Big Data and Business Analysis Laboratory Business SBM ITB and the Shibaura Institute of Technology started the global Project Based Learning (gPBL) on Thursday (16/2). Forty students from the Shibaura Institute of Technology (SIT) and SBM ITB have joined the program, which has been going on since 2019.

gPBL is a training program for SBM ITB and SIT students to help them develop systems thinking, design, and evidence skills. Course participants will learn how to identify problems and create solutions, which will be provided to client startups later.

Manahan Siallagan, the Director of the Big Data Analysis and Social Simulation Laboratory at SBM ITB, explained that the gPBL was divided into two sessions. The first is problem-based learning in Indonesia. The second session is project-based learning which will be implemented in Japan in September this year.

Manahan Siallagan, the Director of the Big Data Analysis and Social Simulation Laboratory at SBM ITB

The first gPBL session will last for nine days in Bandung and Jakarta. Participants will participate in startup sharing, team building, problem-solving activities, and final presentations.

Furthermore, participants will coordinate online from March to August. In September, SBM ITB students will go to Japan to conduct the second gPBL session, which focuses on building design.

“This is the fifth year that gPBL has been held, and this year, it will be offline in Japan,” said Shimaditya Nuraeni, one of the gPBL coordinators. Since 2020 gPBL in Japan has been held online due to the covid-19 pandemic.

GPBL participants will later become advisors for client startups. Ten startups that are members of LPIK ITB have become clients of gPBL. They include Ecoplast, Meraki Asa, Idemes, Halofina, Living, etc. gBPL participants will be divided into groups of 4-5 people.

“I hope that SBM ITB and SIT students can collaborate in this program to solve the problems,” said Manabu Ichikawa, the sensei of the Shibaura Institute of Technology.

One of the gPBL participants from SIT, Torafumi Miyanishi, expressed his optimism that he could solve problems and provide the best solutions for startup clients after taking this course.

Written by Student Reporter (Eli Sulistyowati, Management 2024)