Dini Hanggandari, as Director of Metal, Machinery, Transportation Equipment, and Electronics, stated that when opening the MKU MBKM KKN program "ITB Foster Village and Top-Down Community Service" at the Mekarmaju Village Gymnasium, Tuesday (5/10/2021). There also attended lecturer from the Metallurgical Engineering Research Group, Faculty of Mining and Petroleum Engineering (FMPE), Dr. Eng. Akhmad Ardian Korda; Community Service Secretary at Institute for Research and Community Services (LPPM) ITB, Deny Willy Junaidy, Ph.D.; and Head of Mekarmaju Village, Usep Budiyanto.

"ITB students who do The Student Study Service here know the theory, but not the practice in the field. By going directly to the small and medium industry center, they can learn to find problems and answers in the same place," said Dini Hanggandari.

The presence of ITB students in the small and medium blacksmith industry center's agricultural tools manufacture area was also beneficial for the programs carried out by the institution. "If there is an unsolved problem, the students have supervisors who know more. For the technical example, if the weld is not strong enough, we will process the forging here," she explained.

Community Service Secretary at LPPM ITB, Deny Willy Junaidy, Ph.D., stated that by participating in MBKM, students were given many opportunities to learn many things, one of which was developing villages. "This is a part of it. I think it is important, so students do not easily forget after they graduate. The village is the basis of Indonesian society. The economy grows here," he said.

Meanwhile, Dr. Eng. Akhmad Ardian Korda, as the Metallurgical Engineering Research Group, Faculty of Mining and Petroleum Engineering (FMPE) lecturer, stated that the small and medium industry had a role in strengthening and developing Indonesia's economy. Therefore, the small and medium industries must be robust because otherwise, it will burden other industries.

According to Dr. Korda, ITB visited the village for the first time in 2012 and did the mapping. "We also see how they understand raw materials and processes. It turns out that we need to do coaching," he said.

The first thing to do by students who participate is to learn and help the small and medium industry. Dr. Korda said that the students who came had basically understood metallurgy, but they had never seen the process firsthand. "They help while learning to deal with the problem. For example, if they see a problem such as a metal hardness target is not achieved, they can learn what they should do," he said. (*)

Source: LPPM ITB Release
Translator: Zahra Annisa Fitri (Urban and Regional Planning, 2019)