UNS — A wonderful news came from the Chemistry Education Study Program, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education (FKIP) Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta. Three students from this study program succeeded in winning the 3rd champion position in National Scientific Writing Competition (LKTIN), Soedirman Science Competition (SSC), last September 2020. The three are Ica Desti (Team Leader), Sofia Rodiana, and Nur Laila Zahara as team members.
The competition was organized by the Student Activity Unit in Reasoning and Research, Universitas Jenderal Soedirman (Unsoed) Purwokerto 2020, under the theme of ‘Contribution of Indonesian Youth Generation Facing the Industrial Revolution 4.0’.
Ica and her team bring up the idea of producing sunscreen from waste watermelon skin and coconut fibers. This idea is motivated by the fact that most people still use sunscreen made from chemicals, which is not environmentally-friendly. Therefore, innovations are needed to utilize natural waste material. The raw material selection also considers specific reasons such as antioxidants contained in the material.
“The watermelon skin content is suitable for sunscreen material, while coconut fibers have antioxidant content in it. These two materials are unused waste, thus economically need a low cost,” Sofia explains in an interview with uns.ac.id, Wednesday (16/12/2020).
The team led by Ica succeeded to beat the other 84 teams from universities all across Indonesia. The competition started with registration and abstract submission. The selected abstract will continue to the next stage where the team has to submit a full paper. “Ten best full papers are required to present their idea. Afterward, the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd winner alongside with 1st runner-up, 2nd runner-up, best poster, and best presentation is selected. The last stage is an announcement, conducted through google meet after a national webinar,” Sofia added.
Sofia hopes that this achievement can create a positive climate to motivate others to stay productive. “Hopefully, this can create positivity and encourage others. Even during this pandemic, we need to stay productive and inspiring, giving the best, reducing laziness, doing small useful things, and try to take action. Do not forget to submit for competition,” she concluded. Humas UNS
Reporter: Bayu Aji Prasetya
Editor: Dwi Hastuti
