TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - An outstanding achievement has been reached by the students of IPB University at the international level. Students of the Marine Science and Technology Study Program (ITK) who are part of the Marine Instrumentation, Telemetry, and Robotics (MITR) Club have successfully won the First Place Winner in the IEEE OES Ocean Decades Challenge 2026.

This accomplishment was achieved through the innovation of "Passive Acoustic Monitoring for Real-Time Rapid Soundscape Health Index" for real-time monitoring of the marine ecosystem. Through this system, the condition of the marine ecosystem is observed by recording and analyzing underwater soundscape. The sound data is then processed and analyzed to recognize the contribution of biological sounds, natural environmental sounds, and sounds from human activities.

As a result of this achievement, the MITR team from IPB University was invited to present their project results at the IEEE OES Summer School 2026 and the international conference OCEANS 2026 held in Sanya, Hainan, China, on 22-29 May 2026. This event is a global forum for professionals, researchers, and innovators from Indonesia, Singapore, China, South Korea, India, Germany, Italy, Pakistan, and the United Arab Emirates.

Before being announced as the first winner, the team was initially selected as one of the Top 4 finalists and received a research grant of US$2,000 from IEEE to implement the proposed solution. As the winner, the team will also receive a grant of US$6,000.

The Ocean Challenge program was designed as a two-stage competition, starting from the submission of proposals and video proposals, followed by the implementation of the product, video progress, and final presentation.

Comprising of Daniel Hermans Manurung, Tiara Anggraeni, Nabila Aishi Octaviana, Muhammad Ridha Ramadhan, and Akbar Hannan Ibrahim, this team received guidance from Indra Jaya and Muhammad Iqbal.

The team leader, Daniel Hermans, explained that the idea stemmed from the need for continuous, non-invasive, and applicable coastal ecosystem monitoring technology.

"The ocean holds a lot of information through sound. Through a passive acoustic approach, we want to present a system that does not disrupt the ecosystem, but can still provide a quick overview of the underwater environment conditions," said Daniel in a written statement on Monday, June 1, 2026.

He added that this research project focuses not only on recording underwater sounds but also on how acoustic data can be translated into more easily understood indicators to support decision making.

"We are developing a system that can help read changes in the soundscape in real-time. Hopefully, this technology can become one of the marine observation instruments that support the conservation, restoration, and management of coastal ecosystems," he said.

According to Daniel, the selection of this issue is in line with the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2030, particularly Ocean Decade Challenge 2 on the protection and restoration of ecosystems and biodiversity, and Ocean Decade Challenge 7 on the expansion of the global marine observation system. IEEE OES Ocean Challenge is aimed at encouraging students and young professionals to create innovative solutions for the world's major marine challenges.

He said the system has been tested in the tropical lagoon ecosystem on Pari Island, Kepulauan Seribu, which has complex human activity dynamics and environmental conditions. Through the recorded acoustic data, the team can observe changes in the soundscape composition, including the increasing contribution of anthropogenic sounds during human activity periods and changes in environmental sounds during certain natural conditions.

Supervisor, Indra Jaya, also stated that through this research project, ITK students of IPB University have shown that the engineering-based MITR club is not only involved in the development of underwater robotics and instrumentation but also cares about ecological issues and the sustainable health of marine ecosystems.

According to him, the technological approach developed becomes a form of student contribution to answer real problems in coastal waters, especially the need for a more adaptive, efficient, and data-based marine monitoring system.

IEEE is the world's largest professional engineering organization with over 500,000 members. "The historic success of the MITR team has proven that gaining a deeper understanding of ocean sound can be the basis for innovation to understand, monitor, and protect marine ecosystems in a more sustainable manner," he said.

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