ITB Held Open Session Commemorating 96 Years of Engineering College in Indonesia

By Owen Nixon Jimawan

Editor Owen Nixon Jimawan

BANDUNG, itb.ac.id - In commemoration of the 96 years (1920-2016) of Engineering College in Indonesia (PTTI), ITB held an open session on Saturday (20/08/16) at West Hall, ITB. This open session consisted of two main agendas, which were scientific oration and ITB award ceremony to stakeholders who have demonstrated outstanding service in the development of science technology and institutions.

The event was opened by the Rector of ITB, Prof. Dr. Ir. Kadarsah Suryadi, DEA,followed by his opening speech. In his speech, Prof. Kadarsah explained about the role of higher engineering education and the importance of technological innovation. The role of higher engineering education which he described was classified into two sections, which were creating technological innovation to maintain sustainable industry ecosystem and conducting scientific research and technological innovation as key pillars in achieving economic prosperity.

In this case, the role of engineering college is to accelerate the process of innovation research that gives impact to the community. Therefore, engineering colleges in indonesia should increasingly be encouraged to develop applied research and support innovative product developments in the technological industry. However, technological innovation ecosystem components should also be supported by intensive policies of government to encourage technological innovation research productivity.

With the support of the Ministry of Industry, Industrial Technology Development Center (PPTI) in the field of machines and tools, medical equipment, engineering and design of train and railway systems has been built. This PPTI cluster built by Ministry of Industry and ITB aims to build synergies between universities and industry to cooperate in applied research.

After the speech, the event continued with the reading of scientific oration by the Minister of Industry of Republic of Indonesia, Ir. H. Airlangga Hartanto, MBA, MMT, entitled "National Consolidation in the Implementation of Industrial Development". He explained that the industrial development is not always dependent on the availability of natural resources, but also on the optimization of science, in this case engineering, to support the industrial development. He asserted that the industrial development is not something that can be solved only by one or two institutions, so that synergies and strong commitments from all components and stakeholders are required, from upstream to downstream, and from policy makers to the industry itself.

At the end of the event, the awarding ceremony was conducted, and the ITB award was given to 29 people/institutions and community groups that have shown great achievements, services, and exceptional dedication in the development of science technology and institutions. The 29 awards weredivided into five categories, including (1) Ganesha Widya Jasa Utama; (2) Ganesha Wirya Jasa Adiutama; (3) Ganesha Prajamanggala Bakti Utama; (4) Ganesha Widya Jasa Adiutama; and (5) Ganesha Wirya Jasa Utama.

Before the event was completely closed, the eventwas enlivened by the appearance of Raden Muhammad Samsudin Hardjakusumah, or familiarly known as Sam Bimbo,who was an alumni of Fine Arts ITB in 1968. After a brief appearance which received warm welcome from the open session participants, the event ended with a prayer and was officially closed by Prof. Kadarsah.