ITS Campus, ITS News – Indradjaja Manopol believes that seeking knowledge knows no age, named the oldest graduate at the 125th Graduation of Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS). Graduates from the Department of Civil Engineering, he managed to finish his master’s studies at the age of 63 years 8 months, and will graduate on Sunday (27/3) tomorrow.

For almost 40 years in the construction world, familiarly called Indra, He feels that there are a lot of new knowledge developments that he wants to learn. Departing from that determination, the former President Director PT Nindya Karya decided to continue his studies in Civil Engineering Construction Management ITS. This is also the first step in his desire to become a teacher in the field he has been involved in.

Indradjaja Manopol (second from left) inspects the implementation of the Pasar Djohar Semarang project while serving as President Director of PT Nindya Karya.

Furthermore, Indra said about the obstacles experienced during the study period. He claims the development of information technology is the biggest obstacle for him. Scientific writing skills, which are rarely used, due to working as field practitioners, are also another obstacle that makes it difficult for him.

Luckily, Indra has a great interest in reading, so it helps finishig his study period. In addition, the support from family and co-workers also fueled Indra’s enthusiasm for writing his thesis. “Rejected almost ten times by the supervisor. But luckily, the family pushed him to move on,” he recounted.

Apart from family support, Indra’s power determination is also a factor in his success in graduating within three semesters. He reminded himself to be embarrassed when he wanted to give up and reiterated that what he had started he had to finish. Thanks to his struggles, the former President Commissioner of PT Amarta Karya won a GPA of 3.92 with cum laude predicate.

Indradjaja Manopol (third from left) at the signing of the commencement of construction of the Kendari Newport Container Terminal by the then SOE Minister Rini M Soemarno (second from left)

To complete his master’s studies, this man from Surabaya presented a thesis entitled Factors Causing the Failure and Success of the Implementation of a Construction Safety Management System in Indonesia. This thesis was made out of concern about the number of work accidents in infrastructure development projects. “This accident is very detrimental, so there must be attention from all parties involved,” he reminded.

The man born in 1958 hopes that the thesis he wrote can be useful for construction safety management in Indonesia. He also intends to teach his knowledge to juniors and colleagues who are in construction companies. Finally, Indra advised the younger generation to make the best use of study time so that the knowledge gained can be immediately applied in the real world for the progress of the nation and state. (ITS Public Relation)

Reporter: Nurul Lathifah