Student Innovation

Corn (Zea Mays L) is a plantation crop that thrives in Indonesia and can be harvested 2-3 times a year. The corn harvest period is the most awaited because farmers benefit from their crops. However, most of the corn is sold a whole. The corn cobs are only burned and even thrown away as waste. The problem is that corncob waste is easily decomposed and causes an unpleasant odor. This problem has prompted Ade Kurniawan, a student of craft education at UNY, to process corncob waste into handicraft products that are sustainable, eco-friendly, and encourage zero waste implementation.

Indonesia is ranked in the top 3 as the largest fish-producing country in the world, after China and India. However, the Balitbang of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries explained that per capita fish consumption in Indonesia has only reached 25.77 kg. This figure is relatively low when compared to other countries, where one of the causes of the low consumption of fish is the price which is still relatively high. This high price is due to the lack of efficient technology and methods of freshwater fish farming currently used.

The covid-19 pandemic has forced us to adopt a new normal. One of the new normals is the implementation of physical distancing. Everyone must keep their distance to avoid transmission of the covid-19 virus from droplets that come out when coughing, sneezing, even when breathing and talking. Therefore, everyone should ideally maintain a distance of at least 1 meter when interacting with other people. To make physical distancing more effective, the UNY student team designed a Raspberry Pi-based warning tool for physical distancing violations to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The Piyungan integrated waste disposal site receives about 300 tons of daily waste every day. Based on the findings of the Environmental Office of the Special Region of Yogyakarta, each household produces around 0.7 to 1 kilogram of waste per day. Cumulatively, every day 100 garbage trucks dump garbage in Piyungan. Without proper management, this can trigger various health problems, damage to marine ecosystems, and air pollution.

UNY Faculty of Engineering students have produced many innovative works. These various works can undoubtedly inspire the development of further innovations. For this reason, in celebration of the 61st anniversary of the Faculty of Engineering UNY, the Engineering Technology Student Activity Unit held a robotics exhibition on February 7, 2022.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the government encouraged the implementation of online learning at schools and higher education. Online learning is quite effective in preventing the spread of Covid-19, but this distance learning model is less effective and poorly affects the quality of education. Along with massive vaccination, the government then also encourages limited face-to-face learning. Unfortunately, in some cases, the implementation of face-to-face learning has also led to Covid-19 clusters in several schools.

Dysgraphia is one of the learning difficulties characterized by difficulties in expressing thoughts in writing composition. In general, the term dysgraphia is used to describe abysmal handwriting. Children who have dysgraphia may write very slowly, their writing may be very illegible, and they may make many spelling mistakes because of their inability to mix sounds and letters. Dysgraphia usually occurs when a child first interacts with letters, namely when the child is about six years old, or it can be said when the child is in elementary school.

Volcanic activity in Indonesia sometimes causes eruptions accompanied by volcanic ash, which causes a decrease in air quality in the area around the mountain. The decrease in air quality by volcanic ash is caused by chemical gases such as CO, NO2, and SO2, so any long exposure to volcanic ash may cause acute respiratory infection (ARI). Unfortunately, the N95 masks that the public has used have not effectively filtered volcanic ash less than 300nm in size. In addition, the polymer content made from plastic in N95 masks is prone to waste that is difficult to degrade naturally.

The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed children to gadgets such as computers, laptops, and cellphones more intensely due to distance learning. Gadgets for learning are also followed by the increasing use of gadgets for social media and online games that trigger gadget addiction. To reduce this problem, UNY students consisting of Dwi Agnes Setianingrum, Dian Anggraini and Akhip Nugroho (science education), Furi Ningsih Sri Sukowati (physics education), and Aerafatma Ahyaun Nisa (elementary school teacher education) initiated the development of a traditional game.

UNY students made a wallet with a security system that will inform the owner when the wallet is more than 10 meters apart from its owner. Uniquely, the wallet is made of banana midrib fiber, given a Javanese letter pattern. They are Asni Muslimah (Clothing Engineering Education), Annisa Nurfatimah Febrianti (Accounting Education), Annisa Alimah Ufairoh (Physical Education), Latifah Nur Khasanah (Chemical Education), and Atiqotul Maula Al Farihah (Sociological Education). According to Asni Muslimah, they made the smart wallet because many people still use conventional wallets.