Students of Vocational College UGM keep inventing innovative products through Student Creativity Program of Science Research (PKM-PE) which is funded by DIKTI 2017. One of the innovative products is called “Choco Ginger Soap (CGS)” presented on the research paper entitled “Choco Ginger Soap (CGS): Optimasi Pemanfaatan Biji Kakao (Theobroma cacao L.) Afkir  Dengan Ekstrak Jahe (Zingiber officinale) Sebagai Alternatif Sabun Relaksasi” (translated: Choco Ginger Soap: Optimization of Cocoa Bean (Theobroma cacao L.) Rejects and Ginger Extract (Zingiber officinale) as the Alternative Soap for Relaxed Skin).

This idea came from the condition in which there were many cocoa bean rejects found in Kulon Progo District. This kind of cacao bean is typically under standard and it cannot be used to produce any food-grade products. Cocoa bean rejects show certain characteristics, such as covered by mold, cracked beans, partly eaten by insects, uneven shape and so on. Despite the under standard conditions, cacao bean rejects still contain cocoa fat which is advantageous. Considering that potential, students of Agro-industry Study Program of Vocational College UGM tried to take its advantages by producing natural soap. Aside of using cocoa fat from cocoa bean rejects, the students also add ginger extract to bring more benefits to the soap.

This soap is produced especially for people living in highland area and sub-tropical area since this soap could also warm the skin and body under cold weather instead of giving relaxing effect.

The student team which consists of Isnu Astuti, Nandya Candra Puspita Sari, Yuyun Yuliarti, and Inas Nur Hayati under the supervision of Galih Kusuma Aji. S.T.P..M. Agr., a lecturer of Agro-industry Study Program, is now preparing themselves to attend Monitoring and Evaluation (Monev) at Universitas Gadjah Mada on 3 June 2017. (ty)

Vocational College UGM students keep making creative innovations. One of the innovations funded by DIKTI is PUBBA (Pop Up Book Berbasis Audio) developed by team of Student Creative Entrepreneurship Program (PKM-K). PUBBA is a media to develop children’s character building by providing innovative learning media.

The idea of developing PUBBA comes from many discourses related to mental revolution and the lack of learning media to develop children’s character building. This product is designed for kindergarten and early ages or children between 4 – 6 years old. PUBBA is a pop up book which is designed with audio. In its first series, PUBBA takes environmental theme to educate children how to take care of the environment especially the water resources.

PUBBA is expected to assist teachers and parents to draw children’s attention and enthusiasm for learning something new. It could be children’s best friend at learning. Further, it could be used as interactive education media to encourage character building in children.

The team of PKM-K which develops PUBBA consists of Destri Karlina (Vocational College), Hasbiyansyah (Vocational College), Tabiah (Vocational College), Deni Haryono (Vocational College), and Iit Wakhidah (Psychology). At the moment, they are preparing themselves to attend Monitoring and Evaluation at UGM on 14 May 2017. To make better preparation, this team is supervised by Fitri Damayanti Berutu, S.E., S.S., M.Sc a lecturer of Management Study Program of Vocational College UGM. (ty)

Penanaman Karakter Cinta Lingkungan (PAK CILIK) is an activity to promote environment appreciation which is organized by Student Communication Forum of Forest Management students (FORKOMMADIKA). This annual activity has been running within the last three years since 2014. This activity aims at educating elementary students about the importance of environmet as well as at celebrating Earth Day on 22^nd April.

Sunday, 23 April 2017, FORKOMMADIKA held PAK CILIK with theme “Dream on Right Action (DORA)”. Participants of this activity were 100 elementary students from various elementary schools (SD) in Yogyakarta, such as SDN Giwangan, SDN Terbansari, SDN Mendungan and else. Included in this activity were education about environment and forest exploration at Hutan Pendidikan Wanagama I, Gunungkidul.

During forest exploration activity, participants were required to stop at several meeting points where they experience environmental education through playful games. As an example, the meeting point representing water filtration. At this meeting point, participants were taught how to make simple water filtration plant by using environmental friendly materials, such as charcoal, cotton, coconut husk, gravel and sand. Generally, to use this water filtration tool is very easy. Users are required to pour the water to the filter and place a bucket under the filter to gather the clean water. However, to make this activity more playful the committee presented it into a game. Meanwhile, the other meeting points represent 3R (reuse, reduce, recycle), animal lovers, Mapalga, disaster simulation, treasure hunt and drawing hopes. (ty)

Full video is available on : https://youtu.be/xt8-IQYhFX8

Veterinary Nursing Study Program of Vocational College UGM conducted a visit to the Agricultural Quarantine Office Class 1 of Semarang (16/03/2017). That visit was considered a part of laboratory work of quarantine.

84 student practitioners batch 2015 accompanied by lecturers and laboratory assistants visited that office. Head of Agricultural Quarantine Office, Ir. Heru Wahyupraja, M.Sc and his staff welcomed those delegations very well. Heru Wahyupraja explained the job and function of the Agricultural Quarantine Office Class 1 of Semarang, which considered one of many Units of Technical Service (UPT) of Quarantine in Central Java..

“The name of Agricultural Quarantine Office Class 1 of Semarang was given after integration between BKH Class 1 of Tanjung Emas and BKT Class 1 of Tanjung Emas,“ he said.

Instead of Mr. Heru, paramedical veterinarians of Agricultural Quarantine Office Class 1 of Semarang also distributed some materials and documents about quarantine, quarantine procedure, pests and diseases of quarantine animals (HPHK), HPHK carrier and animal quarantine installation.

Students participants showed high enthusiasm for many of them actively discussed certain topics with the speakers.

Besides visiting Agricultural Quarantine Office Class 1 of Semarang, student participants were given opportunity to visit the custom check or goods inspection unit at Semarang’s Port. This visit aiming at giving students real-life experiences and enriching their knowledge. (ty)

Friday (7/4), Vocational College UGM officially launched Test of English for Vocational Students (TEVocS) Laboratory, which is recognized as a test to measure English proficiency of Vocational College students. TEVocS takes 45 minutes each round consisting of listening part and reading part per round. TEVocS was designed by English Language Study Program of SV UGM collaborated with BNI which provided 20 units of computer for IDR 150,000,000.

The ceremony was marked with ribbon cutting by Wikan Sakarinto, Dean of SV UGM, witnessed by the Vice Deans, lecturers of English Language study program, Officials of UGM’s branch BNI. Wikan said, this laboratory could bring many benefits since in the midst of globalization it is a must to master English as a means of communication to improve the quality of graduates.

“I think it is a must and could be a mandatory requirement of graduation at SV UGM. By mastering foreign languages, especially English language, graduates could become dynamic leaders of company instead of becoming static employees,” he said.

TEVocS Laboratory will be managed by Vocational Development Center (VDC) SV UGM. Every student gets chance to take their first test for free, whilst to take the second test they must pay IDR 125,000.

Ir. Hotma Prawoto Sulistyadi, M.T., IP.MD., Manager of VDC said that SV UGM had planned to have Language Laboratory since long time ago. We expect that TEVocS Laboratory could facilitate students on measuring their English proficiency.

“Temporarily, TEVocS is designed for students of SV UGM. But in the future, TEVocS could be opened for public” he added. (ty)

Wednesday (5/4), Vocational College UGM collaborates with the biggest celluar operator in Indonesia, Telkomsel to create various creative programs on vocational education. Taking place at Iso Reksohadiprodjo building of SV UGM, Dean of SV UGM, Wikan Sakarinto, S.T.,M.Sc.,Ph.D., altogether with GM Sales Jateng-DIY PT Telkomsel, Djony Heru Suprijatno, signed MoU documents witnessed by Vice Deans, Heads of Department and more than 60 students.

Considering this cooperation, Wikan expects that in near future both institutions could deploy the collaborative programs.

“Vocational College never stops making innovation. Inovate or Die,” Wikan said.

This cooperation involves Telkomsel Fun Internship Program for 400 students, We Challenge Youth Project, and smartphone application to promote students entepreneurship program.  By those programs, students could develop their skills and knowledge to pursue better career in the future.

“It is our dream to support young people to be producers instead of consumers. That is why we propose this cooperation with SV UGM. We will do our best to facilitate and develop the human resources at SV UGM,” Djoni said.

Besides, Djoni also shared some tips and tricks to pass the recruitment screenings. He mentioned English proficiency and soft skills as the basic aspects to be considered during screenings aside from academic grade.

“The main point is that Telkomsel will do the best in collaboration with SV UGM for better Indonesia,” he said. (ty)

Wednesday (13/04/17). Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) through Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV) program provides support to Japanese citizens who are willing to contribute to social and economic development around the world. Through this program, the volunteers are not only expected to help developing partner countries, which are likely developing and underdeveloped countries, but also maintain international friendships with local citizens in partner countries. Further, they could also enrich their own knowledge and experiences by doing collaborative projects overseas. Vocational College is one of some faculties in Universitas Gadjah Mada which receive grants from JICA to do collaborative expert project with JOCV. Vocational College hosts a JOCV expert at Japanese Language.

Since 2015 Yoshida Yoko, an expert volunteer from JOCV, has been helping Vocational College in teaching and developing curriculum and teaching materials at Japanese Language study program. She also contributes to prestigious students’ achievements, such as winning the Japanese Language Speech Contest and exchanging students to several Japanese Universities.

During Closing Ceremony at Room 138 Vocational College UGM, Yoshida sensei (red: Teacher Yoshida) said that she was very happy to share and exchange knowledge with lecturers and students at Vocational College. She was very pleased to be part of SV UGM family that she felt at home. “So many priceless and unforgetable memories I got from Indonesia”, she said.

“Instead of experts at foreign languages, we also provide experts at various fields, such as administration, public works, farming, forestry, fishery, energy, mining, tourism, health and sports. You could propose any experts as you wish if someday you want to do collaboration with JOVC”, she explained further.

Attending this Closing Ceremony was Mrs. Imai Yuki as the representative of JICA for Indonesia. During her visit to Vocational College on Wednesday, 13 April 2017, she gave evaluation towards JICA Collaborative Expert Project at Vocational College UGM and planned new collaboration between two institutions in near future.

“It is our pleasure to have collaborative project with Vocational College UGM. We hope that we could do many other collaborative projects together in the future which are not limited to Japanese Language study program since we have many expert volunteers at various fields,” she said. (ty)

Mechanical Engineering Department of Vocational College Universitas Gadjah Mada (SV UGM) since 2017 will open Marine Engineering concentration under Study Program of Management and Maintenance of Heavy Equipment Engineering. This concentration is open based on Memorandum of Understanding between SV UGM and Merchant Marine Polytechnic (PIP) Semarang in attempt to prepare skillful human resources in marine.

“Nawacita Program puts its concern on sea toll as the main interconnector within this country which has not been managed well. That is why cooperation between many parties is highly required to produce high quality human resources in marine,” said Dean of Vocational College UGM, Wikan Sakarinto, S.T., M.Sc., Ph.D., after MoU signing ceremony on Friday (21/4) at Vocational College UGM.

Wikan explained that Marine Engineering concetration is the follow up towards MoU between UGM and Ministry of Transportation about Education, Research and Community Service, as well as development of human resources, technology, and management on transportation. According to him, this cooperation is a breakthrough awaited by the government especially to meet the demands of skilful human resources for national development.

“It has been awaited by the government. This cooperation will be expanded lately to be good example of human resources development on marine. UGM has a settled but dynamic tradition and system, thus this higher education institution is expected to be the pioneer of this program,” he added.

Head of Mechanical Engineering Department, Lilik Dwi Setyana, S.T., M.T., explained that students taking this concentration will attend lecture in UGM, PIP, and internship on board. During the first 4 semesters, students will attend lecture in UGM to get theories on heavy equipment maintenance. In the fifth semester, students will learn further about marine engineering in PIP. Within sixth and seventh semesters, students will attend internship on board before taking community service program and thesis in the eighth semester.

Head of Academic Administration and Cadet Division, Capt. Sidrotul Muntaha, M.Si., M.Mar., said that students taking this concentration will receive certificate of marine competence Ahli Teknika Tingkat III (ATT-III) to prove their competences as well as receiving 9 other certificates which are required to work on board.

Furthermore, he explained that the job vacancy for graduates of Marine Engineering program is various, absolutely with high salary. Besides, the graduates could work at multi-national companies which enable them to go around the world.

“Most of marine enterprises overseas need crews from developing countries. This opportunity should be taken by providing skillful and professional human resources. The graduates will receive certificate of competence ATT-III to work on board in any country,” he said.

Student candidates who are interested in taking this program could attend the selection either through Ujian Mandiri (UM) UGM or through Ujian Tulis (UTUL) for Vocational College, by choosing Study Program of Management and Maintenance of Heavy Equipment Engineering. (ty)

Penanaman Karakter Cinta Lingkungan (PAK CILIK) is an activity to promote environment appreciation which is organized by Student Communication Forum of Forest Management students (FORKOMMADIKA). This annual activity has been running within the last three years since 2014. This activity aims at educating elementary students about the importance of environmet as well as at celebrating Earth Day on 22^nd April.

Sunday, 23 April 2017, FORKOMMADIKA held PAK CILIK with theme “Dream on Right Action (DORA)”. Participants of this activity were 100 elementary students from various elementary schools (SD) in Yogyakarta, such as SDN Giwangan, SDN Terbansari, SDN Mendungan and else. Included in this activity were education about environment and forest exploration at Hutan Pendidikan Wanagama I, Gunungkidul.

During forest exploration activity, participants were required to stop at several meeting points where they experience environmental education through playful games. As an example, the meeting point representing water filtration. At this meeting point, participants were taught how to make simple water filtration plant by using environmental friendly materials, such as charcoal, cotton, coconut husk, gravel and sand. Generally, to use this water filtration tool is very easy. Users are required to pour the water to the filter and place a bucket under the filter to gather the clean water. However, to make this activity more playful the committee presented it into a game. Meanwhile, the other meeting points represent 3R (reuse, reduce, recycle), animal lovers, Mapalga, disaster simulation, treasure hunt and drawing hopes. (ty)

Full video is available on : https://youtu.be/xt8-IQYhFX8

Friday (21/04/17), Medan National Conference (MNC)-Student Scientific Festival (FILM) is an annual event hosted by Universitas Negeri Medan. Included in this event is Scientific Writing Competition with theme “Mahakarya Anak Bangsa yang Inovatif dan Solutif dalan Mewujudkan Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030”. Participants of this event are students of Diploma and Bachelor Degree (Undergraduate Degree) from various universities and institutes in Indonesia.

Representing Vocational College UGM are Muslimin Septianto from Diploma-4 of Heavy Equipment Engineering batch 2016 and Dhita Safira from Geomatics Engineering batch 2016. Their abstract submission is granted as one of the 15 best finalists out of 300 submissions before they get the 1^st Rank on the competition.

Considering the fact that high intensity of forest fires leads to magnificient loss and destruction to Indonesia, Muslim and Dhita invent fire detector tool called REST-PECT (Forest Protector). This tool employs temperature to check whether the forest is catching fire and sends the data to user’s smartphone at real time.

During interview, Muslim said that the fire detector tool is still a prototype or innovative design. However, it could be developed and produced in near future.

“REST-PECT will be placed on hot spots area in the forest therefore if there is fire the temperature detectors could send signal to user’s smartphone. So, it could prevent the damages,” he said. (ty)