People-profile-FujiAgus

People-profile-FujiAgus

JP/20/FUJI

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.