Universitas Indonesia (UI) has added to its number of professors from the Faculty of Engineering, after inaugurating three professors yesterday morning (Wednesday, 20/9) at Balai Sidang, UI Depok Campus. UI Rector Prof. Ari Kuncoro, S.E., M.A., Ph.D., presided over the inauguration ceremony, which was broadcast virtually through the Universitas Indonesia YouTube channel and UI Teve.
One of the inaugurated professors, Prof. Dr. Yudan Whulanza, ST., M.Sc., was appointed as Professor in the field of Biomechanics Technology. In the inauguration procession, he delivered an inaugural speech related to the development of biomechanics science and its role in other fields of application, with the title “Crossing Borders with Biomechanical Innovation”.
Prof. Yudan said biomechanics is the study of the mechanical aspects of living organisms, including humans and animals. Researchers in the field of biomechanics generally use the principles of physics and engineering to analyze and model these biological processes. Currently recognized applications of biomechanics are athletic performance enhancement (sport science), ergonomic product design, understanding injury mechanisms, and the development of medical devices such as prosthetics and orthopaedic/dental implants.
Several developments in bioengineering-biomechanical technologies that aim to improve the quality of life have begun to enter the human testing phase and are expected to have a massive presence in the next 10-20 years. Implants are becoming more convenient to use in terms of precision workmanship with additive manufacturing, safer, and friendlier because they use materials that can be absorbed by the body.
Prof. Yudan said that Indonesia is one of the world’s largest markets with the fourth largest population and has attractive growth potential for the medical device industry. “What an opportunity, for the development of national biomechanical products. Apart from political will, this is impossible without the readiness of the golden generation of Indonesian inventors in the field of bio-engineering-biomechanics,” said Prof. Yudan.
According to him, there are three pillars of strategy for education to realize this golden generation, the first is collaborative multidisciplinary research. Through this cross-science and institutional collaboration, it can fulfil the preparation of national product standards and product testing as well as the fulfilment of policy studies to strengthen national products.
Second, is the teaching industry platform, which can transform intellectual property rights (IPR) into commercial products through industry parties and produce credible medical device IPR at the national or regional level. Finally, the socio-entrepreneurship outreach program is a program that induces new innovative products to the community directly with the involvement of the community and partner industries. In addition, it introduces research centres and innovation centres to the wider community.
Realizing innovative products is not easy but not impossible, he said. Excellent talents and facilities, leadership support, as well as government regulatory support, will increase the chances of success of such innovations. “We have successfully conducted joint research (multi-faculty and multi-institution) and clinician colleagues from RSCM/RSUI/other partner hospitals where some are S2 and S3 students with a joint mentoring scheme,” said Prof. Yudan.
One of the successful innovation products, departing from the story of the 2020 pandemic. The challenge at that time was to answer the limited global supply of COVID-19 test sampling tools for national needs. “Finally, we managed to distribute 600,000 product units or the equivalent of Rp 6M to various health centres in mid-2020,” said Prof. Yudan. One of the processes of making this product was inspired by the method of substrate formation in tissue culture. Then the scale-up process is carried out with technology commonly used in the automotive industry.
He emphasized that biomechanics and innovation mindset are two sides of the same coin that support each other to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. “With collaboration and joint efforts, biomechanical innovation has the potential for great impact on society and the overall quality of human life,” said Prof. Yudan.
Dean of FTUI, Prof. Dr. Heri Hermansyah, S.T., M.Eng., IPU said, “Prof. Yudan’s deep thinking and research in this field has resulted in innovations, not only in the world of science but also in its application in everyday life. The application of biomechanical innovations can increase mobility, improve the quality of health care, and even help heal injuries. FTUI is very proud and fully supports Prof. Yudan to continue to innovate excellently and provide great benefits to society and the overall quality of human life.”
Director for Legal, External Affairs and Circular Economy, PT Chandra Asri Petrochemical Tbk Edi Rivai and Professor of FT Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) Prof. Ir. Alva Edy Tontowi, M.Sc., Ph.D., IPU, ASEAN.Eng was present at his inauguration.
Prof. Yudan completed his undergraduate education at FTUI in 1993. Then, he continued his Master’s in Mechanical Engineering at, the University of Aachen and graduated in 2000. In 2006, he continued his doctoral education in Bioengineering at, the University of Pisa and graduated in 2012. Some of his scientific works that have been published in the last three years include On-chip Testing of a Carbon-based Platform for Electro-adsorption of Glutamate (2022); Tailoring mechanical properties and degradation rate of maxillofacial implant based on sago starch/polylactic acid blend (2022); and Additive manufacturing of metallic based on extrusion process: a review (2021).
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Public Communication Bureau
Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia