The Asian Student's Venture Forum is a business competition The Korea Economic Daily held from March 29 to April 1, 2023. The event witnessed the participation of approximately ten teams from renowned universities across Asia, including South Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam, Taiwan, Brunei, Israel, and more.

The team members- Putri Dzakiyah Suharyono (19722010), Wildan Zaki Muhammad (19722043), Gerald Bimo Sastiono (19722058), Calista Rachel Nathania (19722153), and Nabila Inas Nailatillah (19722263)- created Nussava, an edible film made from cassava. It serves as a more environmentally friendly alternative to plastic packaging.

Putri recounted that the competition began with the selection of business ideas from each team. After the screening process finished, only two teams from each country were chosen to represent their countries. In the case of Indonesia, the teams from ITB and UI were picked. 14 teams from various countries managed to qualify for the final stage.

Putri explained that her team’s business idea was inspired by the current global issue of= ever-accumulating plastic waste that is harmful to the environment and difficult to decompose. In response, they had the idea of using edible film from cassava to replace plastic.

The product design also provides health benefits to consumers because the materials used contain vitamins that are good for the body. Putri hoped that these products could help reduce plastic consumption and provide more environmentally friendly solutions.

“The reason we use cassava as one of the raw materials is because Indonesia is a fairly large cassava producer and has been processing it into various products that are exported worldwide," Wildan added.

Gerald continued that using cassava as a raw material helps boost the declining demand for traditional cassava products, which caused financial and job losses to cassava producers and sellers. With Nussava, new job opportunities can emerge, and sustainable supply chains and production lines are created.

This achievement is not the first for ITB students. Last year, ITB SBM students brought home bronze for their artificial honeycomb innovation. These achievements are milestones for both ITB and Indonesia.

Reporter: Bashravie Thamrin (Management, 2024)
Translator: Ruth Nathania (Environmental Engineering, 2019)