The need for engineers in the bridge sector is still considered high to meet the quality of bridges in Indonesia. This is in accordance with what has been said by Dr. Eng. Fauzri Fahimuddin, M.Sc., an engineer in the field of civil engineering and chairman of the KJI 2023 jury. When met on the third day of the KJI 2023 implementation on Wednesday (18/10), he said that the entire process that had been carried out by the participants from the start Competition registration can produce professional engineers.
“Indonesia needs many new engineers. The KJI 2023 participants have indirectly practiced how to design bridges after going through various selection stages until they reached the final which will be useful when they become bridge engineers in the future,” said Fauzri. He also assessed that all KJI 2023 participants had passed the bridge concept testing, starting from planning, design, implementation, to bridge maintenance.
Fauzri said that the 2023 KJI finalists had been prepared to fill the need for Indonesian engineers in the bridge sector. As an academic, he also wants to develop the values needed by prospective engineers. “In the campus environment, we usually call it an academic atmosphere. How can these students, especially civil engineering students, conduct dialogue with lecturers, colleagues, and even regional stakeholders who can support their ideas. And they can experience this in the world of work, including as bridge engineers,” he said.
The main objective of KJI 2023 is not to find champions, but how to prepare the finalists to become bridge engineers in the future who will oversee bridge construction in Indonesia. In its implementation, the 2023 KJI has unique features that differentiate it from the previous year’s KJI.
“We deliberately created our own niche this year, where we wanted a bridge design that was optimal in its application. Not just a strong but expensive design, but an ideal bridge design that is strong, cost efficient and easy to implement. This concept should be applied by the KJI 2023 participants. They already understand that there must be adjustments in considering bridge design, which not only requires advanced knowledge but also sharp intuition and can be trained through this competition. It’s as if they have already practiced building a real bridge,” concluded Fauzri.
Finally, Fauzri also said that the values he mentioned had been experienced through KJI 2023. He also hoped that the finalists’ sensitivity and intuition in the field of bridge design would start to grow and could continue to be honed. (ID)