Department of Aquatic Resources Management (MSP), Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Sciences (FPIK) IPB University hosted the International Competition on Blue Carbon Counting in Mangrove Ecosystem which was held in a hybrid manner at the Sahira Hotel Bogor and Zoom Meeting (4/12).

This international level competition was attended by students from various universities. There were six teams that managed to advance to the final round, namely Carbove (Bandung Institute of Technology/ITB), Mercator (ITB), Carpenter (IPB University), Capme (IPB University), Macaca (Sultan Ageng Tirtayasa University/Untirta) and UNC Computer Science (Nusa Cendana University/UNC).

This international competition is part of the Independent Campus Competition Program (PKKM) activities. IPB University’s MSP Department succeeded in obtaining a 2023 PKKM grant from the Directorate General of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology (Kemendikbudristek) with the theme ‘Blue Carbon’.

In his speech, Prof. Hefni Effendi, Chair of the MSP Department at IPB University, said that calculating blue carbon in the sea has not been as well developed as calculating the carbon footprint in terrestrial ecosystems. Therefore, a basis is needed in the form of principles for calculating blue carbon and its calculation formula.

“This is the background for holding the International Competition on Blue Carbon Calculator, namely as a venue for student creativity in creating blue carbon calculation products in the mangrove ecosystem,” he explained.

The Dean of FPIK IPB University, Prof Fredinan Yulianda also expressed his appreciation for the participation of students from various universities in this international competition in the field of blue carbon. A number of these universities include IPB University, ITB, Untirta, Gadjah Mada University, Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology, UNC and Diponegoro University.

“Students’ creativity is proof of the young generation’s concern for coastal and marine ecosystems,” he said.

In this competition, each team created a product in the form of a carbon calculator in the form of an application, website, script and so on. Each team follows the stages of presentation, product demo and interview. The jury involved was Prof. Mennofatria Boer, Prof. Hefni Effendi and Dr. Majariana Krisanti.

“Competition is very tight and fierce because the product quality is very good, useful for users and each has its own advantages. “It’s beyond our expectations,” said one of the judges.

Apart from product quality, team cohesion and the ability to argue in English are also components of the assessment. All the judges agreed that the student’s creation in the form of a carbon calculator had great potential to be developed into a startup operating in the field of carbon trading.

In this competition, Carbove Team (Information and System Technology, ITB) and Mercator Team (Informatic Engineering, ITB) succeeded in winning Gold and Silver Medals. Meanwhile the Carpenter Team (Aquatic Resources Management/MSP, IPB University) won the Bronze Medal.

Winners in three additional categories, namely the Promising Team were won by the Macaca Team (Fisheries Science Untirta), the Encouraging Team by the Capme Team (Aquatic Resources Management/MSP, IPB University) and the Eagerness Team by Computer Science (Nusa Cendana University).

Currently, the MSP IPB University Undergraduate Study Program has also succeeded in achieving ASIIN international accreditation. This international competition event can accelerate the performance of study programs, as well as motivate students to continue working and excelling on the global stage.

Source: IPB News