TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) recently announced that a group of students from Gadjah Mada University, MINO Microbubbles, has been chosen as one of three finalists in the YSEALI World of Food Innovation Challenge. The event aims at finding technology solutions to address challenges in agriculture, aquaculture, and fisheries sector.
In addition to MINO Microbubbles of Gadjah Mada University, USAID also chose two teams from Cambodia and Malaysia to compete in the event. The three were selected from more than 200 other entries from Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The three finalists took part in special boot camp training program in Singapore on July 2016, and had received mentorship from tech giants Cisco and Intel to further develop their technology. The finalists will travel to Cambodia in late October 2016 to present their solutions at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Ministerial Meeting on Science and Technology.
The winner of the event will be announced during the Ministerial meeting event scheduled to take place on October 28, 2016, and will be awarded with a study tour to Austin, Texas, one of the main technology hubs in the United States.
"USAID is committed to partnering with young people to solve the world's most difficult development problems and end extreme poverty," said US Embassy Charge d'Affaires Brian McFeeters in a press release dated October 4, 2016.
"These young innovators from Gadjah Mada University have come up with an advanced water treatment technology that helps tilapia farmers increase their harvest, which in turn helps increase incomes and food security. We wish them luck as they travel to Cambodia to compete in the final stage of the competition," McFeeters added.
MAHINDA ARKYASA
