UNDIP Welcomes Two Prospective Professors
Semarang (19/10) – This morning the Academic Senate of Diponegoro University holds a meeting for the presentation of prospective professors. The meeting which is held in the Undip Academic Senate Meeting Room is attended by the Chairperson of the Academic Senate, Secretary of the Academic Senate, and the Board of Professors. The Plenary Meeting of the Board of Professors is opened by the Chairperson of Academic Senate.
Undip welcomes two prospective professors from the Faculty of Engineering who will present their research results today. The first presentation is delivered by Dr. -Ing. Suherman, S.T., M.T. entitled “Solar Dryer Development to Improve the Quality and Quantity of Indonesian Food Products”. Suherman states that drying food is a revolutionary way to reduce waste, to minimize crop losses, to utilize locally grown food, and to save reliable supply of food until the next harvest.
There are many drying methods both traditional and modern, but traditional drying methods have lacks such as the drying rate is slow, less hygienic, taking a large space, and depending on the weather. Based on these considerations, then Dr. -Ing. Suherman and his team take the initiative to create a closed solar dryer in the form of a hybrid solar dryer. Hybrid solar dryer can dry food effectively and still run well in rainy season. The effectiveness of this tool is proven from trials at Tapioca SME in Pati, where the drying of tapioca which usually takes two days, can be dried in just two hours using a hybrid solar dryer.
This Undip Chemical Engineering lecturer has also created various dryer prototypes, and his latest innovation is the UNDIP Smart Photovoltaic-Ventilated Solar Dryer with zero energy concept by utilizing solar panels. He hopes that in the future Undip can establish a Solar Dryer Center of Excellence, given the huge potential for solar dryer application in Indonesia so that the development of this technology can be useful for advancing SMEs that use a lot of drying technology.
The second presentation is delivered by Nita Aryanti, S.T., M.T., Ph.D. with the theme “Integrated Membrane-Surfactant Technology for the Separation of Dyes and Its Implementation in Waste Treatment”. The background of her research is the large amount of textile waste that is harmful to the environment and very harmful to the ecosystem. Currently, 20-35% of the dyes used by the textile industry will come out as waste, and the dye waste particles are so small that they can dissolve in water and cause negative impacts.
Based on that fact, Nita Aryanti and her team created an innovation of Surfactant-Micellar Membrane Technology Integration (MEUF). This technology uses a surfactant added to the particles, then the particles turn into micelles which can trap the dye in the micelle nucleus so that the dye becomes larger, and can be separated from the ultrafiltration membrane. In its development, the integration of the surfactant-micellar membrane technology uses natural (plant-derived) surfactants that produce saponins. The dye concentration decreased with the addition of saponins, which can be obtained from natural surfactants, for example soapberries plants.
MEUF technology is implemented in one of the Batik SMEs in Pekalongan. The industry uses remazol dye, and batik waste processed with soapberries extract has been shown to reduce TSS (Total Suspended Solid) and COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand) levels. This technology development is also a mobile innovation, where one unit can be used in various locations in an area so that it can be reached by small SMEs.
Closing this event, the Chair of the Academic Senate Prof. Dr. Ir. Sunarso M.S. expressed his hope that the innovations can be developed into products that are beneficial to the country. He hopes that the research that has been carried out will bring blessings to researchers, Undip, and the community.
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