The Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia (FTUI) has once again brought pride to Indonesia on the international stage. A team of FTUI students secured 6th Place Overall at the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) Seismic Design Competition (SDC) 2026, held in Portland, Oregon, United States, from 13\u201317 July 2026. Competing against 47 teams from leading universities around the world, Universitas Indonesia was the only representative from Indonesia and Southeast Asia to advance to the final round.<\/p>\n
The FTUI team comprised Michael Fernando Theng (Civil Engineering, Class of 2024), Muhammad Thoriq Ramadhan (Civil Engineering, Class of 2023), Ihksan Putra Jaya (Civil Engineering, Class of 2023), M. Fadhil Al-Ghani (Civil Engineering, Class of 2023), Rasya Khairani Santoso (Interior Architecture, Class of 2023), and Joey Paul Thobias Awuy (Interior Architecture, Class of 2023). The team was supervised by Dr.-Ing. Josia Irwan Rastandi, a lecturer in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, FTUI.<\/p>\n
The EERI Seismic Design Competition is one of the world’s most prestigious student competitions in earthquake-resistant structural engineering. Participants are challenged to design buildings that are safe, efficient, innovative, and capable of demonstrating outstanding performance under earthquake simulations. Teams are evaluated comprehensively based on structural design quality, technical proposal, presentation, technical communication, and the seismic performance of their building models during testing.<\/p>\n
For this year’s competition, the Universitas Indonesia team designed Bifurca Tower, a 20-story building featuring a highly complex architectural geometry. The structure consists of two separate building masses from Levels 1 to 7, merging between Levels 7 and 11, separating again with an offset configuration from Levels 11 to 18, and finally rejoining between Levels 18 and 20. This unique configuration presented significant structural engineering challenges, requiring an efficient load path, balanced structural stiffness, and superior seismic energy dissipation capacity.<\/p>\n
To address these challenges, the FTUI team implemented a Negative Stiffness Friction Damper (NSFD) system, an advanced damping technology designed to improve the structure’s ability to absorb seismic energy while reducing interstory drift without significantly increasing the building’s weight. From an architectural perspective, Bifurca Tower embraces the concept of biophilic architecture, drawing inspiration from the Rumah Panjai of Indonesia’s Dayak Iban community and the Cedar Plank House of the Pacific Northwest in North America.<\/p>\n
“This approach resulted in a building design that is not only resilient against earthquakes but also functional, sustainable, and harmonious with its surrounding environment. The integration of advanced structural engineering technology with traditional architectural inspiration reflects the spirit of FTUI students in developing engineering solutions that are technically excellent while remaining deeply rooted in cultural values and sustainability,” explained Dr.-Ing. Josia Irwan Rastandi.<\/p>\n
The team’s outstanding design earned multiple awards, including 6th Place Overall, 4th Place Proposal, 5th Place Presentation, 6th Place Communication, and 3rd Place in the T-Shirt Design Competition. These achievements demonstrate the FTUI students’ ability to integrate technical excellence, creativity, effective communication, and interdisciplinary collaboration in delivering innovative engineering solutions.<\/p>\n
Team leader Michael Fernando Theng stated that the achievement was the culmination of months of preparation, intensive discussions, and strong teamwork among all members.<\/p>\n
“This achievement is an incredibly proud moment for our entire team because it represents the culmination of a long and challenging journey. We are truly grateful for the opportunity to bring the name of Indonesia and the Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia, into the world’s top six. Throughout the past several months, we learned not only how to develop a robust structural design, but also the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration, effective communication, and adaptability in overcoming the many challenges we encountered during the competition. This experience has become an invaluable lesson for us as future engineers.”<\/p>\n
Michael also emphasized that the support provided by the faculty advisors, the Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia, and all parties who contributed guidance and encouragement served as a constant motivation for the team to perform at its best throughout the competition.<\/p>\n
The Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia, Prof. Kemas Ridwan Kurniawan, expressed his appreciation for the students’ remarkable achievement.<\/p>\n
“This accomplishment demonstrates that FTUI students possess the competence to compete at the global level. It reflects not only academic excellence but also the ability to collaborate, think critically, and develop innovative engineering solutions to address real-world challenges. We hope this achievement will inspire the entire academic community to continue creating, innovating, and bringing pride to Indonesia through international achievements,” said Prof. Kemas.<\/p>\n
This achievement continues FTUI’s strong track record at the EERI Seismic Design Competition, following the team’s Most Improved Team Award in the previous edition. It further reinforces FTUI’s commitment to producing graduates who are innovative, globally competitive, and capable of addressing complex engineering challenges.<\/p>\n
As a country located along the Pacific Ring of Fire, Indonesia requires continuous innovation in earthquake-resistant building design. Through research, education, and active participation in international competitions such as the EERI Seismic Design Competition, FTUI remains committed to nurturing future engineers capable of delivering engineering solutions for national development challenges. The success of Bifurca Tower demonstrates that innovations developed within Indonesian universities are capable of competing on the global stage while making meaningful contributions to the development of safer, more resilient, and more sustainable infrastructure.<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
Public Communications Office
\nFaculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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