ITS Rector, Prof. Dr. Ir. Mochamad Ashari, M.Eng., IPU, A.Eng., asks postgraduate program students to state Vivat ITS during inauguration

ITS Campus News – After inaugurating new students for undergraduate and applied undergraduate programs, it is now the time for the Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) welcoming master and doctoral program students. This welcoming event a.k.a Informasi dan Pengenalan ITS (IPITS) and the inauguration of postgraduate program students were held both online and offline at Graha Sepuluh Nopember ITS, Tuesday (10/8).

Prof. Drs. Ec. Ir. Riyanarto Sarno, M.Sc., Ph.D., one of the best ITS professors, was invited to deliver presentation in order to motivate these postgraduate students before learning at ITS. In his presentation, Professor Riyan encouraged postgraduate students to regularly involved in research activities and scientific publications.

Besides title and promotion, this Professor who comes from Informatics Engineering also emphasized that the most important intention for postgraduate students is to learn and improve competence. One of the ways to be competent is by conducting research and publication in terms of scientific articles and journals.

Prof. Drs. Ec. Ir. Riyanarto Sarno, M.Sc., Ph.D. encourages ITS postgraduate students to actively conduct research

Continuing this topic, Riyan said what was still rooted in Indonesia research was the weak number of publications from universities. The alumnus of the University of New Brunswick, Canada also said that the low number of publications would affect the number of citations from an academician. “The number of our publications is small. Automatically, citations or journals that refer to our publications are also low,” said Riyan in front of around 700 postgraduate students who attended both offline and online.

Riyan was frank, it was important for ITS, especially postgraduate students, to advance scientific and research climate. However, it is not only the quantity of publications that is brought forward, but also the quality that deserves attention. The lecturer who has published more than 276 scientific articles emphasizes that the competence of postgraduate students is proved by their scientific writings.

Prof. Drs. Ec. Ir. Riyanarto Sarno, M.Sc., Ph.D. explains the level of research at IPITS series of events and the inauguration of ITS Postgraduate Program New Students.

Furthermore, Riyan regrets that people are currently more active in uploading informal writings through social media, but less compiling formal works through journals. Therefore, advancing research is one of his concerns. “Postgraduate students will become a driving force for ITS to increase publications and research competence,” said the scientist who won The Top 2% Scientist in The World in 2021.

Responding to this case, Riyan does not only want postgraduate students to make publications, but also to be able to obtain patent rights for the innovations they create. The lecturer, who has also won the first place in the Scopus ranking, appealed to Indonesians not to be a continuous consumer of technological developments, but they have to be able to move on producing technology.

According to him, patent rights can encourage Indonesia to become a country that is independent in technology because technology transfer is not a free thing. Riyan said, education is not the only thing to be independent, but also technology. “One of the most serious problems is a cultural problem. Our nation is used to lack confidence in domestically made national products,” concerned the Artificial Intelligence (AI) expert.

Supporting the existence of climate research at ITS, Riyan recommends that every ITS academic community compiles a roadmap or target that they must achieve. This is intended to synchronize all aspirations from ITS academician community from lecturers, laboratories, and departments. The bespectacled man also urged postgraduate students to start conducting research and applying theories from their research to produce applied products.

ITS executive board with representatives from ITS postgraduate new students who have just been inaugurated

Ending his presentation, The Head of Intelligent Information Management Laboratory again reminded ITS academician community to their duties in realizing Three Pillars of Higher Education. In this case, Riyan hopes that information must be updated regularly based on the latest research. “Therefore, don’t just refer to old books, base it on the latest research and serve the community based on the latest research too,” he reminded.

In line with what Riyan said, ITS Rector, Prof. Dr. Ir. Mochamad Ashari, M.Eng., IPU, A.Eng., previously advised that postgraduate program students should not only focus on grades and academic certificate, but also produce innovations and new creations. The Professor from Electrical Engineering, who is familiarly called as Ashari, said that postgraduate students become pioneers not only for themselves and the environment, but also for Indonesia. “Therefore, I hope that students can take advantage from the existing facilities at ITS,” he said. (ITS PR)