A team of Indonesian Geodesy students from Gadjah Mada University (UGM) in Yogyakarta has won first place at the International Invention & Innovative Competition (InIIC), an event initiated by Malaysia-based event management company MNNF Network.

Five students from UGM's Geodetic Engineering Department – Akram Sripandam, Yofita Indah Saputri, Vincent Tandy, Agan Aul Rizki and Salsabila Ramadhani Prasetya – received the Diamond Award in the B2 Higher Institution Student category for their website and Android application CulturIS-3D, which aims to instill in millennials cultural values and "provide new perspectives for users by presenting cultural heritage sites in three-dimension".

According to a statement, in addition to the Indonesian language, the platform is also available in English to attract foreigners.

The team was supposed to present its work during an event in Penang, Malaysia, on April 17 to 20; however, it ended up presenting via online video due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The winners were announced on the InIIC website on April 18.

"The innovations from the other teams were amazing; things we didn't even think of doing," Yofita, head of the Indonesian team, said in a statement.

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Prior to participating in the competition, CulturIS-3D also won first place at a national competition held by Ahmad Dahlan University in Yogyakarta in November 2019.

Akram, the team's founder, engineer and web developer, is hopeful that the project will continue to grow and inspire the younger generations. "[We compiled] the data in collaboration with all the academics at UGM, particularly our department. Hopefully [the platform] is useful to the public." (kes)