Muhammad Amir Jamiluddin (right) when receiving the award as the first winner in Physics Competition III at Andalas University, Padang

ITS Campus, ITS News – Students of the Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) again made their latest achievement at the national level. This time, one of ITS students won first place at the 2019 Physics Competition III of the Andalas University Physics Student Association (HIMAFI), Padang, in September 27th, 2019.

It was Muhammad Amir Jamiluddin from the Physics Department who fought to bring ITS name to the event. Amir, his nickname, said that his initial intention in joining the competition was to challenge himself as well as add more experience. “This event is the first and the last time student-level physics Olympiad for me to be attended, especially those outside the Java Island,” he said.

Furthermore, Amir explained that there are at least three stages that must be passed before being declared as the champion. The first stage is an online preliminary round. The preliminary round was in the form of multiple-choice of 40 questions which done within 90 minutes. The tested material was quite varied and profound, ranging from classical mechanics, quantum physics, electrodynamics, statistical physics, and electromagnetics.

The preliminary round took 15 participants to advance to the semifinal round which will be held directly at the Physics Department of Andalas University, Padang. “Alhamdulillah, on the day of the preliminary round, 15 participants with the best scores were immediately announced, and I was ranked fifth,” he said.

In the semifinal stage, the questions given were different from the previous stage. This time, participants were given about 30 essays questions. From this stage, 10 participants with the best scores will be selected to continue the competition in the final round. Even though he was constrained by fatigue due to the distance traveled which quite far from Surabaya to Padang and the lack of study time, Amir was able to rank eighth out of the ten best participants.

In the final round, the questions given were still using essay questions such as the previous stage. However, in this stage, it was only five questions with a higher level of complexity. The questions itself has a higher level of difficulty than that already taught in college. It also required complex solutions to find the final solution.

Amir also mentioned that his victory key was in the final round. He tried to keep his feelings and thoughts to remain focused while working on the final questions even though it was very difficult. Besides, he tried to answer the questions coherently and systematically. “So that the jury can see the results of my problem solving with satisfaction and will give maximum scores,” he said.

The failure experience from the previous competition as well as the exercise that was done self-taught routinely also became a special privilege for Amir to win the competition. It was also supported by his passion for deriving formulas and applied them directly to the complex questions during the lecture. “Maybe, shrewdness and habits make me so that I can be a winner,” he added.

In the future, he hopes to win more student physics olympiad. Amir has targeted several competitions that he must conquer later. “Besides, I also hope to pass National Mathematics and Natural Sciences Olympiad in the physics field at the national level, after the previous year only passed the regional level,” he concluded hopefully. (lut/id/gayatri)