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The ITB teams that achieved outstanding success were:

1. Amreta Varuna, consisting of Daniel Darmawan (SA'21), Alif Naufal Ramadhan (SA'21), and Ardy Nur Ahmadito (SA'21), who won First Place;

2. Amreta Vandhya, consisting of Reivel Fanani (SA'22), Rehan Al Baasiq (SA'22), and Jason Wilchan Samuel (SA'22), who secured Third Place;

3. Amreta Anahita, consisting of Shifara Shalaysa Sutari (SA'21), Dhaifina Nazhifah Azhar (SA'21), and Naila Alfarafisha Zakiyarahman (SA'21), earned the title of First Honorable Mention.

The competition, which was held from December 2024 to February 2025, collaborated with the World Water Day 2025 campaign and focused on the global issue of melting glaciers. The participants were challenged to design innovative and sustainable solutions addressing the alarming rise in sea levels caused by the melting of glaciers around the world.

As a highly anticipated annual event, the KBAI competition is no stranger to ITB’s TPSDA students, who have consistently made their mark year after year. Rehan Al Baasiq, one of the third-place winners, shared his team’s motivation: “We joined KBAI 2025 to grow, both personally and academically. It’s an opportunity to deepen our knowledge, gain meaningful experience, and of course, strive for achievements,” he said.

Smart Mangrove Village

Taking first place, Amreta Varuna impressed the judges with their forward-thinking solution titled Smart Mangrove Village. Their concept integrated mangrove ecosystems with thin permeable dams to address the challenges of rising sea levels. The project aimed to provide sustainable living environments, especially for coastal communities like fishermen.

SIGMA: Smart Integrated Groundwater Management with Desalination

Equally compelling, Baasiq’s team (Amreta Vandhya) proposed SIGMA (Smart Integrated Groundwater Management with Desalination).
“This idea addresses issues such as land subsidence, seawater intrusion, and groundwater overexploitation. Our innovation featured injection wells paired with a raw water desalination system to help stabilize groundwater levels and mitigate overextraction,” Baasiq explained.

SCOR Application: Smart Coastal Operation Reservoir

Meanwhile, the Amreta Anahita team tackled the issue of falling groundwater levels in coastal Cirebon. Their solution, the SCOR (Smart Coastal Operation Reservoir), employed IoT (Internet of Things) technology to monitor an integrated desalination system via smartphone. Equipped with Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR), SCOR facilitates efficient water distribution in Cirebon. Additionally, the system is powered by solar energy, making it both eco-friendly and sustainable.

Baasiq and his team also shared tips and tricks for excelling in competitions like KBAI. According to him, success depends not only on the relevance of the innovation to the competition theme, but also on how memorable and impactful the project title is, presentation delivery, physical mock-ups, and supporting materials. Those will become the main attraction and key to winning the competition. However, the team faced logistical challenges, including transporting a 60 x 60 cm mock-up and coordinating schedules. Two of the three teams consisted of batch 2021 students who are currently working on their final projects, requiring precise time management to avoid conflicts between thesis supervision and competition deadlines.

“We hope our achievements serve as inspiration, especially for fellow students in Water Resources Engineering and Management. We encourage future TPSDA students to carry on ITB’s legacy at KBAI. Our advice: engage in frequent discussions with your academic supervisors, even before officially submitting the title for the competition,” Baasiq concluded.

Translator: Nabila Puspita (Bioengineering, 2022)