UGM Students Win the Shell Competition in London

INDUSTRY.co.id - Jakarta - Three students of Universitas Gajah Mada (UGM) successfully won the Shell competition through the event "Shell Ideas360" held in London England on 5-8 July 2018 with the idea of ​​"smart cars that utilize micro algae (microalgae)".

Herman Amrullah, Sholahuddin Alayyubi and Thya Laurencia Benedita Araujo succeeded in setting aside four other finalist teams from the American University of Sharjah (United Arab Emirates), University of Texas (United States), University of Bordeaux (France) and University of Melbourne (Australia).

"We are very pleased to represent Indonesia to take part in this event and become the champion in the competition pitted the idea of ​​innovation prestigious world," said Chairman of the team manager "Smart Car MCS (Microalgae Cultivation Support)", Herman in a press release received Antara, Friday 6/7/2018)

Shell Ideas360 is a challenging competition for students around the world to develop ideas and ideas to address global challenges in the energy, food and water sectors. The competition that has started since 2013 is part of the innovation festival of "Shell Making the Future".

Herman admitted that his success cannot be separated from the support and prayers of many parties, including friends, parents, supervisors Yano Surya Pradana, S.T., M.Eng and Hanifrahmawan Sudibyo, S.T., M.Eng, UGM and Indonesian society, and Shell.

The success of the UGM team has not only succeeded in winning the jury's heart through the idea of ​​Smart Car MCS, but also managed to get the most support in the polls and become the most popular choice of ideas or Audience Choice.

Smart Car MCS team's smart car idea is rated as the most innovative idea in helping the world in the future.

The votes gained in this poll accounted for 20 percent of the score / score in the determination of the grand prize winner of the season.

The pride of the UGM team's victory was also revealed by Darwin Silalahi, President Director & Country Chairman of PT Shell Indonesia.

"Congratulations is a very proud thing, not only for the team and the alma mater but also for the Indonesian nation. We give high appreciation for the creativity and hard work of the team in finding useful revolutionary ideas for the world community in the future, "he said as quoted by Antara.

The idea of ​​Smart Car MCS comes from a study by Jenna Jambeck, published in the Journal of Science (www.sciencemag.org) in February 2015.

Indonesians living in the vicinity of 50 KMr from the coastline produce 5.4 million tons of plastic waste, placing Indonesia as the world's second largest producer of plastic waste.

Concerns about this condition and seeing the trend of energy consumption continues to increase while the availability of fossil fuels thinned and then gave birth to the idea of ​​UGM team gave birth to the idea of ​​Smart Car MCS to convert plastic waste into new low emission alternative energy. The idea was embodied into an idea entitled Smart Car Microalgae Cultivation Support, a smart car idea that uses plastic waste as an alternative energy source.

"This idea is born out of our concern to see the environment around us, and various trials, lengthy discussions with the team and lecturers are done to create ideas that are expected to have a positive impact on the environment and the future of the world," Herman said.

Smart Car MCS is designed with a pyrolysis reactor that can accommodate as much as 2 kilograms of plastic waste. The process of plastic pyrolysis is a process of plastic degradation using high temperature heat in the absence of oxygen. The heat source comes from a car exhaust that can reach above 400C.

This car is also equipped with Microalgae Cultivation Support (MCS) technology that is used to reduce the amount of exhaust gas CO2 on the vehicle. The development of this Smart Car can not only produce fuel and biofuels but also reduce waste problems and create a better environment.