UNAIR NEWS – brings more good news, this time from Muhammad Abdillah Roikhan, a 2021 student from the Faculty of Medicine. Roikhan and his team recently won a gold medal at the international World Young Inventors Exhibition (WYIE) 2024.
The competition, organized by the Malaysian Inventors and Design Society (MINDS), took place in Kuala Lumpur from May 16-18, 2024. Roikhan outperformed 700 teams from 15 countries to secure the top award. His winning innovation was an app designed to combat obesity.
Developing tourism-based app to fight obesity
Roikhan explained that his innovation stemmed from observing the issue of obesity in his surroundings. “Obesity statistically stems from people being inactive due to excessive phone use. So, we created something that would encourage people to exercise when they use their phones,” he explained.
Addressing this problem, Roikhan developed an app named integrated Running Application at Malang, or i-RAL. Uniquely, i-RAL is a tourism-based app that motivates users to engage in running.
“We aimed to integrate tourism aspects into running. The app shows users suitable nearby locations for running. Why running? Because it’s the easiest form of exercise”no money or space rental needed,” Roikhan elaborated.
i-RAL offers features such as route recommendations, exercise tracking, and progress reports. Users can determine their monthly running targets for a healthy life by entering data like their weight. Additionally, the app provides nearby running routes and tracks calories burned. Users can also monitor their caloric balance through available report graphs.
Challenges and valuable experience
For Roikhan, the diversity of campuses among team members posed a unique challenge but also offered valuable experience. “The value of collaboration is crucial. The world is much bigger than just the campus. Collaboration between campuses is definitely possible,” he remarked.
Moreover, this diversity posed funding challenges, requiring Roikhan to seek investors to continue his research. Through perseverance, Roikhan secured funding from seven companies, including Pertamina, RSUD Dr. Soetomo, PT Telkom, and Persada Hospital.
Author: Afifah Alfina
Editor: Khefti Al Mawalia
