ISMC is an international event which this year was attended by 15 teams from various universities around the world. Four of them are foreign universities, such as Queensland University, University of New South Wales (UNSW), Curtin University, and University of Malaya.

On this occasion, the Rajamandala team won the place as overall champion. The team managed to win in 12 out of 16 competition categories. In some of them, Rajamandala team won first place, such as in the categories of mining design competition, slug test, ventilation duct hanging, rolling resistance, bench blasting, track stand, orienteering, underground mining surveying, underground mine supporting, written test, and hand mucking.

The Rajamandala team consists of seven players and one manager. The seven players are Fathurrahmat Ramadhan, Yudhistira Audley Alghiffary, M. Satrio Saidpudin, Mega Syahrani, Irfan Aji Ramadzan, Adrian Adinata, and Farrel Rheza Prakusy. The seven players were accompanied by a manager, namely M. Farhan Zulkarnain.

These players played in all 16 competitions in the ISMC XIV mining competition this time. Meanwhile, Farhan as manager is tasked with managing administration and supervising the players.

The competition that the Rajamandala team took part in was a competition based on the theme of practical mining competitions. Each team is faced with a case study of the proper and correct use of mining equipment with the best solution to the existing problem.

The Rajamandala Team was formed from a long journey. Initially, every member of the ITB Mining Student Association (HMT) who attended the Player Candidate School (Secapa) was allowed to take part in the selection to become a player in this ISMC competition.

After going through quite a long selection, such as knowledge tests about mining and interview tests, the Rajamandala team was formed.

Success in this competition was of course accompanied by great efforts from the Rajamandala team. The Rajamandala team has been training since December 2023. Starting with providing the team with theories about the world of mining to training as the competition day got closer.

"The Rajamandala team's training is carried out very intensively every day regarding the use of mining equipment since 2 weeks before the competition starts," said Farhan on Friday (1/3/2024).

One of the team members, Yudhis, admitted that their struggle in this competition was a grand one. "Our training schedule is really jam-packed, from morning to evening we study from a practical perspective, at night we study theory," he said.

Tool training certainly requires quite a long time, especially in preparing the tools. In addition, the theory tested in the ISMC is more complex than lecture material in general.

The activities held are not only matches between teams. They were also given the opportunity to increase bonding between the participants, by participating in outbound and Bandung tours.

Participants also gain knowledge and experience related to mining science, such as youth mining conferences, mining talks, networking events, lab tours, and many more.

Yudhis also admitted that overall this event was interesting and he could gain many things. “I can meet people from all over the world, I can see the practical and dynamics of the field. Not only that, a short competition demands strong problem solving (ability)," said Yudhis.

This event can also strengthen friendships, both within teams and between teams. By taking part in this competition, players can understand the world of mining in a practical way.

Reporter: Raja Parmonang Manurung (Mining Engineering, 2021)
Translator: Ayesha Lativa Mafaza (Postharvest Technology, 2021)
Editor: Hanifa Juliana (Urban and Regional Planning, 2020)