Contributing back to community with Engineers in Action 2024

Engineers in Action (EIA) is a community service program of the Faculty of Engineering - Widya Mandala Catholic University of Surabaya (UKWMS) in collaboration with the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (NTUST) since 2018. EIA 2024 was held on July 15-30, 2024 in Madiun City and Morang Village, Kare District, Madiun Regency involving 10 UKWMS students and 7 NTUST students. In 2022, the village partner for EIA activities shifted to Morang Village considering that the location is close to the UKWMS Madiun City Campus so that it can be a location for partnerships and coaching from UKWMS. And with the Merdeka Belajar Kampus Merdeka policy initiated by the Ministry of Education and Culture, Research, Technology and Higher Education, the EIA 2024 activity focuses on the role of students in developing villages according to the needs and problems of Morang Village.

 

From the results of the discussion between the UKWMS lecturers and the Head of Morang Village, several important things can be concluded for village development or overcoming existing problems, namely: increasing the creative economy by implementing the principle of circular economy. One of the creative economies that Morang Village wants to realize is by having a creative place in the form of developing the Punden Nogosari area which is one of the historical tourist attractions in Morang Village. In addition, the EIA team also held product training for making solid soap and liquid soap made from natural ingredients in collaboration with SMK St. Bonaventura 1 Madiun targeting the PKK mothers of Morang Village.

 

All EIA participants together with local villagers worked together to build a creative place in front of Punden Nogosari in the form of an information board about Morang Village and stalls selling Morang Village UMKM products (pecel chili sauce, salted eggs, and so on). The students focused on making information boards containing the history of the origin of the name of Morang Village, Punden Nogosari, and the Kaseripahan tradition equipped with voice recorders in Indonesian, English, and Mandarin. In addition, students also created interactive maps of several important locations in the village such as the Morang Village Hall, Punden Nogosari, Kare State High School, Morang Furniture Place, Mitra Sinergi Sukses Job Training Institute (LPK), and agricultural areas. The existence of this creative place is expected to attract visitors from both residents around Madiun and residents outside the city and can be an interactive learning medium related to the history of Morang Village. The opportunities for the Morang Village UMKM industry are also expected to continue to grow with the presence of product sales stalls in the creative area, thereby increasing the local economy.

 

This series of EIA activities has a positive impact on the Morang village community and is very useful, especially for students to think critically and creatively in solving problems in the community. The involvement of students from both universities with various study programs provides valuable experience, especially in terms of teamwork, adaptation, implementation of science and socializing with various parties. In the future, this program is expected to continue to facilitate students in community service programs so that an independent and advanced region is realized by utilizing technological developments.