Muhammad Dimas Nugraha Aryatama, a nineteen-year-old youngest graduate at the 122nd Graduation Ceremony of Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS)

ITS Campus, ITS News – After four years ago being the youngest new student, now Muhammad Dimas Nugraha Aryatama has successfully graduated with the youngest graduate’s title at the 122nd Graduation Ceremony of Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS). This student, who originally comes from Banjarmasin, will graduate to become a Bachelor in Computer Engineering at the age of only 19 years and seven months in the third session of the graduation procession on October 24, 2020.

The story of the student who is familiarly called Dimas began when he entered elementary school (SD) at a younger age than most students at the time, which is five years. While he stepped on the third year at elementary school, Dimas had the opportunity to participate in an accelerated learning program (acceleration program). So during his third to sixth grade of elementary school, he took only eight months each and passed his education within five years only.

His story didn’t stop there. When he was in high school, this student, who was born in 2001, once again had the opportunity to participate in the accelerated program that made him took only two years to finish his study. Right after graduating from high school, Dimas immediately continue to pursue his education at the university level. At this point, he was only 15 years old.

This student, who had a huge passion for tinkering with computers, has decided to study at the Department of Computer Engineering at ITS Surabaya. Developing with this department has made Dimas discover his favourite fields, namely Machine Learning and Deep Learning, which are growing rapidly at this time. “Even the application (of these technologies) can be beneficial for everyday life,” he said.

His passion also led him to make Pneumothorax Detection in X-Ray Images Using Convolutional Neural Networks as his topic of Final Project (TA). In his research, Dimas uses a deep learning system to detect pneumothorax conditions on x-ray images of the patients. He focuses more on comparing the level of accuracy of various deep learning architectural models.

This alumnus of SMAN 1 Banjarmasin explained that pneumothorax patients still often experience delays in their diagnosis and medical treatment during this time. It happened because the detection method still uses manual approaches. He hopes that in the future, the technique that he was currently researching can be more developed and applied in the hospital to reduce the number of pneumothorax victims.

Muhammad Dimas Nugraha Aryatama, ITS’s youngest graduate who was also active in Robotics UKM during college

During his four years of college-life, Dimas did not limit the places where he studied. Still linear with the field he’s learning in, Dimas is also an active member of the Robotics Student Activity Unit (UKM). By joined UKM Robotics, he received a lot of training related to the Internet of Things (IoT) to deep learning. His various experiences led him to win third place at the 2017 ASEAN MATE Underwater Robot Competition.

There are many unexpected things experienced by Dimas, who was also a part of the Computing and Multimedia Laboratory at his department. Because his face still looked very young, he was mistaken as a first-year student by his juniors when Dimas at his third year of college. “[We] took a photo together to capture the moment as a new student, even though I wasn’t new, I was about to graduate,” he said, reminiscing about that funny event.

Besides his unique and intriguing story, this eldest of two siblings has also felt the fatigue of having a day full of duties and homework. One way to lift his mood is to adopt some unique hobbies, which are reading various kinds of books from world history to biographies of world figures and following the development of world militaries.

Muhammad Dimas Nugraha Aryatama (right), ITS’s youngest graduate when he was with his colleagues in college

Although going through college at a very young age was not easy, Dimas never once felt discouraged. His life motto “Just give it a try,” made Dimas swift in making decisions during his studies. Dimas is also very grateful for his parents, who are always supporting him.

After completing his undergraduate education with a GPA of 3.17, Dimas plans to continue his studies to the Master level (S-2). With his future aspirations, he wants to make the most of his knowledge by working in the field of data analysis or software engineering.

The advice that Dimas gave to his juniors is never to give up and keep trying to adapt to new environments, especially in college. Opening up and making friends is essential because by studying with friends, you can understand the lecture topics better. “Whatever problems you face, just face them fiercely and always try to control your emotions,” he reminded. (ai/ITS Public Relations)