Dr. Imam initiated his scientific oration by explaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He said that 11 out of 17 development goals require geological aspects. "Two of them, the geological engineering and the geohazards, will be discussed in this oration," he mentioned.

Furthermore, he explained the global development of geological engineering over time, including in Indonesia. He also mentioned that geological engineering is closely related to infrastructure development, both above and below the earth’s surface.

Several development obstacles, such as large cost overruns and delay of schedules were also caused by geological issues. "The best solution in dealing with this condition is to study the geological conditions as early and as accurately as possible, so that the potential for these problems can be minimized," he opined.

Critical Issues in Soft Rocks
On this occasion, Dr. Imam Sadisun presented a study case of critical issues in soft rocks. Soft rock issues have occurred to numerous development projects in various places, including the construction project of Education, Training and National Sports School Center (P3SON) in Hambalang, Cipularang Toll Road, Semarang-Bawen Toll Road, Peusangan I and II Hydroelectric Power Plant in Aceh , Wulukubun (Arso XIV) - Yamas - Trans Senggi in Papua, and many more.

Based on the previous cases, slaking observations must be conducted properly and carefully as a prevention of issues caused by the infrastructure construction on soft rock. Each soft rock has diverse slaking behavior, especially its mechanism and velocity. "In general, there are four main mechanisms in slaking, including dispersion slaking, surface slaking, swelling slaking, and body slaking. These mechanisms generally can be observed properly through visual observation methods," Dr. Imam explained .He also elaborated a scientific study regarding landslide modeling using artificial intelligence. The modeling was conducted to map the vulnerability of landslides which contains spatial rankings and distribution in a certain area that has landslide potential.

In addition, he also explained that artificial intelligence plays a role in managing and analyzing previous recorded data to predict future occurrence. He is highly optimistic that the breakthrough, which is currently in the development process and yet incomplete, will be able to protect all the result of constructions in the future.

As a closing remark, Dr. Imam reminded everyone that the increase of the Earth’s complex issues should be a reason to focus more towards the Earth again. On the other hand, new innovations will be needed to tackle these issues, especially in the geological aspect. "I am highly confident that ITB's pioneering work in the development of science, technology, arts, and socio-humanities, will be able to play an active role in tackling various problems of the nation nowadays," he said.

Reporter: Daffa Raditya Farandi (TPB SBM, 2020)
Translator: Naffisa Adyan Fekranie, Oceanography 2019