3rd Business Forum Webinar: Research and Its Implementation During the Covid-19 Era
BANDUNG, itb.ac.id-- The 80 Years of Indonesian Chemical Higher Education 3rd Business Forum Webinar with the theme “Research and Implementation in the Covid-19 Era” took place on Wednesday (11/08/2021). This Business Forum presented a number of speakers, namely Dr. Ir. Melia Laniwati Gunawan, M.T., IPM. from ITB Catalyst Engineering Center (Zeolite for O2 Concentractor), Novias Nurendra (Director of Hutama Karya), Sentosa Tanuharjo (Deputy Director of PT Ateja), and Sharlini Eriza Putri, M.Sc. (CEO and Co-founder of Nusantics).
The webinar began with a presentation from Nusantics. Nusantics is an acronym for Human Genetics. Nusantics works for humans and microbes to have a better relationship, raised by the theme "A Love and Hate Relationship".
“Humans and microbes are really in a love and hate relationship. On the one hand, microbes have a bad impact on humans. For example, now one virus can defeat one planet. On the other hand, humans cannot live without microbes,” said Nusantics CEO and Co-founder Sharlini Eriza Putri.
Novias Nurendra, Director of Hutama Karya, then continued the presentation with the title "Research on Medical Waste Management Plan". He said that, under normal conditions, there are still more than 70,000 tons of medical waste that has not been managed properly in Indonesia. This gets worse as the pandemic occurs. "The amount of medical waste has increased by 30-50 percent," he said.
Therefore, the right solution is needed to overcome this problem, one of which is an incinerator that can treat medical waste. Hutama Karya through research units and in collaboration with partners makes HIKKON incinerator products that have the advantages of the latest technology, are easy to operate, have high durability, and environmentally friendly.
The webinar was continued by a presentation from the Deputy Director of PT Ateja Sentosa Tanuharjo who produces masks in accordance with WHO recommendations. There are obstacles that they run into, such as the limited stock of medical masks in Indonesia at the beginning of the pandemic. However, after conducting various trials, masks with specifications that are waterproof and have a silver treatment coating have been successfully created.
Lastly, Melia Laniwati Gunawan gave a final presentation entitled "Introduction to Zeolite". According to her, there was one thing that was forgotten at the beginning of the pandemic, namely the number of Covid-19 patients who had breathing difficulty. "That's why we made ventilators. However, the ventilator will be useless if there is no oxygen," she said.
To overcome the lack of oxygen supply, Melia and her team racked their brains and finally used zeolite as a catalyst. Zeolites can capture nitrogen in the air so that pure oxygen can be obtained.
The webinar closes with a conclusion by the moderator. They hope that research in the world can continue to advance, can be implemented, and collaborate with the business world for the good of Indonesia.
Reporter: Zahra Annisa Fitri (Perencanaan Wilayah dan Kota, 2019)
Translator: Aghisna Syifa Rahmani (Biologi 2020)
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