“The cooperation has been going on for a long time, in meeting the needs of the Ministry of Transportation. ITB together with the Ministry of Transportation’s Research and Development Agency are working on solving national transportation problems which have been identified by the Ministry of Transportation. ITB is playing a role in helping internal researchers to solve the problem,” Prof. Reini Wirahadikusumah, Ph.D., the chancellor, explained, right after the visit with Ministry of Transportation’s Research and Development Agency at Rektorat ITB, Jalan Tamansari No.64, Bandung on Thursday (20/5/2021).

Head of Ministry of Transportation’s Research and Development Agency Dr. Umar Haris, S.H., M.M., M.H. expressed his gratitude towards ITB’s cooperation with the research agency. He hoped for further cooperation with ITB.

Not only ITB, this transportation technology-based research is also being carried out with UGM and UI. Different from any universities in Indonesia, ITB has an aerospace study department and development of Ministry of Transportation human resources to attend double degree schools at ITB in collaboration with the Ecole Nationale de l'Aviation Civile (ENAC) in France. “We are hoping for strategic cooperation for both sides and in answering present and future problems ahead,” Umar explained.

Regarding the Seaplane N219, Head of the Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development, Ir. Sigit P. Santosa, MSME., Sc.D., IPU., added that, as a maritime country, the market opportunity for N219 is quite large in Indonesia. "We have built a development team at the Faculty of Mechanical and Aerospace Technology (FTMD) with PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PT DI) and the Ministry of Transportation's Research and Development Agency," he said.

Budi Sampurno of PT DI added that their national total market is up to 67 units. Due to lots of private-owned resorts, they targeted 80 percent national sales mainly to the tourism sector. They target the performance to be better than what is already in the market.

“We hope for PT DI, Lapan, Ministry of Transportation’s Research and Development Agency, and ITB to work together in mastering the seaplane technology towards the future,” he said. He also wished to add the full composite technology for efficiency and corrosion avoidance as one of the implementation technologies for N219. “Corrosion is Seaplane’s main enemy,” he said.

Translator: Adi Permana
Translator: Tamara Maharani Alamsyah (TPB FSRD 2020)