ITS’s best undergraduate graduate Johnathan Philbert when he was selected as a finalist for the 2022 ITS Campus Ambassador

ITS Campus, ITS News — Dreaming of being useful to others, a student of the Industrial Product Design Department (Despro) of Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) Johnathan Philbert continues to dedicate himself to gaining knowledge and developing himself at this Hero Campus. His dedication resulted in a Cumulative Achievement Index (IPK) of 3.97 and successfully crowned him as the best undergraduate graduate at the 130th ITS Graduation Ceremony, Saturday (21/9).

Having set foot in ITS since 2020, the young man who is familiarly called John tells the story of his educational journey. John, who is interested in design and transportation, decided to study at the Department of Industrial Product Design. “At that time, I was rejected by other dream campuses, but ITS turned out to be the answer to my long wait,” said the young man who was born in Bandung, September 23, 2001.

Inspired by failure as a challenge, young John loves learning as his identity. During his four years of college, he admitted that he was diligent in reviewing all the class materials and working extra in every responsibility he had, whether it was college assignments or self-activity. “Unexpectedly, the results always exceeded the standard and bore good fruit,” said John gratefully.

Not only spreading his wings in academic matters, John also inevitably developed himself in other fields of development. He also tried out scientific, managerial, and even entrepreneurship. One of his interests was realized by becoming the Head of the Cadre Bureau of the ITS Product Design Student Association (HIMAIDE). “I learned a lot, especially in terms of cooperation and communication with others,” said the son of Ruth A Darmawan and the late Gunawan Tjiptorahardjo.

Johnathan Philbert (fourth from left) with the 2022 ITS Campus Ambassador finalists

Through HIMAIDE, John gained connections and confidence to continue exploring more widely at ITS. He wanted to reject the stigma that being good at academics means leaving social life and being passive. “In reality, being active actually encouraged and equipped me to face the world of college and post-campus,” he added.

Starting from this, the student who loves to draw was moved to become a human being who is not only broad-minded, but is able to provide benefits to many people. He realized this desire by continuing to enrich his knowledge through scientific competitions to create an innovation.

One of his innovations was created in the Student Creativity Program in Entrepreneurship (PKM-K), namely a dog bag product with an integrated tracking device. “This innovation has succeeded in getting funding and is currently being developed into a small business,” he said.

In addition to scientific and managerial, the 2022 ITS Campus Ambassador finalist also gained experience by participating in internationalization and community service activities. “This is merely a step for me to be useful to many people,” he stressed.

Hound, a dog bag product created by Johnathan Philbert and the team at the Student Creativity Program in Entrepreneurship (PKM-K)

However, he did not forget his soul as a designer and his efforts for the post-campus world. He had several internships as a design intern and design engineering intern at PT Soca Auto Indonesia and Science Technopark (STP) ITS. “Through this opportunity, I continue to deepen my design skills in order to be able to produce goods that are useful for many people,” said John.

The manifestation of his dream and desire to provide benefits as an art activist was realized in his last adventure in his 4th year of college. John poured his noble hopes into his Final Assignment (TA) in designing a modular electric motorbike made of rattan for the Jinggowati UMKM. “This electric motorbike can later be adjusted to the needs of UMKM,” said the 23-year-old young man.

The hope, continued John, is that this electric motorbike can be the answer to the needs of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (UMKM) in finding an efficient, multi-purpose mode of transportation. He said that his hopes were in line with the responses from the examining lecturers, friends, and the UMKM itself. “I really want this product to be mass-produced,” he said hopefully.

John feels very grateful to be able to set foot in this noble Mother of ITS and realize his dedication through many areas of development. He will never extinguish his embers to continue to provide benefits through his future career or the long road that will stretch. “That in truth providing benefits will bring good things to the soul and spirit of humans,” he said. (ITS PUBLIC RELATIONS)

Reporter: Hibar Buana Puspa