UNY student team successfully earn silver medal at The 2019 Inventors’ Hall of Fame, International Competition of Ideas, Inventions & Innovations (I-Fame) 2019 in Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Kedah, Malaysia. The team consist of Rusita (Chemistry), Intania Putri (Chemistry), Nuzulia (English Education), Watik Novianingsih (Social Sciences Education), and Lilis Aryanti (Office Management). Participants of I-Fame 2019 came from various countries from Indonesia, Malaysia, Bulgary, Nigeria, United Kingdom, Thailand, Bangladesh, and China. The I-Fame 2019 theme is “Building Sustainable Community through Innovation.”
Watik Novianingsih explained that the team decide to run the idea on economical and high quality light brick from chicken feather waste innovation based on the fact of increasing amount of chicken feathers waste. According to Central Statistics Agency, the production of broiler from 2009 to 2018 increased from 20,139.67 to 34,510 for the Special Region of Yogyakarta, whereas for other regions such as DKI Jakarta, the number was from 102,398.56 to 138,088, 50 Chicken feathers that are not utilized also cause a very strong odor when close to residential areas. Therefore, it is necessary to use to reduce the feather waste.
"Chicken feathers contain keratin fibers which can be used for light brick making materials. Lightweight concrete itself is a material made of mortar mixed with foam agent by controlling the foam mixture, making the density of lightweight bricks between 500-1600 kg per m3," Watik said. (Eko; Tj.Lak)
