Two delegating teams from Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) delivered outstanding performances at the National Excellence Competition (NEC) Chapter 2026, hosted by Universitas Mataram. The prestigious national essay competition brought together leading teams from universities across Indonesia to compete across eight sub-fields of study. From those eight sub-fields, both UGM teams advanced to the final round and claimed awards that placed UGM among the top-performing universities in attendance. Team BioMaggot-ColorSense from the Faculty of Agricultural Technology earned the 2nd Place Overall Winner title along with a Gold Medal Final, Best Idea, and Best Team Final, while Team Circular Stage System (CSS) from the Faculty of Cultural Sciences secured a Gold Medal as finalists.
The competition began with a semifinal stage in which teams were selected based on their respective sub-field representation and invited to deliver private presentations before a panel of judges and fellow participants. This stage was a decisive test of each team’s ability to defend and articulate their ideas with clarity and conviction. Both UGM teams successfully navigated this round and advanced to the final, where all finalists from the eight sub-fields presented publicly in a joint session competing for the overall championship titles. Their advancement to the final simultaneously affirmed the strength and quality of the ideas each UGM team brought to the competition.
Team BioMaggot-ColorSense, competing in the Agriculture, Food, and Animal Husbandry sub-field, consisted of Yusuf Leonardi and Salma Amalia, both from the Faculty of Agricultural Technology. The team delivered an exceptional performance in the final round, claiming four awards simultaneously, 2nd Place Overall Winner, Gold Medal Final, Best Idea, and Best Team Final. The team’s name reflects the core of their innovation: a maggot-based approach utilizing Black Soldier Fly larvae integrated with color-sensing technology as a solution for organic waste management and value-added creation in the agriculture and food sectors. The sweep of four awards at once is a testament to the fact that their proposal was not only highly innovative, but also judged to be the most comprehensive and impactful among all participants.
Meanwhile, Team Circular Stage System (CSS), competing in the Tourism and Creative Economy sub-field, claimed a Gold Medal as finalists. The team, comprising Dinaesy Fadillah Hidayat, Aly Aydeed, and Nadila Aryani Az-Zalfa from the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, presented a concept of a circular stage system grounded in circular economy principles, designed to reduce waste in the performance and entertainment industry while strengthening the local creative economy ecosystem. Their Gold Medal as finalists reflects the distinctiveness and quality of their concept within the sub-field, achieved in the face of strong competition from other top teams across the country.
The achievements of both UGM teams stand as tangible proof of the spirit of innovation that continues to flourish among UGM students, as well as their capacity to generate creative ideas that are not only academically rigorous but also relevant and impactful for society. This success also demonstrates that UGM students from diverse disciplinary backgrounds, whether from applied sciences or the humanities, are fully capable of competing at the national level with solutions that are varied yet equally forward-looking. With two teams claiming prestigious awards in a single competition, UGM continues to strengthen its position as a university that consistently produces a generation of young innovators ready to make a meaningful contribution to the nation.
Author : Naja Ganiswara Ramadhani
Editor : Ahmad Yuana Putra