JAKARTA, Indonesia–Innovative brake pads created by two Indonesian university students won three gold medals at the 22nd Moscow International Salon of Inventions and Innovative Technologies (the Salon Archimedes) in Russia late in March, reported The Jakarta Post.
Using candlenut shell as the main material, the work of Winelda Mahfud Zaidan Haris and Wahid Nurhayat of North Sumatra University (USU) won the three gold medals and a trophy in a competition involving participants from 38 countries.
Winelda said he is delighted that their innovative product, named the “biodisc brake”, has drawn the attention of foreign investors.
“Some countries, including Saudi Arabia and Thailand, have offered to buy the license and patent rights of the biodisc brake, but we have to decline the offers because we believe the products could be manufactured in Indonesia,” Winelda told The Jakarta Post following a press conference at the USU rectorate office on Friday.
He said their biodisc invention was a brake pad for two-wheeled vehicles and that they were made of candlenut shells to have zero negative impact on the users and their surroundings. He explained that some brake pads contain asbestos, which is known to cause lung cancer.
“That is why we choose candlenut shell as the main ingredient for biodisc brakes, as it is environmentally friendly,” said Winelda, who enrolled in USU’s school of dentistry in 2015. The use of candlenut in this product also makes it last longer.
