Balikpapan – A proud achievement has once again been earned by students of Institut Teknologi Kalimantan (ITK) through their innovation titled “MEDISENSE: An AI-Powered IoT System for Monitoring Student Health and Indoor Air Quality.” The project successfully achieved the title of National Semi-Finalist at BENMAX, organized by BEACON ITS in Surabaya, East Java. This academic competition in the field of Science and Technology brought together outstanding innovations from university students across Indonesia in biomedical engineering and smart healthcare technology.

This accomplishment demonstrates that ITK students are capable of competing at the national level through the development of technology based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT). MEDISENSE was recognized for its originality, issue relevance, and comprehensive technological integration in addressing modern student health challenges.

Conceptually, MEDISENSE was developed to respond to real challenges faced by university students, such as academic pressure, fatigue, poor sleep quality, and exposure to inadequate indoor air quality (IAQ). The system integrates physiological monitoring parameters including heart rate (BPM) and blood oxygen saturation (SpO₂) with environmental parameters such as temperature, humidity, and air quality (PM2.5 and pollutants). All data are transmitted in real time through an ESP32-based IoT system and synchronized with an Android application using Firebase as the cloud database.

The main strength of MEDISENSE lies in its integration of generative AI as a personal health assistant. This technology does not merely display raw data; it analyzes correlations between the user’s physiological condition and room environment, then provides personalized health recommendations. This approach transforms MEDISENSE into a preventive, data-driven system that supports sustainable healthy lifestyles among students.

The development process itself became an important part of this achievement. The team began with conceptual design, followed by approximately two months of Android application development using Flutter. They then proceeded with hardware design, including sensor selection, PCB design, 3D-printed PLA casing development, and full system integration. These technical challenges were successfully overcome independently, despite the team’s limited prior experience in mobile application development.

With a prototype production cost of approximately IDR 460,000 and an estimated market price ranging from IDR 750,000 to IDR 950,000, MEDISENSE also demonstrates commercial potential as a smart health assistant device for students and smart dormitory environments. This added value further strengthened the innovation’s position in the national competition.

Achieving Semi-Finalist status at BENMAX is not merely a competition milestone but also a strategic step in advancing research and innovation among ITK students in the field of smart healthcare technology. This success reflects the students’ commitment to delivering real-world solutions powered by AI and IoT to support the creation of a healthy, adaptive, and data-driven Smart Campus ecosystem.