ITB FMAE’s pool is one of the faculty’s most iconic spots, carrying significant history and milestones of FMAE’s students. At one point, students were thrown into the pool to mark their graduation. However, this tradition was stopped recently due to safety reasons, resulting in the pool’s current abandoned state.

“Because of this, FMAE Terrace was built to add more historical value to this pool. We decided to build this terrace in place of this pool for educational and recreational purposes,” Prof. Widjaya explained.

The FMAE Terrace project was initiated in 2020, where various efforts were made to raise the required funds of Rp 7.3 million. The project’s idea began with Prof. Tata who was concerned about the neglected condition of the pool. He then proposed to repurpose this pool according to students’ needs- a co-working space for studies and discussions.

Prof. Tata encouraged the involvement of alumni, especially those from SFF. In the end, many former students accepted this idea and contributed to the funding of the FMAE Terrace project.

The involvement of alumni is a huge factor in the fruition of this project; many of them have become successful upon graduating, and this project has brought their attention since ITB FMAE is part of their academic journey in life.

Generally, the fundraising of FMAE Terrace began with the Solidarity Challenge event, a marathon that was recorded to have 1694 individual runners and 161 community runners as participants. The marathon was initially targeted to cover 70000km; however, the runners managed to travel 296975km, with 942 of them contributing to more than 100km each.

The Solidarity Challenge marathon is not simply a race, but an event that carries many stories and displays forms of mutual caring and cooperation. From thousands of kilometers, the results were offered to sponsors and donors.

“Donors and sponsors do not only donate their money but also their appreciation towards these runners’ commitment to the project,” Susilo commented. The people who helped in the event are the 14 student batches of the ITB Mechanical Engineering alumni, 14 companies, and 7 individuals.

Based on the report of Ir. Hari Tjahjono (Head of the Fundraising Project), the total funds collected are around Rp 7.3 million, comprising Rp 6.617.254.885 in cash and Rp 686.058.146 in other forms. The amount of funds collected successfully exceeds the target without any acceptance of funds from other sources- an amazing feat to achieve. The choice to raise funds by donation is proof that FMAE Terrace is owned by the entire community of FMAE.

According to Ir. Ontoseno (Head of the Teras FMAR project), the terrace is an incredible dream of many that is not easy to manifest. Its management and construction are challenging due to this unusual design and concept.

The project is currently ongoing with continuous streams of materials and equipment being shipped to the site. Management boards of ITB and guests came to the location to set up 12 bolts on the signboard that read “FMAE Terrace: FMAE and Solidarity Forever Foundation”, symbolizing the historical success of FMAE Terrace in the past, present, and future.

Reporter: Lukman Ali (Mechanical Engineering, 2020)
Translator: Ruth Nathania (Environmental Engineering, 2019)