Reswita Dery Gisriani: Won Ganesha Prize, Dreams of Developing Indonesia's Biotechnology

By UKM Student English Forum

Editor UKM Student English Forum

BANDUNG, itb.ac.id - Reswita Dery Gisriani, Pharmaceutical Science and Technology (STF) 2008, came out as the winner of Ganesha Prize ITB 2011. Each year, every major at ITB nominates one Best Student (Mapres). Best Students of each major are then selected in order to obtain representative for each faculty. Mapres of every faculty is again selected to become Winner, First Runner-Up, and Second Runner-Up of Ganesha Prize.

During her study at ITB, Reswita has been involved in many activities. She participated in Young Leaders for Indonesia (YLI) McKinsey Company, Operational Manager at StudentsxCEO, also active as a member of ITB protocol team. Because of her active involvement in the Model United Nations (MUN) events such as IndonesiaMUN 2010 at the University of Indonesia and WorldMUN 2011 in Singapore, she and several friends are currently involved in the establishment of Ganesha Model United Nations Club.

In the field of science, this girl who was born in January 1991 has joined the Asian Pacific Pharmaceutical Symposium in Penang, Malaysia in 2009 and in Seoul, South Korea in 2010. On her participation in Seoul, she and her team from the Association of Pharmacy Students (HMF) won first prize of Pharmacy Exhibition of Asia-Pacific region. Pharmacy Exhibiton is a competition to make a video containing ideas and inspiration regarding ideal scientific and pharmaceutical applications. Video presentation made by Reswita and her team managed to beat teams from other countries and put Singapore as the runner up.

In the field of entrepreneurship, this member of School of Young Entrepreneurs of ITB is also the founder of "3000 Bottles and Newspapers for Young Convicts", a project to collect bottles and old newspapers for sale. The revenue will be used to buy milk, t-shirts, and provide education for children who are languishing in jail. The social project that garners participation of ITB Student Associations and lecturers was originally a YLI project, but now it is continued by her personally.

Interest in entrepreneurship leads Reswita to carve dreams as an entrepreneur. She wishes to be an entrepreneur in the field of biotechnology. "Indonesia has a huge opportunity in this field. Take a look at Biofarma, the largest biotechnology company in Asia Pacific. I want to lift up Indonesia's name in the field of biotechnology while at the same time widely open new job fields for the people of Indonesia," she said.

In the near future, she has two targets: finishing her Bachelor study and Master Degree fast track on time, and establishing a free school for street children and women. "Masterplan and research have been done. Some businessmen donors have also been contacted," she said while explaining the current accomplishment. "My first target is Bandung area, but if it is possible, I want to expand the scale nationally."