Students from the Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia (FTUI), achieved an outstanding international accomplishment by winning the “Most Improved Team” award at the 22nd Annual Undergraduate Seismic Design Competition (SDC), organized by the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) Student Leadership Council. This prestigious competition, which was held from March 31 to April 3, 2025, at the University of California, Berkeley, United States, featured 53 teams from various universities around the world.
The Universitas Indonesia team, EERI SDC UI Team 2025, demonstrated significant performance improvement compared to the previous year. The team ranked 2nd in proposal score, 5th in communication score, and 8th in presentation score. These achievements reflect the team’s strong technical and communication skills in addressing the challenges of designing earthquake-resistant structures.
The EERI SDC UI 2025 team consisted of five students from different study programs: Juan Valensi Ridwan Ramadhan, Alvin Marcelino Setiawan, and Audean Roderick Samuel Kumontoy (Civil Engineering 2022), Arecta Eghalion Pangemanan (Architecture 2022), and Muhammad Rakan Firzatullah (Interior Architecture 2022). The team was supervised by two faculty advisors: Dr.-Ing. Josia Irwan Rastandi, S.T., M.T., and Prof. Ir. Widjojo Adi Prakoso, M.Sc., Ph.D., provided academic and technical support throughout the preparation and competition process.
Their project, titled “Tenchi Tower,” was a 19-story building model entirely constructed using balsa wood. Inspired by the Japanese myth of the Floating Bridge of Heaven, the design combined structural efficiency and architectural elegance in one cohesive earthquake-resistant building. Key innovations included applying a diagonal corridor layout as a stiffness element, using three different floor plan types, and developing a modular viscous fluid-based seismic damper designed with a snap-fit mechanism, allowing for easy installation without heavy equipment.
“Tenchi Tower integrates philosophy, efficiency, and structural innovation into a single design. We aimed to create something not only earthquake-resistant but also aesthetically pleasing and applicable to today’s urban needs,“ said Juan Valensi Ridwan Ramadhan, an EERI SDC UI team member.
“This achievement is a source of pride not only for the EERI SDC UI team but also for the entire FTUI community. It shows that interdisciplinary collaboration, hard work, and strong academic support can lead to innovations recognized at the global level. We hope this accomplishment will inspire other students to continue creating and competing internationally,“ stated Prof. Kemas Ridwan Kurniawan, S.T., M.Sc., Ph.D., Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia.
The FTUI team’s participation and success in this competition highlight the importance of multidisciplinary collaboration in developing innovative solutions for infrastructure challenges, particularly in earthquake-resistant structural design. This achievement also affirms FTUI’s commitment to nurturing globally competitive students who contribute to technological advancements relevant to societal needs.
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Public Communications Office
Faculty of Engineering Universitas Indonesia
