The third annual Habibie Festival took place at Jakarta International Expo (JiExpo) that lasted for four days starting from September 20 to 23. This year, a total of 79 volunteers from two universities; Univeritas Al-Izar (UAI) and International University Liaison Indonesia (IULI) of which 25 of them are from IULI all ranging from different faculties and batches. The volunteer jobs were as reporters, writers, liaison officers, social media content developers, and many more. Furthermore, 14 IULI students participated in the Zero to Maker Boot Camp workshop that lasted from September 21st to 23rd. The boot camp aims to showcase that in a learning environment where access to technology is limited, maker education can still enable innovation and entrepreneurial attitude.
This year, the theme of the festival was “Lihat, Sentuh, Rasakan Teknologi dan Inovasi Terbaru” which can be translated to “See, Touch, and Feel the latest Technology and Innovations”. Guest speakers included, Bekraf CEO Hari S. Sungkari, and Founder & Chairman Bekraf Habibie Festival Dr. –Ing Ilham Akbar Habibie, MBA. Some celebrities were also present such as Daniel Mananta, Kemal Palevi and YouTuber and influencer Jovial da Lopez to support the event. The speakers emphasized on the potentials and opportunities Indonesia’s younger generation has with ideas and being creative with the innovation as well as technology in today’s digital era. “We have to direct our ideas to become a prototype. We need to keep trying even though we still make mistakes. Once we know the right way we will be able to start businesses and industries,” Dr. –Ing Ilham Akbar Habibie stated.
This year, many semester 1 students participated as volunteers for the event and the boot camp. Andi Bintang Bramastha from International Business Administration (IBA) 2018 stated that, “It’s such an honor to be able to volunteer for Habibie Festival 2018 and do my job as a writer. I’ve always had an interest in writing and being able to do this job I get to utilize my writing skills when being a reporter. Throughout the event, I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Ilham Habibie, as well as other inspiring guest stars. And from this event I learned how Indonesia is catching up in the technological and innovative field.”
Many semester 1 students were highly active as volunteer members that participated as liaison officers, workshop volunteers, reporters, booth members and many more. Their enthusiasm was highly appreciated by the staff members for the four days that they were present in the event.
Many semester 5 students partook in this event as volunteers, taking the opportunity to be part of the largest technological innovation event in Indonesia before many of them have to depart to Germany to complete their dual degree program next year. Vallen Patricia of Biomedical Engineering (BME) 2016 said, “ I am happy to have had the opportunity to volunteer in this event. I met a lot of new people and friends and learned about innovation and technology. Everything that was showcased in the exhibition was really cool and inspiring and brings out the pride of being Indonesian.”
Abiyu Ramadhan of Management 2016 who participated in the Boot Camp Program claimed: “For me, since day one, the boot camp was very interesting and fun. I made a lot of new friends and learned to be very patient when participating in something new.”
Another participant of the Boot Camp Program, Sasa Khansa of International Relations 2016 said that “It was very inspiring, a once in a lifetime opportunity, to learn so many new things. Here I learned how to make an instrument out of recyclable materials. Now I know a little bit of algorithm such as coding. As an International Relations student, it was out of my expertise, and though it was a bit challenging, it was pretty fun and educational. I also got to meet new people and I also promoted our campus to others.”
IULI also participated in the exhibition to promote our campus. We brought along our 3D Printer, Flight Simulator, Wind Tunnel and also a few Com3Lab panels. Visitors of our booth were highly interested in our lab equipment as our students from the Mechatronics and Aviation Engineering study program explained the use and functions very well.
Overall, Berkaf Habibie Festival 2018 was a success. IULI students are looking forward to participate once again as volunteers next year with the hopes of making another successful event as or even better than this year’s festival.
(MaR/SaB)
