Profesor in Power System Engineering Faculty of Intelligent Electrical and Informatics Technology
Research Interests: Applied Artificial Intelligence in Electrical Power Engineering included Large Scaled Power System, Renewable Energy Design and Electric Vehicle.
Contact: Email: robandi@ee.its.ac.id
Imam Robandi (Arabic: إمام روباندي, Japanese:イマムー ロバンディ) is a professor of Power Systems Engineering at the Department of Electrical Engineering of Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) who received a special award for research encouragement from the Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan (IEEJ) in Hiroshima, Japan in 2000.[1][2] He is currently in office as the chairman of Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) Board of Professors for the period of 2021-2025.[3]
Young Imam Robandi spends his early life in Donorojo village in the northern part of Gombong, Kebumen Regency, Central Java. After graduating from senior high school in Gombong, he moved to Yogyakarta and stayed there for two years. During his stay in Yogyakarta, he wanders from one mosque to another to learn about Islam. He also learned about social and Islamic movements from notable and influential national Islamic figures namely Abdul Rozak Fachruddin, Ahmad Azhar Basyir, Masri Singarimbun, Amien Rais, and many more. His journey in Yogyakarta in learning social and Islamic movements, combined with his thick Javanese background, shaped his mindset which is mostly illuminated by the contemporary Islamic thinking and strong Javanese culture. Finished his wander in Yogyakarta, he later moved to Surabaya to continue his study in the Department of Electrical Engineering of Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS), where he earned his engineer degree in 1989.[2] [4] Afterwards, he moved to Bandung to pursue his Master of Engineering degree and earned it in 1995 from Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB).[4] Later on, he moved to Japan to study at Tottori University (鳥取大学) to pursue his doctoral degree, which he finally earned his Doctor of Engineering (博士工学) degree in 2002.[4] Besides studying in Tottori University (鳥取大学), during his life in Japan, he is also learned the Japanese language and culture in Okayama University (岡山大学). [2]
After finishing his study at Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS), Imam Robandi started his academic career as a lecturer at Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) in 1990. As a professor at the Department of Electrical Engineering, his research interests are in power system operation, power electronics, power system control, artificial intelligence in power system control, power quality, distributed generation, microgrid simulation, power system automation, and renewable energy.[5] Aside of his gait as a professor in domestic universities, he is also actively enrolled in foreign universities as a visiting professor. He used to be a visiting professor at Tottori University in 2008 and 2011. He also became a visiting professor at Kumamoto University (熊本大学) in 2010. In the same year, he also serves as a visiting professor at Doshisha University (同志社大学).[2] Then, in 2021 he was elected as the Chairman of the Board of Professors of Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) for the period of 2021-2025.[6] In 2023, Imam Robandi was elected as the Vice Chairman of Forum Dewan Guru Besar Indonesia (FDGBI) for the period of 2023-2025, and also elected as Vice Chairman of Asosiasi Profesor Indonesia (API).
On April 2023, Imam Robandi pay a visit to Osaka University (大阪大学) for ITS Outbound Research Mobility and Laboratory visit with Prof. Shigemasa Takai, a professor of Electrical, Electronic and Infocommunications Engineering in Osaka University. Recently on November 2023, Imam Robandi back to Japan for Kemdikbud Ristekdikti PKP PMDSU Program by visiting Tottori University (国立大学法人鳥取大学) and Okayama University (岡山大学) on 17th-29th November 2023. During this program, Imam Robandi met with Prof. Lee Sang-Seok at Tottori University and along other board of professors’ ITS committee are welcomed to Okayama University by Professor Yasutomo Nasu, President of Okayama University with Professor Takayoshi Suzuki, Vice President of Okayama University.
As well as his career as an academic, he is also engaged in social and religious movements, as he is actively enrolled in Muhammadiyah, one of the largest social-religious organizations in Indonesia. As one of the high-ranked members of the East Java Provincial Board of Muhammadiyah, he is often delivered some encouragement and motivational speech inside the organization.[7]
Imam Robandi is also known as an artist and a cultural practitioner. As an artist, he is a well-known puppeteer (dalang wayang kulit).[8] He received a puppetry award from the Surakarta Art Center in 1998. Beside playing as a shadow puppeteer (dalang wayang kulit),[2] he was also involved in the ITS Board of Professor human puppet show (pertunjukan wayang orang) for the 61st anniversary of Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) as the puppeteer.[9]