Lamenting lack of govt support for innovators

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung

The increase in the price of kerosene on Oct. 1 has been a boon for K. Fuji Agus.

The price, almost double what it was previously, has forced housewives, restaurants and food vendors to think of saving fuel, leading to frequent phone calls to his office on the outskirts of Bandung from various cities to order the energy-saving stoves he created in 2000.

The Gasmit (gas minyak tanah, or kerosene) stove, was designed by Fuji around five years ago, when the kerosene price was still low.

In three years, production of the wickless Gasmit, with its gas-like blue flame, kept rising. With only 200 units per month initially, the rate further increased and reached 500 units per month early in 2005, before hitting the current 1,000-unit mark.

"Energy-saving solutions are what we must seek today. The fuel price hike is inevitable because of the big difference compared to global oil prices, resulting in rampant smuggling and its adverse effects on ordinary people," he told The Jakarta Post at his office-cum-factory on Jl. Cimencrang, Sukarno Hatta, Bandung.

Fuji said that Indonesia should have used aviation fuel for households rather than kerosene, which should now cost Rp 7,500 per liter.

However, as middle- and lower-income people have been using kerosene for cooking with conventional stoves since the Dutch colonial period, the fuel has received a large government subsidy.

The growing possibility of the government reducing further the fuel subsidy prompted Fuji to rack his brains to find a way of saving kerosene for the traditional stoves widely used by Indonesian housewives.

Colonial technology

He refused, though, to be called the Gasmit inventor.

"The technology had already been in use in colonial times. Stoves resembling the Gasmit can still be found in former Dutch estates such as those in Pangalengan and Subang, but they used the four-burner system," said Fuji, born in Bandung on Dec. 23, 1965, humbly.

With a passion for practicing technical skills since his primary school years, Fuji referred to the utilization of gravity as the main element of Gasmit's simple technology.

The unique stove with a kerosene tank positioned about 1.5 to two meters above it creates high pressure as the fuel enters the stove pipe, thereby producing gas.

Like liquefied petroleum gas, the flame of Gasmit has no black smoke, no odor and causes no irritation to the eye.

Though inspired by existing technology, Fuji and his assistants found it tough to design a stove that was economical in terms of fuel consumption and turn the four-kilogram steel construction into a packable, 26 centimeter by 26 cm by 36 cm unit.

"It took about a year to complete, with an initial investment of Rp 100 million from my own pocket," said the father of two.

A single Gasmit unit now sells for Rp 185,000, and the frame is an additional Rp 40,000. So far, orders have come from Bandung, Greater Jakarta, Solo, Kediri, Medan, Manado and Papua.

Buyers claim to be satisfied with the product's energy-saving capacity and its 10,000 to 12,000 calorie output, almost equal to the heat produced by a gas stove.

In a recent safety test, a Gasmit was left burning for three days and nights continuously. Developed without the support of any institution, Fuji's innovation can reduce kerosene consumption from one liter for 1.5 hours' cooking time (using a conventional stove) to one liter for four hours' use by Gasmit.

The money he invested in Gasmit came from his salary as a private researcher on government research projects. Apart from Gasmit, some of Fuji's other devices are also widely known in the country.

"The M60 machine for brick and block molding is now used in nearly all parts of Indonesia. My name is unimportant because the equipment was produced in cooperation with the Settlement Research and Development Center," the bespectacled man revealed.

Habitual tinkerer

Despite his hobby and professional involvement in technology, machine assembly and engineering, his educational background is in no way related to his skills.

Born to a family of automobile workshop owners, as a boy Fuji was fond of tinkering with toys, household appliances and various automatic gadgets for hotel and mall entrances. He also read a lot of technical books to improve his knowledge and skills; he always got the highest mark of nine in technical subjects at school.

"In primary school I made a model of an equilibrium system and in secondary school I designed a door with an LDR (light detection ratio) system, which automatically closes when exposed to light," said Fuji, who now employs 25 workers.

Sadly, his interest and achievement were insufficient to take him to Bandung's Institute of Technology (ITB). As a high school graduate, he tried several times in vain to join the mechanical engineering department of the prestigious institute.

He decided to resign himself to the fact that he would not be able to pursue a mechanical engineering degree and studied law at a university in Bandung. Graduating in 1985, he returned to his obsession with machines using simple and low-cost technology, instead of working as a lawyer.

He was convinced that even without an ITB qualification, his gadgets would eventually speak for themselves.

With confidence, he started a small-scale manufacturing industry by designing new devices based on ideas that popped into his head. "I frequently visited scrap dealers in Jatayu, Bandung, to observe used machines or equipment.

"I would stop for a while if something made me curious and think of some practical application at home," said Fuji, who was reluctant to speak about his family.

By assembling scrap into machines for various applications, he secured a place in the industry, leading to contracts as a private researcher with different government agencies to handle projects of appropriate technology.

Even now, state oil and gas company Pertamina is working in cooperation with him to create a special stove for a new fuel product, to be released in the local market soon.

Patent obstruction

Fuji has received no award for any of his pieces of work that benefits the public at large. He even has trouble in getting patents for his innovations.

"I submitted my application for a Gasmit patent over six months ago, but it will take three years to obtain it. In fact, more than 20 companies have shown interest in using Gasmit technology since its release," he lamented.

He observed wryly that Indonesia could be among the seven wonders of the modern world for its ability to place obstacles in the way of citizens seeking to secure protection for intellectual property rights.

"The longer we handle the application, the more money we have to spend, thus pleasing patent authorities, which should, ideally, work as fast as possible to prevent foreign piracy," he pointed out.

In his view, the government should be proactive about looking into the recording of such innovations by government research bodies or universities, as well as those by private researchers like himself.

"I'm not seeking any government award, as the benefits enjoyed by society at large are far more important.

Please show appreciation, though, by facilitating the patenting procedure," added Fuji.