Medan, September 2026 | The Mining Engineering Study Program, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Sumatera Utara (FT-USU) has begun preparing new students to participate in the 2027 Student Creativity Program (Program Kreativitas Mahasiswa/PKM) from an early stage. This initiative reflects the study program’s commitment to fostering a culture of creativity, innovation, collaboration, and competitiveness among students from the beginning of their university journey.
The PKM preparation activities are facilitated by the Mining Engineering Study Program, involving new students in exploring and developing various creative ideas. Students are encouraged to express their ideas confidently, identify problems in their surrounding environment, and formulate innovative solutions that offer both academic value and practical benefits to society and industry.
The leadership of the Mining Engineering Study Program emphasized that PKM preparation should not begin only as the proposal submission deadline approaches. Mentoring needs to start when students enter university, giving them sufficient time to develop ideas, form teams, conduct preliminary studies, and produce high-quality proposals.
"Through this activity, we aim to identify as many creative ideas as possible from our new students. We hope that students will not only become recipients of knowledge but also be able to generate ideas and innovations that provide solutions to various challenges, particularly those related to mining, the environment, technology, energy, and society," said a representative of the Mining Engineering Study Program FT-USU.
Fostering a Culture of Creativity and Innovation
The PKM 2027 preparation program is not solely focused on achieving success in student competitions. More importantly, it is designed to develop students’ creative, innovative, critical, collaborative, and problem-solving mindsets.
New students are given opportunities to explore various challenges they encounter in society, the environment, and the mining industry. They are then guided to transform these challenges into ideas with novelty, practical value, and potential for further development.
This approach is particularly important as the mining industry continues to evolve. Technological development, the growing demand for sustainable mining practices, the energy transition, digitalization, environmental management, occupational safety, and industrial efficiency require graduates who possess not only strong technical competencies but also the ability to think creatively and develop innovative solutions.
Through PKM, students have an opportunity to develop these competencies while still pursuing their university education.
Mining Engineering Lecturers Involved in Mentoring
As part of the program, student groups will receive guidance from lecturers within the Mining Engineering Study Program FT-USU. The mentoring process will assist students in developing their ideas, defining research problems, designing methodologies, strengthening academic foundations, and refining their concepts into competitive PKM proposals.
The Mining Engineering lecturers involved in the mentoring process include Dr. Adri Huda, S.Si.; Ir. Gustam Lubis, S.T., M.T.; Heri Adhahari, S.T., M.T.; Dr. Ir. Munir Tanjung; Ir. Meutia H., S.T., M.Sc.; Ir. Faisal, S.T., M.T.; and Edi Yasa Ardiansyah, S.T., M.T.
The program also provides opportunities for lecturers from other study programs at Universitas Sumatera Utara to participate in the mentoring process. This interdisciplinary collaboration is expected to broaden students’ perspectives and strengthen their PKM ideas.
Cross-disciplinary involvement is particularly valuable because challenges in mining and environmental management are multidimensional. Addressing these challenges requires the integration of knowledge from engineering, environmental science, economics, social sciences, information technology, management, and entrepreneurship.
Developing Excellent and Competitive Graduates
The Mining Engineering Study Program FT-USU expects this mentoring program to contribute to the long-term development of graduate quality. Students are expected not only to acquire academic and technical competencies but also to demonstrate creativity, innovation, teamwork, communication, leadership, and problem-solving abilities.
These competencies represent important assets for graduates entering the workforce. The mining industry requires professionals who can adapt to technological developments and industry dynamics while contributing meaningfully to productivity and sustainable business practices.
Therefore, the preparation for PKM 2027 represents a strategic effort to develop excellent, creative, innovative, and inspiring graduates.
"Our hope is that Mining Engineering students at FT-USU will not only be recognized as graduates with strong technical capabilities in mining but also as young professionals capable of creating innovations and developing solutions. These qualities will become an important added value when they enter the industrial sector, develop businesses, and create new employment opportunities," the study program representative added.
From Student Ideas to Innovation
Through mentoring that begins from the students’ first year, the Mining Engineering Study Program, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Sumatera Utara (FT-USU) aims to foster diverse ideas that can be developed sustainably. These ideas are expected to go beyond PKM proposals and evolve into prototypes, innovative works, scientific publications, appropriate technologies, and student entrepreneurship opportunities.
The study program also encourages students to explore mining-related challenges from a broader perspective. Issues such as occupational health and safety, mine reclamation and post-mining activities, environmental management, mineral resource utilization, energy efficiency, mining digitalization, waste management, and community empowerment provide valuable opportunities for students to develop innovative solutions.
By starting the mentoring process at an early stage, students have more time to undertake a comprehensive process of problem identification, idea development, team formation, preliminary research, proposal preparation, prototype development, and idea refinement.
This initiative is expected to strengthen the culture and ecosystem of student creativity within the Mining Engineering Study Program FT-USU while enhancing students’ readiness to participate in PKM 2027.
Ultimately, this program goes beyond preparing students for a competition. It represents an effort to build an academic culture that encourages students to think, create, innovate, and provide solutions.
The Mining Engineering Study Program FT-USU hopes that this spirit of creativity and innovation will grow from the moment students begin their university journey, enabling them to become competent, creative, innovative, adaptive, and highly competitive mining engineering graduates at both the national and global levels.