UNAIR NEWS – Physics is one of four programs that was established in 1982 in Universitas Airlangga when it was under the management of Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (FMIPA). Twenty-six years later, in 2008, FMIPA changed its name to Faculty of Science and Technology until now.
The current Department of Physics oversees three programs, Physics Bachelor’s Program, Biomedical Engineering Bachelor’s Program, and Biomedical Engineering Master’s Program. The good news is that there will be one more master’s program, Physics Master’s Program this mid-year.
Head of the Physics Department Herri Trilaksana, S.Si., M.Si., Ph.D., said that the Department of Physics Faculty of Science and Technology UNAIR is a department that manages programs teaching the basics of engineering and several medical technologies. The a versatile science of physics provides an edge for this department.
“We have a high degree of flexibility in other application fields. If laymen asked ‘what is physics? ‘Physics is about everything. ” said the physics lecturer on Monday, January 25, 2021.
Herri said, since 2008, the Physics Department has had a bi-annual national conference which has been upgraded to become Two-yearly International Conference ICPIAM. In 2021, the 3 rd ICPIAM will be held. The international conference became an event to present international colleagues and academic peers of the Department of Physics.
The Department of Physics, he continued, also actively participates in other international conferences, including ICOWOBAS with partners in Malaysia, as well as the ISSIMM international conference which is run with several universities in Indonesia, including Gadjah Mada University (UGM), University of Indonesia (UI), Institute of Technology Bandung (ITB), Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS), Brawijaya University (UB), and Padang State University (UNP).
Apart from being active in participating in international conferences, community service is one of the annual programs that are continuously being carried out. Some of them are community service about training in the design of measuring tools for measuring H2S levels in closed-system ponds to help pond farmers monitoring the quality of pond water at SMK Perikanan and Marine, Puger District, Jember Regency, East Java Province, and community service in the field of medical physics expertise carried out at Jenggawah Puskesmas , Kemuningsari Kidul Puskesmas, and Kaliwates Puskesmas, Jember Regency.
Herri also said that this long-established department internally had to compete with the new engineering program at UNAIR. This is because engineering programs are usually more marketable in the industrial sector. In addition, in terms of the productivity of scientific publications, they have the same opportunity as other programs in FST.
“So far, UNAIR’s management of basic science, especially physics, has not been optimal because UNAIR still views that the physics department has not been too productive in producing attractive technological innovations as other engineering sciences in general,” he explained.
From the external side, he continued, the physics department must be able to organize local, national, and international collaborative programs with all the limitations of infrastructure and facilities of Faculty of Science and Technology.
“With the internationalization effort made by the physics department, we hope that it can increase the confidence of students and alumni of physics UNAIR, including being able to present international students in programs under the physics department,” Herri said.
For Herri, the establishment of Physics Masters’s Program indicates the prominence of physics department and it can strengthen the academic and professional climate, expand academic and research networks internationally, and improve the quality of graduates.
“We hope that in the future the Department of Physics will become a department that can position itself adjacent to other physics departments and even lead in several innovations and achievements,” said Herri. (*)
Author: Asthesia Dhea Cantika
Editor : Binti Q. Masruroh
