Muhammad Ahsan and Hidayatul Khusna, a married couple, who both graduated together and achieved Doctorate at ITS Statistics Department

ITS Campus, ITS News – Choosing to pursue further study does not mean delaying the time for a person to find a mate. They are Muhammad Ahsan and Hidayatul Khusna, a young married couple who successfully graduated from the doctoral program at the Statistics Department of Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) together. Both officially received their doctoral degrees at the 121st ITS Graduation, which was held at ITS Graha Sepuluh Nopember on Saturday (3/14).

A very interesting fact about this couple, who did the same open session of doctoral promotion together on November 19, 2019, is that they started getting to know each other at the same time they started doctoral studies. Both had the desire to continue further studies, so they had registered themselves in an overseas scholarship program before finally being accepted as a student for Doktor Sarjana Unggul (PMDSU) in 2015.

“We first met through PMDSU, coincidentally we had the same promoter, and grew to know each other, and finally married in 2016,” simplified the Khusna, the wife. This woman who also finished her undergraduate education at ITS revealed that she was pregnant while undergoing a feasibility test as a doctor in mid-2019. “When the open session was conducted, my womb entered the sixth month,” she added.

Experiencing pregnancy while completing a dissertation, Khusna admitted that it was indeed not easy. She stated that she had to be very clever in dividing time in order to get enough rest. “I try complete all tasks and other matters related to the research before the night comes,” she said.

She also believes that the success of a doctoral candidate is not only influenced by intelligence and time management, but also by patience, perseverance, support, and a positive environment. “When research often does not find a way out, patience is needed to stay on the track,” emphasized this woman who was born on May 19, 1994.

Enduring the struggle in completing their research, this 32nd and 33rd doctoral pair of the ITS Statistics Department claimed to have supported and encouraged each other greatly. In fact, it is not uncommon for them to discuss and correct each other in relation to the research being carried out. “It’s interesting to be able to study and go wherever together,” mentioned Ahsan, the husband.

Muhammad Ahsan and Hidayatul Khusna (seventh and eighth from the right) with the promoters and academics of the ITS Statistics Department after their Open Doctoral Promotion Session

Thanks to the support of each other, Ahsan continued, the couple successfully graduated together with the title of Cumlaude. Khusna achieved a doctoral degree with her dissertation entitled Development of Maximum Multivariate Cumulative Sum Control Diagram (Max-MCUSUM) for Autocorrelated Data. While Ahsan with his dissertation research entitled Development of PCA Mix-Based Multivariate Control Diagrams for Intrusion Detection.

This man from Makassar was also grateful that he was able to participate in various research programs and international conferences through PMDSU, together with his wife. Both of them even received a scholarship program for the Peningkatan Kualitas Publikasi Ilmiah (PKPI) / Sandwich-Like at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) for four months since October 2018.

Other than that, during their education, Khusna and Ahsan actively submitted international research publications that are indexed by Scopus. The husband who is also actively researching at the Statistics Business and Industry Laboratory successfully published 16 Scopus-indexed articles. Meanwhile, Khusna, although she claimed to be still learning to write an international standard journal, had published five articles indexed by Scopus, with her as the main author.

The couple, who joyfully welcomed the birth of their baby some time ago, advised that despite the long process of each journey to achieve success, patience is the main key. “Stay patient, support each other, and don’t stop working,” Ahsan concluded, sharing inspirational advice. (yus/ory/ITS Public Relations)

Muhammad Ahsan and Hidayatul Khusna photographed near the Singapore icon while studying at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia in October 2018