The SBM ITB community is pleased to announce the winners of the L’Oréal Brandstorm competition for 2022. The ‘Mon Soleil’ team strives to win at the national level and has the opportunity to advance to the international arena, intending to be a team that shines like the sun in Paris. Angela Thrisananda Kusuma (Bachelor of Entrepreneurship 2022, SBM ITB), Salma Yasyifa (Bachelor of Pharmacy 2023, Pharmacy ITB), and Yumna Dzakiyyah (Bachelor of Electrical Engineering 2023, STEI ITB) comprise this team.
The SBM ITB Marketing and Communications team attempted to contact one of its members, Angela Thrisananda Kusuma, on this occasion (11/04/2022).
How did you meet and form this team in the first place?
We got together outside of the ITB campus activities. Around 2020, we all met in a research and development division of Angel’s non-profit organization (GrowthLab). First and foremost, we formed this team because we share the same mindset and communication style.
Even though we come from different faculties, we believe that we can be a valuable asset and potential competitor by complementing each other. Salma from the pharmacy faculty is more knowledgeable about hormone-related issues, Yumna is more knowledgeable about technical applications and devices, and Angel herself is knowledgeable about general business matters.
This is not our first competition; in 2021, we did not advance to the next round. However, we were able to win this year’s competition and advance to the international level, thanks to our efforts and hard work.
What are the difficulties you will face during the competition?
Time and scientific knowledge have been the most difficult challenges we’ve faced during the competition. In terms of time, the difference in lecture hours and the expectations of each department necessitates the sacrifice of nighttime to exchange ideas. Meanwhile, from a scientific standpoint, we need to find new daring but still feasible ideas.
Amid a pandemic like this, how do you communicate with one another?
In general, the pandemic makes it easier to determine the time and location of activity. We only need to create a virtual room. Everything becomes simpler using online tools and software such as Miro and Google Docs. We try to meet to practice offline presentations according to their respective portions.
Why did you decide to participate in this competition?
The L’Oréal Brandstorm competition is relatively well-known. This competition has been running for 30 years, and many alumni from previous generations have competed in prestigious competitions such as L’Oréal Brandstorm. Most importantly, because we have a strong interest in FMCG companies. It is a challenge for us to create innovations for a large corporation such as L’Oréal. We hope that our idea will be an investment for L’Oréal in the future as it develops its products.
What ideas do you have for this competition?
To ensure our ideas can become the L’Oréal innovations, we try to find ones that do not yet exist. Finally, we attempt to create a skincare journey with a personalized hormone base. The innovation’s name is Hypersync, and it is expected to be able to answer the challenges of companies carrying the Disturb Beauty theme involving tech, green sustainability, and inclusion.
How was your team’s campus life in previous years?
Every member faces unique challenges. Salma and Yumna, on the other hand, have a lot of practical classes, practicum reports, and journals. Meanwhile, I have final assignments for my degree (bachelor thesis). My thesis was in progress when we were competing. And what makes us feel at ease at SBM is our supervisor’s encouragement to participate in the competition.
What are the perks of ITB and SBM ITB to you?
The entire SBM ecosystem has always been extremely supportive. SBM is very helpful with materials like digital mock-ups, making videos, costs, and other things that are sometimes difficult to provide. As a result, we can concentrate on developing innovation and exploring new ideas to benefit the competition. Meanwhile, on the non-material side, the SBM environment is always there to help if we require assistance. Starting with the need for responsive correspondence and progressing to lecturer guidance for specific parts that we believe are required to validate our ideas. We are also supported by highly qualified lecturers at the Pharmacy and STEI faculties.
What are your tips for other college students, whether about competitions, work-life balance, or anything else?
An important tip for competitions I, first, to choose the right one suiting our interests because it will have an impact on the continuation of our race. Second, don’t be afraid to approach friends who have specialized knowledge because this resource enriches our ideas. Finally, create a schedule and a goal to avoid getting too carried away.
In terms of my personal life, I maintain a healthy life balance through hobbies. Make time for the things we enjoy. It makes me happy to spend time on social media before going to bed. Furthermore, we must enjoy the competition process; know when to have fun and when to be serious.
Finally, for other SBM friends, I recommend that we make the most and take advantage of our limited lecture time, depending on our individual preferences. Don’t forget to have fun while you’re learning. Take advantage of our time in class to learn about scientific knowledge and for more practical matters, such as communication and other useful technical matters, we can learn outside the classroom.
Once again, congratulations to the winners. SBM ITB and the ITB community are proud to have educated and honed our students to be active and exceed our expectations.