Professor of the Department of Engineering Physics ITS Prof Gunawan Nugroho ST MT PhD when delivering his material in his inaugural scientific oration as a professor

ITS Campus, ITS News — PIncreasingly rapid industrial development also demands the availability of energy to run company operations. Looking at this challenge, the 211th Professor of the Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) Prof. Gunawan Nugroho ST MT PhD seeks the independence of Indonesian industry through several convection heat transfer-based researches in the upstream technology.

In his scientific oration, the Professor of the Department of Engineering Physics ITS stated simply that convection heat transfer is heat transfer through fluid flow, both gas and liquid. He added that the branch of science he is researching has a broad application domain. However, the application still uses the laws of physics, such as the law of continuity, Navier-Stokes equation, momentum, and energy.

The Surabaya-born man said the reason he has been pursuing this expertise for more than 10 years is because it has a challenging mathematical side. One of the challenges is the Navier-Stokes equation. “According to the Clay Mathematics Institute, the Navier-Stokes equation is one of the seven big unsolved math problems,” he explained.

The man born in 1977 added that the scientific novelty discussed was the semi-empirical method. The semi-empirical method or parameterization is a way of solving easy problems to be used as the basis for solutions to difficult problems that are solved by experimentation. “Physically, it is easy to solve, so it is done first. But mathematically, it requires certain tricks to match the constants,” he explained.

ITS’ 211th Professor Prof. Gunawan Nugroho ST MT PhD with expertise in convection heat transfer strives for future industrial independence

Furthermore, the ITS Physics Engineering alumnus said that he focuses on convection heat transfer research in upstream industries to accelerate national industrial independence. By mastering the upstream of technology, namely the laws of physics, it is certain that Indonesia can become an innovative and intelligent nation that has independent technology for its citizens to utilize.

Not only that, the solution to accelerate industrial independence that Gunawan described also utilizes Clouds and the Internet of Things (IoT). Later, Clouds will accommodate solutions to problems in the industry and determine suitable solutions to be used on an IoT basis. “Starting from there, we can see the solution in the form of new products or running existing fabrics,” he explained.

In the future, the professor who has a research interest in the analysis of fluid dynamics and heat transfer equations will make heat recovery and design heat exchangers with high performance. By utilizing residual heat from industry, it can be converted into clean energy using high-performance heat exchanger technology, so that heat utilization can be maximized.

Prof. Gunawan Nugroho ST MT PhD with his wife after being inaugurated as ITS Professor

The lecturer who is a member of the Energy Engineering and Environmental Conditioning Laboratory, Department of Physics Engineering ITS hopes that there will be support to realize the plan. Such as support for basic research, for technology MSMEs, and business soft loans. The government also needs to create an unconventional strategy to facilitate the banking system to help facilitate the circulation of credit used as research funding.

This research effort is in line with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) point 13 on tackling climate change through efforts to utilize residual heat which has an impact on reducing carbon emissions. Not only that, the research plan is in line with SDG 9 on infrastructure, industry, and innovation due to the novelty of the research in the industrial field. (ITS Public Relations)

Reporter: Ahmad Husein Al Qomary