UNAIR NEWS – Universitas Airlangga’s most recently established faculty, namely the Faculty of Advanced Technology and Multidiscipline (FTMM UNAIR), participated in Kampus Merdeka programme. Amongst the ongoing activities, the Dean of FTMM UNAIR Prof. Dwi Setyawan, highlighted that research and community development will focus on renewable energy.
“Research will focus on renewable energy. We will pursue this topic rigorously, and make sure that our faculty becomes the frontier of this particular theme,” he revealed during the interview (5/11/2021).
In living up to such an expectation, there had been at least three programmes currently integrated in the Kampus Merdeka programme. Our team from UNAIR News summarised the reportage of the programme below.
Research
No one can deny that FTMM UNAIR has been actively involved in various research projects conducted in collaboration with the industries. A bigger portion of these research have been focused on Robotical Engineering and Artificial Intelligence.
It is noted that the ongoing projects are Solar Power Plants; and collaboration with Avian to create paint that can kill virus corona. The plan is that next year FTMM will also expand the scope of renewable energy by introducing electric vehicle chargers.
“We received grant funding from the Kedaireka project under the ministry, amounting to 2.1 billion rupiahs, which we will utilise for the purpose of not only research, but also this Kampus Merdeka programme. Students will be able to participate in the research project, as well as the community development project,” Prof. Dwi explained.
Community Development
In fact, research and community service activities at FTMM are very closely related. How come? The results of the research carried out do not just stop at publication, but are also implemented in society.
For example, the Solar Power Plant project which is used in hydroponic farming in Gempol, Pasuruan. The community service activities that succeeded in attracting the attention of the Regent of Pasuruan also started from research.
Apart from that, there is also a community service regarding the safety of electricity use for farmers in Jombang. As well as the automatic Durian Breaking Robot innovation resulting from collaboration with De Durian Park.
Not a few researches conducted by FTMM have also received appreciation in national and international competitions. This achievement is certainly very encouraging for a faculty that has not even been running for two years.
Student Exchange
Even though it is called the youngest faculty, student exchange activities at FTMM already exist. Currently, 33 FTMM students are registered to take part in Satria Data 2021 activities organized by IPB. Meanwhile, FTMM accepted two students inbound to study Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Engineering.
Meanwhile, regarding the Merdeka Internship activities, according to the decision of the UNAIR Director of Education, students who can participate must at least enter semester V. Meanwhile, the first batch of FTMM students have just entered semester III.
FTMM itself has begun collaborating with a number of partners to facilitate Merdeka Internship activities. Some of the names that have emerged are Pertamina; Indonesian Central Statistics Agency; Holife Care; PT Wijaya Karya; to the educational tour of De Durian Park.
The FTMM Dean hopes that, through the Independent Campus Program, students can answer problems in society. In that case, FTMM is ready to collaborate with anyone who has the same goal to overcome problems in society.
“This must really receive support from all parties. "The campus should not only be an ivory tower, but should also be a fire tower that illuminates," he said. (*)
Author: Erika Eight Novanty
Editor: Khefti Al Mawalia
