Illustration of a container hospital with 25 containers, consisting of two patients in each container

ITS Campus, ITS News – The contribution of students of Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) in the realm of Covid-19 keep gaining achievements. With the idea titled Designing An Integrated Smart and Sustainable Container Hospital as a quarantine facility for Covid-19 patients, ITS students’ team named Tiksna Falcata Team managed to win the Gold Medal in physics and engineering category at the Young National Scientist Fair (YNSF) 2020.

The team from the Department of Physics Engineering class of 2017 consists of Robert Ciputra Hermantara, Handy Suryowicaksono, Syaharussajali, Akbar Anugrah Putra, Aulia Rayimas Tinkar and Bagas Hani Pradipta. Starting their idea from the problem of increasing the number of people infected with the COVID-19 virus caused hospitals and health facilities to overcapacity.

Robert Ciputra shows the design of the container hospital that his team initiated to treat Covid-19 patients

Robert Ciputra Hermantara as the team leader said, if the patient’s treatment place has been overcapacity, many patients will be unhandled and the rate of virus transmission will also get higher. “Therefore, we have the idea to use containers by utilizing its portable properties, making it easy to move and equipped with smart system features,” he explained.

Furthermore, Robert revealed, there are several features for isolation rooms as well as physical restrictions inside that have been adapted to the health standards and protocols by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia and WHO, so it is safe to use as a quarantine facility. “So hopefully this smart container hospital can be the solution to the problem,” he added.

Members of Tiksna Falcata Team ITS consist (from top left) Robert Ciputra H, Bagas Hani Pradita, Handy Suryowicaksono, (from bottom left) Syaharussajali, Akbar Anugrah Putra, and Aulia Rayimas T

The design of the container hospital, which also received the MIICA Special Award Road to IIIC 2020, has a hospital design with a capacity of 25 containers, with each container consisting of two patient room spaces along with a private toilet, and one control room for medical personnel to monitor the patient’s condition and container building.

Robert explained that the Human Machine Interface (HMI) in the control room serves medical personnel or operators to be able to control and monitor the condition of container buildings including temperature, humidity, lighting, energy use, or monitoring of patient conditions.

“In addition to the control room, the medical personnel can monitor the condition of the building and patient info through an application directly connected with the relevant staff.” explained the student who is also a member of ITS Barunastra Team.

Robert also explains the advantages of container hospitals. The design is more concerned with physical restrictions with the use of isolation boxes in patient rooms and smart system technology that relies on sensors and medical devices installed in both patients and container buildings. “So it is quite easy to supervise and treat patients through control rooms and applications in the gadget,” he said.

Robert mentioned there are some obstacles when designing this hospital container. One of them is the difficulties to communicate and relies solely on video conferencing apps due to current pandemic conditions. Luckily, there are some members who are still in Surabaya and can coordinate directly. “We still use online systems to discuss,” he said.

Illustration of the design of the container section which has two patient rooms and a toilet as well as one control room

As a solution, Robert continued, his team implemented a scheduled and divided work system every week. It is also evaluated weekly. With a form of a logbook, so that all team members understand and can see what jobdesc will do in the week. “In a week, we also do 2-3 meetings for progress and evaluation of progress,” he continued.

In this event, according to Robert, in addition to collecting papers and presentations in front of the jury, Tiksna Falcata’s team also sent two representatives, Handy Suryowicaksono and Syaharussajali for registration. “However, for total work from start to finish is done by all team members with their respective tasks,” explained Robert.

Robert again revealed that, despite competitors from other great state universities, his team remains confident and optimistic. “With that, we finally managed to get a Special Awards that will lead us to continue competing in Malaysia,” he said.

Example of patient condition info displayed on the application while hospitalized in container hospital as the idea by ITS students team

Hopefully, the Tiksna Falcata team can refine their work, and add features to facilitate the work of medical personnel as well as improving the safety of medical personnel and Covid-19 patients. “It is also possible that the government can make our idea as a reference and solution in mitigating this Covid-19 pandemic,” he ended with full of hope.

At the end, Robert added, hopefully the work of his team can inspire other friends, as well as students throughout Indonesia. “Hopefully friends can work and continue to innovate under any circumstances, even from home,” said Robert.(zar/rev/ITS Public Relations)