IO, Surabaya – Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS) Surabaya has again showed its consistent achievements on the international stage. This time, two out of eight ITS delegates at the Harvard National Model United Nations (HNMUN) 2018 were rewarded with a Social Venture Challenge (SVC) Award: Adela Almira Hermawan, an Industrial Engineering Student of ITS, and Salsabila Annisa Rengganis, a Marine Engineering Student of ITS, took home SVC Awards and became the only Indonesian representatives to claim this honour.
As one of the leading universities in Indonesia, ITS always finds a way to elevate Indonesian pride on the world stage through the education sector. The SVC award is clear evidence of their students’ ability to offer effective solutions to any complex problems occurring in Indonesia. They also prove that Indonesian people are able to compete with international communities.
The SVC Award is a tribute to the team embarked on social project innovation for surrounding communities. With a project called Vish Diesel, Salsa and her colleagues tried to introduce Indonesia’s prosperous maritime sector to the world. They empowered fishermen in Brondong Village, Lamongan, East Java, through an innovative process of turning fish wastes into valuable diesel fuel.
Salsa admitted this was not an easy achievement. The whole team had been preparing themselves since July of last year. ‘Thanks to our efforts and prayers, we are grateful to receive the honour,’ said Salsa who was contacted by online message on Thursday (22/2).
Besides Salsa and Adela, other team members from ITS are Nashua Fajriani Putri, Leonard, Mumtaza Rizky Iswanda, Rachmad Ananto Wicaksono, Qaedi Aufar S. Bantasyam and John Bayu S Nugroho who went to Boston to compete in HNMUN 2018. They are expected to arrive back in Indonesia on Tuesday (27/2).
‘Previously, ITS won the same award in 2015 and 2016,’ said Salsa. In this prestigious event, as many as three ITS teams successfully continued their competition until the final round; only one team managed to claim the award.
She confirmed that ITS had actually not planned to send representatives to HNMUN 2018. However, after further consideration, the Officials elected eight of its best delegates who were ready to compete.
As is widely known, HNMUN is a competitive academic simulation of United Nations (UN) sessions held annually by Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. ‘This competition has been going on 64 times and is participated in by thousands of students from all over the world,’ Salsa explained. (ITS)