They are bright high school students with ideas about solving problems in their communities. Little did they know that their local-based innovations would take them to a global science fair.

Three teams of Indonesian high school students won awards and recognition at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in the US early May, which was participated in by 1,700 young scientists from 75 countries.

One of the team was Luca Cada Lora and Galih Ramadhan from SMA 1 high school in Surakarta, Central Java. They won fourth place for their research on a volcanic ash-based heavy metal absorbent called packed VolcASH.

Their inspiration came from the ash plumes ejected by Mount Kelud in East Java, which drifted more than 100 kilometers to their neighborhood area.

'€œAt first, we noticed that the wastewater in the ditch looked clearer than before. It turns out that there was a sediment of volcanic ash in the ditch. From that, we had the hypothesis that volcanic ash could be used as water purifying material,'€ Galih said.

The pair started research in their humble school laboratory with a Rp 2 million (US$151.51) grant from the school.

'€œBefore we were able to complete it, the grant ran out. Thankfully, seven donors were willing to back the research, which in total cost Rp 5.7 million,'€ said Luca, whose father works in a factory in Cikarang, West Java.

The specially designed canister of volcanic ash they developed was able to absorb heavy metals from the synthetic dyes used by many batik-makers in Laweyan. According to Luca, many batik-makers have stopped using natural dyes.

'€œThe city has an integrated water treatment facility. Each batik firm must pay a monthly fee for it. But unfortunately, some irresponsible batik-makers chose to dispose of the wastewater in the nearby river,'€ Galih said.

Luca hoped that their innovation would help reduce pollution in the river and become a low-cost alternative for batik firms to treat their waste. Moreover, VolcASH'€™s main material, volcanic ash, can be easily found in Indonesia, home to 130 active volcanoes.

Initially, Luca and Galih submitted their research to the 2014 Youth Science Competition held by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) and won gold medals in the natural science category. Later, Intel Indonesia chose them to represent Indonesia, along with five other teams, at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair from May 10 to 15 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Home inspiration: I Kadek Sudiarsana (left) and I Dewa Gede Ary Palguna of SMAN Bali Mandara in Singaraja receive the fourth award in mathematics category for the motifs development of Gringsing Sarong using fractal techniques.(JP/Yuliasri Perdani)

Luca and Galih won fourth place in the category of materials science. Another winning team from Indonesia, I Kadek Sudiarsana and I Dewa Gede Ary Palguna, were conferred fourth place in the mathematics category for their research on the motif development of Gringsing sarong.

By using mathematical functions, the pair developed more than 10 fractal patterns of Gringsing sarong, which originated in Tenganan village, Bali.

'€œWe live near the village and found that they only sell sarongs with the familiar patterns. As a result, customers are not interested in buying the same kind of sarong a second time when they visit the village,'€ said Ary Palguna of SMA Bali Mandara in Singaraja, Bali.

In cooperation with a local tenun woven textile firm in Gianyar, the students are set to introduce the new kind of Gringsing sarong to the market soon.

Aside from the two winning teams, Hansen Hartono and Shinta Dewi of SMA Katolik Gembala Baik received a certificate of honorable mention for Bagasse-based activated carbon as a heavy metal absorbent.

Their research was aimed at neutralizing the wastewater from gold mining activities that is disposed into the Mandor River in West Kalimantan.

For most of the students, including Luca, their participation in the Intel science fair was the first time they had traveled overseas.

'€œIn Indonesia, we felt that we were number one. But there, we saw a lot of great projects that went beyond ours. This made us feel small, but at the same time, it has strengthened our resolve to be better,'€ he said.

Deva Rachman, public affairs director of Intel Indonesia, said she was thrilled with the contingent'€™s achievements. '€œWe have three winners compared to one winner last year. Hopefully, we can achieve more in the coming years.'€

After returning to Indonesia, the contingent was welcomed in a reception hosted by Culture and Primary and Secondary Education Minister Anies Baswedan at his office on May 18.

'€œYour success there is the beginning of your journey,'€ the minister said. '€œMichelangelo once said that the greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark. I want you to write down your dreams about what you want to become and create in the future.'€

To answer the minister'€™s question Luca, who has been accepted to study industrial technology at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) said, '€œI want to become a scientist working in space to research molecular biology and chemical engineering.'€