BANDUNG, fmipa.itb.ac.id, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (FMIPA), Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB), held FMIPA ITB Public Lecture Series which took place in the BSC-A Building Seminar Room. This Public Lecture Series had the theme “Celebrating 76 years of excellence, ITB’s Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences: Bridging Science, Humanity, and Sustainability” and presented two speakers, namely Dr. Ni Ketut Lasmi, M.PFis  (Education Practitioner, Book Writer, Master’s and Doctoral Alumni of Physics ITB) and Dr. Deana Wahyuningrum, S.Si., M.Si. (Organic Chemistry Research Group).

Dr. Ni Ketut Lasmi, M.PFis. is an educational practitioner who has been involved in the field of education for a long time, especially in the Eastern region. She revealed that before continuing her master’s education at ITB, she had been a high school physics teacher for approximately 28 years. The biggest challenge she experienced when she returned to her master’s degree was the need to be able to keep up with technological developments that had developed rapidly.

Figure 1. Dr. Ni Ketut Lasmi, M.PFis. is giving her presentation.

“During my bachelor’s degree. I wrote my final paper using a typewriter. However, during master’s degree, all assignments have to be done using a computer,” she said.

Even though at first she found it difficult, she had the principle that “if there is a will, there is a way”. After struggling hard to adapt, she was able to graduate with a Master's in Physics Teaching within one and a half years (three semesters) and had the opportunity to continue her doctoral degree.

In addition to being an educational practitioner, she is also a book author and has published many books on physics learning as well as practice questions and discussions on physics for various levels of education (middle school and high school). She revealed that she could write three different books in one year. “Don't be afraid of failure,” she advised when being asked for tips to start writing a book. “You must understand the target audience for the book (for middle or high school level) and also the material. Try making questions and test them on the children. Don’t stop writing.” At the end of her presentation, she gave the message that as a figure who serves society, you should carry out your duties with the intention of worship and not expect appreciation from society.

After the presentation session from Dr. Ni Ketut Lasmi, M.PFis., was finished, the event was continued with a presentation from Dr. Deana Wahyuningrum, S.Si., M.Si., who is a lecturer from Chemistry Study Program, ITB, more precisely Organic Chemistry Research Group. On this occasion, she introduced imidazole derivative compounds called heteroaromatic compounds that are rich in charm. “It is called aromatic because when (this aromatic compound) was first discovered, namely in the compound benzene, which is produced from whale oil, this compound apparently produced an aroma,” she explained when being asked why a compound was called an “aromatic compound”.

Figure 2. Dr. Deana Wahyuningrum, S.Si., M.Si is explaining the charm of Imidazole derivative compounds.

This imidazole derivative compound is one of the objects of her research having an interesting chemical structure, which is like a dancing person. Through the conducted research, she discovered many other charms that this compound has. Some of them are imidazole derivative compounds which can connect open compounds into cyclic compounds, or what she called “debus”. Apart from that, this compound can also be used as a corrosion inhibitor in pipes, which was studied by her. This corrosion inhibitor is very useful in preventing pipe explosions due to corrosion in the pipe.

In the question and answer session, she said that the difficulty in bringing research results from a laboratory scale to a large scale is the need to convert from small to large scale, recreate them, and need to optimize again. “It’s like doing research again,” she added.

Figure 3. Question and answer session from Public Lecture Series participants to the speaker

FMIPA ITB Public Lecture Series event was concluded by giving souvenirs from the Dean of FMIPA ITB, Prof. Ir. Wahyu Srigutomo, S.Si., M.Si., Ph.D., to the two presenters, and then a friendly meet-and-greet.

Figure 4. Giving souvenirs from the Dean of FMIPA ITB to the presenters

Reporter: Rahmalia (Physics Student, FMIPA ITB)