Prof. I. Gede Wenten himself is the current Vice Rector for Research and Innovation ITB. He also serves as the Steering Committee at the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN). Prof. Wenten has carried out multiple researches which are considered as the benchmarks for Indonesia because of its high quality. He has received many awards for his research and innovations. Prof. Wenten had also cooperated with Tisna Sanjaya, S.Sn., an ITB Fine Arts lecturer, in an art and technology integration project, designing a river water filtration system that was named Mata Air Ibu di Imah Budaya Cigondewah.

As a university with a 'globally respected and locally relevant' motto, ITB is putting a lot of emphasis on expanding its role in community service. This endeavor is carried out with strong scientific principles. Prof. Wenten said that he hopes in the future ITB can maximize its community service potential.

Regarding his collaboration with Tisna Sanjaya, S.Sn., M.A., Ph.D., Prof. Wenten said that art and technology integration starts with how we transform nature to be more artistic and has higher economic value. He thinks that if the Fine Arts field can unite with technology, it will create something wonderful.

"Moreover, because of the FFAD ITB international quality as a result of its research, especially if it has strong local content and local wisdom, then it will have a more fragrant impact on the world stage," said Prof. Wenten.

Previously Prof. Wenten had held cooperation with FFAD ITB in an IGW Emergency Ultrafilter Project. This device is a manual water filtration device that utilizes a hand pump to filter dirty water into clean water. Over the years, this innovation was developed to be more efficient. This is marked by IGW Green Ultrafilter success to win a gold medal in the Ganesha Innovation Award. The IGW Green Ultrafilter works by filtering dirty water or flood water that enters its filter and releasing clean water.

Prof. Wenten said that the Blue/Ocean Economy has started gaining a lot of traction recently, especially in the living marine resource sector. In Indonesia, an outdoor fish cage is considered a simple technology, however, it is very impactful. According to Prof. Wenten, it will be more impactful if we can develop it by equipping it with sophisticated technology.

"For example, the roof can be equipped with a solar panel to generate electricity, then adding a control room right in the middle, it can also be equipped with water filtering technology to release drinkable water. This can be further developed by adding seawater desalination plants to also yield salt," said the Vice-Rector for Research and Innovation ITB.

Another concept that was proposed by Prof. Wenten in the art sector is Modern Tropical Coastal Civilization. This takes into account the carbon credit, aquaculture/ocean farming, energy/electricity, mineral/water, recreational, and maritime security. This is a concept to build a new civilization in the coastal tropical area because until now we have not maximized our coastal potential. "It needs to be considered because Indonesia has 17.000 islands and is a country that is located on the equator line," he said.

Apart from the technological point of view, Prof. Wenten hopes that the idea of building marine infrastructure in the archipelago can also be considered from the arts and culture point of view.

Reporter: Inas Annisa Aulia (Fine Arts, 2020)
Photos: Inas Annisa Aulia
Translator: Favian Aldilla R (Civil Engineering, 2019)