The team, supervised by Dr. Ir. Ana Nurganah Chaidar, S.T, M.T., consists of Fatha Akbar Berlian, Niko Albertvito, Muhammad Farhan Darmawan, Alniro Fahrezel Wibowo, Ario Winoto, Muhammad Izzat Hikmatiar, and Muhammad Iqra Rabbaanee. They presented an autonomous farming system innovation named M.I.S.T.E.R. K.U.C.U.R (Machine-learning Intelligent System for Terrestrial & Environmental Rainwater-fog Utility Cloud-to-Runoff).

This innovation was born from the team's concerns during a survey of farmers in the Jatinangor area. They found that highland areas frequently experience water crises. Unfortunately, using pumps from lowlands is energy-inefficient and risks causing land subsidence due to continuous groundwater exploitation. Inspired by a cactus's ability to capture water vapor, the team adapted the concept of fog harvesting for Indonesia's high-humidity tropical climate. M.I.S.T.E.R. K.U.C.U.R integrates this technology with machine learning to automatically optimize plant nutrients.

Winning the Gold Award was not a smooth journey. The biggest challenge came from the financial sector due to a significant budget plan (RAB). However, Amreta Amretaan did not lose hope and pushed forward to Malaysia. "We almost gave up because we needed a large amount of funding, but we remained confident to continue until the end," said Alniro, one of the team members.

Furthermore, physical and mental challenges tested them throughout their time in Malaysia. They had to survive on only 2-3 hours of sleep per day to perfect their prototype and practice pitching until the early hours of the morning. Language barriers also posed a challenge, especially when explaining complex agricultural innovations to international visitors. However, all the exhaustion was worth it when ITB's name echoed as the gold medalist.

The experience of discussing with water resource engineers from various countries opened new insights and connections for them. The innovation brought by this team also has the opportunity to be implemented through cooperation with strategic partners.

For Team Amreta Amretaan, this competition provided extraordinary lessons. The biggest challenge in innovating turned out to be realizing the idea. A team's success also heavily depends on the alignment of its members' goals. Additionally, the team encourages fellow students to be more confident in showcasing their work on the international stage and to step out of their comfort zones.

Reporter: Qoulan Tsaqila, Civil Engineering 2023