INTI international conference – innovation and entrepreneurship 

Salam dari Negeri Sembilan, a region close to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s capital, where I am attending my first conference as a PhD candidate. The hosting institution is the INTI, international university in Nilai.

 Last January I was accepted to study a degree at Universitas Udayana, in Bali’s Denpasar. As an international student, I’m seen as a bit of a rarity (lest students from Malaysia and Timor Leste), but in the most friendly way, typical to Balinese hospitality.

Initially I wanted to focus on a different topic, but after discussions with my supervisor, Prof Pujianiki,

I’ll remain faithful to Water…in the broadest sense.

My research will be on “Monitoring water resources in Bali with LoRaWan based IoT devices”.

The water crisis on this tropical island has been covered in the news since almost a decade, however, you don’t really notice it in daily life and much of the local population doesn’t perceive it as a serious issue or a priority.

Bali is suffering from drought, aquifer depletion, water pollution in the rivers and the coast. Although it receives a plenty of rainfall, most of it comes in the rainy season from November until May. In the dry season it barely rains at all, except for high in the mountains.

You probably ask, how monitoring helps with a water crisis…, I believe it will deepen the understanding of the situation and how water situation varies with season and urbanisation and help drive policy in the right way.

Studying is a learning process. I am learning to develop hardware and software and I am thankful to the support of my supervisors and especially Michiel Steltman, who is my mentor and a great help in the realm of SW & HW. I am grategul to be doing what I always enjoy the most, and possibly have a little talent in… trying to develop solutions to real world problems and embracing life in a different environment and culture.

After living n Czechia, UK, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany; Indonesia adds a great deal of spice to this journey.  I would also thoroughly recommend anyone and everyone interested in sustainability to leave the “developed” world and peek into the global south…a place which is governed by slightly different rules and just functions a bit differently. It’s at times frustrating but in the long run, it’s eye opening and very humbling.

While here, I’m also interested in any form of co-operation and research or a commercial application- on water technology in Bali. Get in touch or forward to someone else, who might.

Terimakasih, suksma, thanks for reading all the way till the end. ☺️