EduAsiaNews, Bandung – Students from the Water Resources Engineering and Management Program (TPSDA), Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering (FTSL), at the Bandung Institute of Technology, who are members of Team Amreta Amretaan, have brought pride to Indonesia on the international stage. The team won the Gold Award at the World Young Inventors Exhibition (WYIE), held as part of the International Invention, Innovation, Technology Competition & Exhibition 2026 in Kuala Lumpur from 17–21 May 2026.
The event is recognized as one of the world’s most prestigious international innovation exhibitions and competitions, dedicated to fostering innovative solutions capable of addressing global challenges.
Supervised by Dr. Ir. Ana Nurganah Chaidar, S.T., M.T., the team consisted of Fatha Akbar Berlian, Niko Albertvito, Muhammad Farhan Darmawan, Alniro Fahrezel Wibowo, Ario Winoto, Muhammad Izzat Hikmatiar, and Muhammad Iqra Rabbaanee.
The team presented an autonomous agricultural system called M.I.S.T.E.R. K.U.C.U.R. (Machine-learning Intelligent System for Terrestrial & Environmental Rainwater-fog Utility Cloud-to-Runoff).
The innovation was inspired by concerns that emerged during field surveys conducted among farmers in the Jatinangor area. The team discovered that highland regions frequently experience water shortages. Using pumps to transport water from lower elevations is energy-intensive and inefficient, while continuous groundwater extraction poses the risk of land subsidence.
Inspired by the cactus’s natural ability to capture moisture from the air, the team adapted the concept of fog harvesting to Indonesia’s tropical climate, which is characterized by high humidity. M.I.S.T.E.R. K.U.C.U.R. integrates this technology with machine learning to automatically optimize plant nutrient management.
The team’s journey to winning the Gold Award was far from easy. One of the primary challenges was securing sufficient funding, as the project required a substantial budget. Nevertheless, the team remained determined and successfully made their way to Malaysia.
“We almost gave up because the project required significant funding, but we remained confident and committed to seeing it through to the end,” said Alniro, one of the team members.
In addition to financial difficulties, the students faced physical and mental challenges throughout the competition. They often slept only two to three hours per day while perfecting their prototype and rehearsing their pitch presentations late into the night. Language barriers also presented obstacles, particularly when explaining their complex agricultural innovation to international visitors. However, all their hard work paid off when ITB was announced as a Gold Award recipient.
The opportunity to engage with water resource engineers from various countries broadened their perspectives and enabled them to establish valuable international connections. The team’s innovation has also attracted interest from strategic partners, opening possibilities for future implementation and collaboration.
For Team Amreta Amretaan, the competition provided invaluable lessons. They learned that the greatest challenge in innovation is often turning ideas into reality. They also emphasized that a team’s success depends heavily on the alignment of its members’ goals and commitment. Furthermore, the team encourages fellow students to be more confident in showcasing their work on the international stage and to step beyond their comfort zones.
