Polibatam Successfully Held Demo Day and Independent Entrepreneurial Party Batch 2 of 2023
POLIBATAM-Politeknik Negeri Batam (Polibatam) Campus held a Demo Day and Independent Entrepreneurship/Wirausaha Merdeka (WMK) Party batch II 2023 on Wednesday (22/11/2023) at the Panbil Nature Reserve. The event was opened by the Head of Polibatam Research and Community Service (P3M), Mr. Daniel Soetopo, Ph.D., and attended by leaders of partner universities, academic evaluators, and business practitioners.
The Head of the Central WMK Program, Mr. Gamaliel Alexander Emil Waney, ST., MLA, said in his speech that the WMK Party resulted from students’ hard work and curiosity in exploring and executing business ideas. The WMK Party is a demonstration of excellence and an opportunity for visitors to try and evaluate products formulated directly by students. This activity is the most effective forum for building possibilities in planning business development and discovering potential in investing.
The Director of Politeknik Negeri Batam, Mr. Uuf Brajawidagda, Ph.D., said that four things are the substance of this activity, including exhibitions, product/service demos, feedback from visitors about the products/services being demonstrated, and interaction with potential investors.
The head of WMK Polibatam, Alena Uperiati, S.T., M.Cs., said, “Demo Day is not only about presenting great projects, but also about learning, growth and opportunity. For the participants, this is an opportunity to demonstrate the results of their hard work and gain valuable feedback from the experts and stakeholders present.”
A total of 450 students from various study programs took part in this activity. 351 participants were Politeknik Negeri Batam students, and the other 99 participants came from 8 partner universities, including Batam University, Batam Tourism Polytechnic, Bentara Persada Batam College of Economics, Putra Sang Fajar Blitar State Community Academy, Ketapang State Polytechnic, Pontianak State Polytechnic, Polytechnic Pangkajene Islands State Agriculture and Tanjungpura University.
Students were divided into 74 teams and guided by 44 Field Assistant Lecturers/Dosen Pendamping Lapangan (DPL). Based on their business cluster, teams are grouped into 6 clusters: agribusiness, services, manufacturing, technology, creative, and trade. Teams are also grouped based on their experience in entrepreneurship. Beginner teams are grouped at the beginner level, while teams that have previously run a business are grouped at the advanced level.
The Demo Day and WMK Party activities are the peak events of a series of Polibatam WMK activities that started last September. This activity is part of post-immersion after students previously passed the pre-immersion and immersion stages. Students demonstrate and show off the business products they have created. A team of academic and practitioner evaluators assessed the team regarding business products, marketing, finance, and student business development potential. Prototype development cost assistance is given to the best teams from each cluster and business level. The announcement of the best team was made during the WMK Party. Students were also presented with musical entertainment and stand up comedy at this moment.
The WMK program is expected to provide practical experience for students in entrepreneurial activities by developing an entrepreneurial mindset and competence, developing and creating business concepts, and developing entrepreneurial practice and development. WMK students have the opportunity to study outside campus to develop knowledge in the field of entrepreneurship. The quality and capacity of college graduates are expected to increase through this program. Hopefully, this program can also help improve students’ work abilities.
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