TEMPO.CO, Bandung - A team of students from Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) created a device called the Integrated Carbon Dioxide Hazard Alert System (ICHAS).
The device acts as a detector for carbon dioxide (CO2) which is can be lethal to man. The innovation was named as the winner of the 2016 Tokyo Tech Indonesian Commitment Award (TICA).

The team consisted of students from the Geological Engineering and Physics Engineering department. They snatched first place in the Creativity Enhancement category.

Member of the ICHAS development team Bintang Alfian Nur Rachman, stated that the device has already been tested in July 2016. ICHAS had succeeded in detecting the increase of CO2 gas in Dieng, Central Java. Back then, the device recorded 400-500 ppm (parts per million) of CO2 in Dieng. "It's still safe, the device will set of a siren if it detects more than 500 ppm [of CO2]," Bintang said on Sunday, March 5, 2017.

The CO2 gas originated from the volcanic activity in an around Mount Dieng. The gas would evaporate in open air environment. However, it an be lethal when it reaches populated areas, especially if It measures over 500 ppm.

"Casualties continue to emerge in Dieng, since the gas is invisible and odorless," according to a Geological Engineering student.

ANWAR SISWADI