UNAIR NEWS – Meilisa Dwi Ervinda, an Indonesian Language and Literature student of the Faculty of Humanities (FIB) Universitas Airlangga, just made a wonderful achievement. She initiated the idea of a technology-based attendance tool and won a silver medal in the National Essay Competition (LETIN) 2023, on Sunday, June 4, 2023. Besides, she also successfully won the category of the most favorite video in the competition.

LETIN is a national essay competition held by Universitas Triatma Mulya Bali and Nusantara Muda. Carrying the theme of Innovation and Sustainable Creativity for a Better Indonesia, the competition was joined by 1,118 participants from across the nation.

Using Face Recognition Technology and RFID Card

Meilisa initiated the innovation of E-SAS, which stands for Electronic Smart Attendance System. E-SAS was developed from manual attendance tracking tool by using face recognition technology and RFID Cards in the form of student cards.

The tool will monitor student attendance more effectively. It is developed as a web application with supporting features, including a training process. Through E-SAS (Electronic Student Attendance System), the school authorities can access student attendance records centrally.

“This idea was sparked when I noticed that many schools in Indonesia still use conventional attendance systems to record students’ attendance. It’s less effective, takes a long time, and is prone to errors, which disadvantage the students,” she said.

Facing various challenges

The Gresik-origin student further shared the challenges she encountered. She had to learn a lot of new knowledge, especially in techs. It wasn’t easy, considering her language and literature background.

“Besides, the presentation session poses its own challenges as the system resembles an exhibition. The jury members visit each booth, where the participants must present their ideas in three minutes and answer the questions in two minutes. We had to explain it in detail in a short time,” Meilisa said.

Spending quota for failure

At last, she suggested UNAIR students be willing in trying opportunities. Meilisa believed that she possesses 99 percent of the quota for failure. When she fails, the quota decreased by 1 percent. Therefore, it is better to try and fail than never try at all.

“I have to make the most of all the quota of failure I’ve got. From there, I have come to understand that the opportunity for winning and succeeding exists. It has been proven,” she said.

Author: Rafli Noer Khairam

Editor: Khefti Al Mawalia

Source : unair.ac.id/en/winning-silver-medal-unair-student-initiates-technology-based-attendance-tool