope our success will inspire other students to excel and make their alma mater proud,” Istar concluded.
Author: Agung Nugroho