Rika Rokhana (left) and Rarasmaya Indraswari, mother and daughter who succeeded in earning a doctorate title at ITS

ITS Campus, ITS News – there is interesting news from the 121th graduation ceremony of the Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) which will be held in Graha Sepuluh November ITS on 14th – 15th March. It is Rika Rokhana and Rarasmaya Indraswari, mothers and children who will be graduated together as a doctor.

Interestingly, the two have titles as the oldest and youngest graduates. Rika Rokhana as the oldest of the graduates at the first-day graduation ceremony and Rarasmaya Indraswari which is commonly called Raras as the youngest doctor in the 121th doctoral graduations.

At ITS 121th graduation, Raras passed the doctoral program of Department of Informatics, Faculty of Intelligent Electrical and Informatics Technology (FTEIC) at 24 years 7 months years old. This makes she is the youngest doctoral program today. The student of Magister To Doctoral Education Program For Outstanding Graduates (PMDSU) finished her doctoral study for 4.5 years with a dissertation titled Osteoporosis Detection System based on the Lower Jaw Cortical Bone Feature in Cone-Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT).

While her mother, Rika Rokhana was listed as the oldest of the graduates at 50 and 6 months years old on the first day of the graduation. She completed her doctoral education through a dissertation titled Bone Fracture Detection Using A Three-dimensional Ultrasonic Tomography System at the Department of Electrical Engineering ITS.

According to Rika, working alongside her younger peers  slightly lower her confidence. “But since friends in the lab are very supportive, I feel young at heart too,” she said.

Lecturer of Department of Electronic Engineering in Politeknik Elektronika Negeri Surabaya (PENS) is also explained, her motivation to complete her doctoral education is to give examples to her children. Rika explains the values of diligence, commitment, and maximizing the purpose that she has always give to her family. “I also had to give examples. The family supported me to maximize my education as a lecturer, “she explained.

The values that Rika give to her children were recognized by the very influential Raras of her life. She admitted that the mother had given a remarkable example of acting as a mother and woman who contributed in every aspect. The mother’s hard work leads Raras to be serious about her choice in education. “I have such a very good example, it feels inappropriate if I’m being lazy,” she said.

Rika Rokhana (left) with Rarasmaya Indraswari discusses the results of each research to earn a doctorate title

Proven, Raras successfully graduated from SMPN 1 Surabaya for two years, graduated from SMAN 5 Surabaya for two years, and graduated Undergraduate Program in the Department of Informatics Engineering ITS for seven semesters. Finally, take the PMDSU program to earn a doctoral title in the same department. Her love for mathematics has made her choose the informatics technique to get involved. “My parents never force me to be this or so,” she explained.

Interestingly, both have a continuous research topic, which is related to the medical world. According to Rika, Raras’s research related to the detection of osteoporosis through the image of the lower jaw bone can be attributed to her research on the detection of fractures with ultrasound. “Because it turns out osteoporosis can increase the risk of fractures,” Rika said.

Both claimed continuity of the research topic is not something intentional. Raras explained that her dissertation topics were the continuation of the final task research (TA) of her bachelor’s program. They also do not expect to graduate at the same time. “We just knew when the open session was open yesterday that we can graduate together,” said this hijab girl.

As a mother and daughter who both pursued her doctoral education, Rika and Raras shared some of the unique stories they experienced. They tell how they often remind each other to read journals or share methods that support research. They also gave each other a passion to complete their doctoral education.

They also claimed that all family members were supportive. Rika explains, family members often share the knowledge they just learned. “As close to the trial was closed even, the male family members did not hesitate to replace our work for a while,” she recalled.

As a lecturer, Rika told students not to give up and stay focused on the commitments that have been chosen from the beginning. While Raras told fellow undergraduate program students to immediately determine their objectives. “There must be a way if you want to try,” she reminds. (fat/rev/ITS Public Realtions)