The team of the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) of Universitas Negeri Semarang (UNNES) won a gold medal at the 2024 World Economics Challenge and Competition (WECC), which was held on July 27-29, 2024. This international competition is held online by the Indonesian Youth Scientist Association (IYSA) in collaboration with the Indonesia International Institute for Life Sciences (i3L).
The WECC 2024 competition is an international-level innovation event in Business and Economics, first held in 2024 by IYSA. WECC is a place for students to develop learning skills, teamwork, critical thinking, innovation, and problem-solving. This competition was attended by 25 teams from various countries, including Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Thailand.
The categories contested at WECC 2024 include Business Plan, Commercial Product, and Research Paper. The team from Semarang State University advanced in the Commercial Product category by developing an innovation in the form of a no-rinse spray soap with a combination of silver nanoparticles and white watermelon meat extract.
The innovations developed are based on research that shows that 85% of domestic liquid waste needs to be adequately treated. Their innovation in creating a no-rinse spray soap with a combination of silver nanoparticles and white watermelon pulp extract is expected to be a solution in reducing untreated household water waste.
Developing this innovation includes various stages, from initial preparation, research, questionnaires distribution to respondents, complaints and input collection, search for partners, follow-up planning, and joint evaluation.
These five students then took part in a presentation session after completing the process of preparing papers on Saturday (27/7). After a long process, this team won the Gold Medal, Universitas Brawijaya the Silver Medal, and Dhaka College Bangladesh the Bronze Medal. They also received a special award from the Malaysia Young Scientist Organization (MYSO).
The team consists of Ahmad Hammam Burhanudin (Management, 2020) as the team leader, Achmad Nauval Waliuddin (Management, 2020), Hanina Humaira (Management, 2021), Elma Yoencha Thine (Development Economics, 2021), and Siti Malikah (Economics Education, 2021).
They were supervised by Sandy Arief, S.Pd., M.Sc., Ph.D.
The achievements achieved by the FEB UNNES Team in WECC 2024 are proud of the university and show Indonesian students’ advantages in competing in the international arena.
