Institut Teknologi Bandung

BANDUNG, itb.ac.id - For the second time in a row, a female member of ITB has been internationally acknowledged for her scientific research by the For Women In Science program. At their tenth organized event, this international cooperative program between UNESCO and L’Oreal have selected Dr. Made Tri Ari Penia Kresnowati for the ‘fellowship’ of this international program. For that, Penia has USD 40 000 to fund her research for the next two years. Penia, 30 years old earned the title of Doctor in the field of bio-process technology from Delft Technology University in Holland. Now, Penia is one of the teaching staffs in Chemical Engineering department of Industrial Technology. The research proposal presented by the woman whose husband is Wawan Dhewanto, one of the teaching staffs of School of Business and Management was based on the theme of her self competence is the bioprocess field. Her proposal was titled “Bioprocess Technology: Bioreactor Prototype Concept in Stem Cell Development”. Her success in attaining the funds for her research has now allowed Penia to leave for Monash University (Australia) in early 2009 to put her research proposal to the test. Through the For Women in Science program, every three years international fellowship is given to 15 young female researchers- meaning 3 from every continent: Europe, North America, Latin America, Africa and Asia Pacific to pay for their research for two years. This year, three accepted researchers of Asia Pacific are from Indonesia (Dr. Penia), Mongolia and Nepal. Penia was actually invited to attend the For Women in Science event in Paris, France early this March. But she had just given birth to her first child in February 2008 and did not attend. Penia is the third researcher in Indonesia to get this international tribute. Last year Dr. Fenny Dwivany from ITB School of Biological Science and Technology received the fellowship. In 2004, Dr. Ines Atmosukarto from the Biotechnology Research Center LIPI obtained the fellowship as well. L’Oreal Indonesia’s Director, Jean-Christophe Letellier explained that this program was made with intention to bring together government and private organizations as partners. “With Dr. Penia Kresnowati’s achievements we hope that this program will motivate young female researchers of Indonesia to contribute for the development of Science in this country and take their innovations to the global world,” quoting Letellier. Meanwhile, Indonesia’s National Daily Commission Chairperson for UNESCO, Prof. Dr. H. Arief Rachman, MPd was also proud. “Unesco harvests this initiative and stresses the importance of reward in the form of appreciation to publicize the scientific achievements of women everywhere using role models like Dr. Penia Kresnowati,” he said. (Article by krisna)