Bamsoet Applauds Tiffney Tyra's Innovation at 2026 National Pilmapres
Member of the Indonesian House of Representatives and 15th Speaker of the People’s Consultative Assembly, Bambang Soesatyo (Bamsoet), has expressed high appreciation for Tiffney Tyara Setyoko. The student from the Faculty of Medicine at Pelita Harapan University (FK UPH) successfully won first place in the Undergraduate Programme category of the 2026 National Student Achievement Awards (Pilmapres). This success demonstrates the even distribution of educational quality as well as the strong capacity of private universities in producing outstanding innovators.
The Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology has also expanded the scope of the Pilmapres competition. A special category for students with disabilities has now been introduced to realise an inclusive higher education ecosystem in the country.
“Tiffney Tyara Setyoko’s achievement deserves our highest appreciation. She has shown that Indonesian students, including those from private universities, possess the academic capacity, critical thinking, research skills, creativity, and courage to innovate that enable them to compete at the national level. This also sends a message that the quality of human resources should not be measured solely by the origin of their university, but by their work, competence, integrity, and the impact they can provide to society,” said Bamsoet in a written statement on Monday (10/8/26).
Tiffney had previously won the Pilmapres at the LLDIKTI Region III level at the end of April. The 2023 cohort student succeeded in becoming the best after defeating strong competitors from various universities. She then advanced to represent UPH and LLDIKTI Region III to compete on the national stage.
“What makes this achievement even more significant is the long process Tiffney went through. From hundreds of students who participated in the selection across 17 LLDIKTI regions, 60 students advanced to the national level and were eventually narrowed down to 19 finalists. This means that to become a champion requires a combination of academic achievement, thinking ability, relevant ideas, strong communication, leadership, and readiness to face real problems. Tiffney successfully met all these challenges,” said Bamsoet.
Bamsoet also highlighted Tiffney’s innovative idea, the Smart Febrile Patch, at the prestigious event. This non-invasive wearable sensor innovation based on sweat is specifically designed to assist in the early screening of the severity of infectious diseases with fever symptoms. The invention is considered highly applicable because it stems from the difficulty ordinary people face in determining the crucial moment to seek medical help.
“The Smart Febrile Patch shows how everyday problems can become a gateway to innovation. Health technology should be directed towards enabling the public to recognise their body’s condition more quickly and make appropriate decisions. If this idea can be developed through adequate research and clinical trials, its benefits have great potential, especially in supporting early screening and helping health workers obtain additional information before determining the next steps in examination and treatment,” explained Bamsoet.
Tiffney’s brilliant idea is considered aligned with global challenges in addressing the antibiotic resistance crisis. Data from the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2023 showed that one in six cases of bacterial infection has become resistant to drugs. This resistance trend has continued to surge significantly in more than 40 percent of pathogen-antibiotic combinations during the 2018 to 2023 period.
“When diagnosis is delayed or initial information about a patient’s condition is limited, there is a risk that the public will self-medicate or use antibiotics inappropriately. Therefore, diagnostic innovation and early screening must be part of the national health strategy. The WHO itself has placed the development of rapid point-of-care tests to distinguish bacterial and viral infections as one of its priorities in tackling antimicrobial resistance,” said Bamsoet.
The Indonesian government is currently intensifying efforts to strengthen the antimicrobial resistance surveillance system comprehensively. The Ministry of Health, together with the WHO, has launched a national survey involving thousands of patients in various hospitals and laboratories across more than a dozen provinces. Strengthening this medical feasibility monitoring system has become an urgent need amid the proliferation of acute healthcare facilities in the country.
“Tiffney’s achievement should be a momentum to strengthen the health research ecosystem in Indonesia. Students need to be given space to develop ideas from their time at university, while universities, the government, hospitals, industry, and research institutions must build bridges so that these ideas can move from the competition arena to the laboratory, field testing, clinical trials, and, if proven safe and effective, be implemented widely,” concluded Bamsoet.