Following up on a collaborative research grant, the UI Faculty of Engineering received a visit from the Indonesia Deposit Insurance Corporation (LPS) on Wednesday, January 18, 2023. The meeting, which was held at Makara Room 04 Smart Meeting Room Faculty of Engineering UI, was intended to discuss developments related to the LPS-FTUI collaborative research grant which was contained in the derivative of the LPS-UI Cooperation Agreement (PKS) in March 2022. This grant was then implemented through the Scholars Engagement Program for Natural Resources-based Research and Innovation (SEP-NRRI), which is a collaborative program between FTUI and the University of California Berkeley. The SEP-NRRI was agreed to be carried out in the April to April period. December 2022.
“When viewed from the current conditions, universities cannot continue to revolve in their world. Universities need to continue to carry out and strengthen cooperation, especially international cooperation, which can increase the value of a university’s international outlook. As is the case in THE ranking that has been achieved by the Faculty of Engineering, the high international outlook score makes the Faculty of Engineering the best in Indonesia. Then this can also be used as capital that opens opportunities for collaboration with other universities around the world,” said the Chancellor of UI, Prof. Ari Kuncoro, S.E., M.A., Ph.D. in the opening remarks of the meeting.
Chairman of the LPS Board of Commissioners, Dr. Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa, Ph.D. expressed his views regarding education in Indonesia. “Currently, our focus in the CSR – Corporate Social Responsibility – LPS budget is for the education, environment, and tourism sectors. Especially in the education sector, we want LPS to contribute more in the future to support the advancement of education in Indonesia. Therefore, today LPS is visiting to see how far the SEP-NRRI is progressing and what things we can further assist with.”
Broadly speaking, SEP-NRRI oversees three programs: the Management Visit program, the Young Scholar Visiting Research program, and the Research Grant for Selected Topic program. Last April, UI and the staff followed by LPS carried out a Management Visit program to UC Berkeley to witness the kick-off of the collaboration between UI and UC Berkeley. During this visit, the group also held meetings with the Indonesian Diaspora in the field of engineering, the Mind the Bridge Startup Accelerator, and the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA).
Then in September 2022, FTUI dispatched three students to take part in the one-year Young Scholar Visiting Research program at UC Berkeley. In this program, students conduct joint research with a professor advisor from UC Berkeley regarding each research topic. The three students are Nadhilah Reyseliani with the research topic ‘Decarbonization Strategy for Energy Systems in Archipelagic Country’, Safira Candra Asih with the research topic ‘Development of M13-Phage Technology as Therapeutic and Dengue Virus Detection’, and Syahrul Ramdani with the research topic ‘Brownian-Based Relaxation Viscosity Measurement for Cell Viability Assessment Using Magnetic Particle Imaging’.
In the Research Grant for Selected Topic program, LPS and FTUI select and determine grants for 4 research proposals. Grants in this research program are divided into assignment grants for three research proposals in the field of sustainable energy and/or biotechnology and competition grants for one research proposal in the field of green economy. FTUI lecturers who received assignment grants were Prof. Dr. Ir. Widodo Wahyu Purwanto, DEA with the research title ‘Pathway for Sustainable Energy Transition and Its Implications in Indonesia’s Power Sector’, Dr. Basari, S.T., M.Eng., with the research title ‘Bioimaging Analysis for Diagnostic and Therapeutic Application’, and Dr. Muhamad Sahlan, S.Sc., M.Eng, with the research title ‘Use of the Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) Method in the Evaluation of NS1 Nanobodies & Protein Interactions for the Development of Dengue Infection Biosensors’. While Prof. Dr. Akhmad Hidayatno, S.T., M.B.T. succeeded in obtaining a competitive grant with the research title ‘Evaluating the Food vs. Fuel Debate for the Palm Oil Industry to Find a Sustainable Pathway for Development in Indonesia based on Green Economy Principles.
“In next February, FTUI researchers who received research grants will visit UC Berkeley to see the progress of research that has been carried out by young FTUI researchers who were dispatched yesterday. Then in May, a UC Berkeley research professor will return to UI’s Faculty of Engineering. In addition to the three programs listed in the SEP-NRRI, FTUI and LPS will also cooperate regarding lecturer practitioners for the Engineering Economics course which will be held in two sessions,” said Dean of the UI Faculty of Engineering, Prof. Dr. Heri Hermansyah, S.T., M.Eng. in the elaboration of future cooperation plans.
Prof. Heri also explained about the FTUI collaboration plan with the MIT Energy Initiative. Several collaboration opportunities that can be explored are related to the development of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and virtual laboratories, the development of research related to sustainable energy, and the global executive program to make decisions related to the energy industry. Apart from these three things, FTUI also plans to collaborate on a 6-month scholarship program such as the IISMA government program to send FTUI students to MIT.
Also attending the UI rectorate at the meeting, Prof. Dr. rer. Nat. Abdul Haris (Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs), Prof. Dr. Ir. DediPriadi, DEA. (Vice Chancellor for Human Resources and Assets), and Dr. Edmon Makarim, S.Kom., S.H., LL.M. (Dean of the Faculty of Law). Then from the UI Faculty of Engineering, Prof. Dr. Ir. Yanuar, M.Eng., M.Sc. (Deputy Dean for Education, Research and Student Affairs) and Dr. Agus Sunjarianto, S.T., M.Eng. (Head of Mechanical Engineering Department). Meanwhile from LPS, Lana Soelistianingsih (Executive Head of LPS), Ary Zulfikar (Legal Executive Director), Danu Febrianto (Executive Director of Finance), Rudi Rahman (Plt. Executive Director of Human Resources and Administration), Dimas Yuliharto (Secretary of Institution), Bambang Hidayat (Director of the Education and Training Center Group), and Seto Wardono (representative of the Research Group).
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Bureau of Public Communications
Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia