Year: 2021

Dr. Latifah Nurahmi, a lecturer from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) recently invented a hybrid robot for medical surgeries in a project called Robot Operasi Reduksi Fraktur Sebagai Teknik Bedah Invasif Minimal.

Dr. Latifah stated that this innovation is being developed since 2015.

Parallel robots have actually been around in the medical field since the ’90s. However, the parallel robot has very limited movement and it is only for a single-use.

To overcome these disadvantages, Dr. Latifah invented the hybrid robot. Specifically, it is a combination of two parallel robots. This hybrid robot has wider movement than the parallel robots. In this project, she collaborated with the Department of Mechanical Engineering from the National Central University (NCU), Taiwan.

This project is not intended to replace the role of the surgeons, but to assist them in a surgery that requires high accuracy. Dr. Latifah took home an award at the L’Oreal-UNESCO for Women in Science 2020 for this innovation. Through this award, Dr. Latifah wants to empower young women to take part and be involved in science and technology.

The energy of the future lies in the area of controlled thermonuclear fusion. The scientific group from Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University (SPbPU), headed by Professor Vladimir Rozhansky, is directly involved in the establishment of the world’s largest experimental thermonuclear reactor ITER.

Researchers discovered new effects, which affect the energy flow in the reactor. The theoretical predictions were confirmed by the experiments on two tokamaks. The research results were published in the scientific journal “Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion”.

The scientific group of Polytechnic University is engaged in modeling of the edge plasma. The researchers aim to identify how and what types of impurities to enter the reactor, and how the power coming from the central zone to be redistributed, and so on. Scientists of  SPbPU developed SOLPS-ITER transport code. Currently, it is announced as the official code for calculating the parameters of the edge plasma not only for ITER but also for all existing installations.

“One of the main issues of thermonuclear fusion is associated with the edge plasma, or rather with the thin scrape-off layer. Understanding how this layer is arranged, knowledge of the physical processes helps to predict the energy flux density on the material surfaces. Generally, it influences the possibility to carry out the controlled thermonuclear fusion, because the reactor diverter plates should withstand huge energy flows, ”notes Vladimir Rozhansky, professor at the Higher School of Physics and Engineering at SPbPU.

The researchers investigated the electric currents which flow in the scrape-off layer of the edge plasma. They carried out theoretical calculations and performed numerical simulations. The calculated data was verified experimentally on two tokamaks. On the tokamak at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics in Germany, and also on the Russian tokamak “Globus-M”, which is located at the   Ioffe Institute. In the course of studying a new type of current was discovered.

“Due to the simulations and experiments on existing tokamaks, we were able to confirm the theory of the mechanisms of the scrape-off layer formation in the reactor. Experiments on both tokamaks fully confirmed our theoretical calculations. Therefore, we can make predictions and extrapolate these data to the larger object, the ITER reactor, ”says Professor Rozhansky.

The scientific group is currently working on modeling the world’s largest JET tokamak, with plasma parameters close to ITER.

Five papers written by Jong Min Park, a graduate student in the Department of Chemistry at Kyungpook National University, during his master’s course, were published as the first author in the top 3% SCI (Science and Technology Citation Index) journal.

The paper by Jong Min Park as the first author ‘A remarkable adsorbent for removal of nitrogenous compounds from fuel: A metal-organic framework functionalized both on metal and ligand’ was published online in the top 3% academic journal in the field of chemical engineering, ‘Chemical Engineering Journal (Impact factor 10.652)’ on January 2021. The main purpose of this study is to increase the nitrogen content of the adsorbent to enhance the selective removal of carbon dioxide.

Last year, two papers about adsorbents with high adsorption capacity for effectively removing bisphenol S and phenol compounds from water (Remarkable adsorbent for removal of bisphenol A and S from water: Porous carbon derived from melamine/polyaniline, and A remarkable adsorbent for removal of bisphenol S from water: Aminated metal organic framework, MIL-101-NH2), and a paper about selective CO2 adsorption at low pressure (Effective CO2 adsorption at low pressure over nitrogen-enriched porous carbons, derived from melamine-loaded polyaniline) were published in the ‘Chemical Engineering Journal’ in December 2020.

In addition, a paper ‘Polyaniline-derived carbons: Remarkable adsorbents to remove atrazine and diuron herbicides from water’ was published in the top 3% of the journals, “Journal of Hazardous Material,” in September 2020. The paper is the results of research on carbon dioxide adsorption and removal, and contain content that chemically improves carbon dioxide removal efficiency by synthesizing a material with excellent porosity.

Professor Sung Hwa Jhung said, “During two years of his master’s course, as the first author, Jong Min Park published a total of eight papers in SCI journals, including five top 3% papers. His research is expected to contribute to the development of technology to create a clean environment by suggesting the direction of developing excellent adsorbents and adsorption processes.”

In the lead-up to the 125th anniversary of the university, Tomsk Polytechnic University and Sberbank PJSC will start a new endowment in the University Endowment Fund. The endowment income will be allocated to support the research of TPU scientists and students. On Monday, February 8, 2021, Russian Science Day, the partners launched a primary fundraising campaign to set up the endowment.

“In a milestone year for us, we are starting a new endowment. For the entire country, this is the Year of Science and Technology and, for us, it is also the 125th anniversary of the foundation of the oldest engineering university east of the Urals. Thus, it was decided to create a new endowment specifically for the research initiatives of our scientists and students,” says Andrey Yakovlev, Acting Rector of TPU.

“It will be a good opportunity for our graduates and partners to make their invaluable contribution to the development of science and technology,”

The TPU Endowment Fund is a nonprofit trust fund established to support the initiatives and projects of the TPU community in science, education, and culture. It is funded by charitable donations and, then, the funds are transferred in trust to a professional asset management company. Thus, the Endowment funds are constantly increasing by the investment returns as well.

“It is a milestone, a start of a long path of cooperation with one of the largest universities in Tomsk. The Endowment Fund under the management of Sberbank Asset Management CJSC is not only a source of long-term financing for TPU activities but also an indicator of its success rate. Last but not least is that the Endowment Fund creates new opportunities for the development of scientific and research work,” Alexey Zarubin, Head of Tomsk branch of Sberbank PJSC, says.

Community Welfare Organization, Community Organizations Development Institute, Institute for Small and Medium Enterprises Development, and School of Global Studies, Thammasat University have come together to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the field of community’s welfare development.

The four parties came to an agreement to mutually collaborate and exchange knowledge for the sustainable development of the community’s welfare, better fund management, and ensure local community stability. The initiative will contribute to achieving the UN’s SDGs.

One of the objectives of the MoU is to strengthen the role and capacity of community welfare funds and a community welfare organization as development agents for the nation and the quality of life.

The MoU also aims to proceed in the development of the community welfare system according to the constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand in accordance with the problem of demand and concepts, principles, guidelines of the operation of community welfare funds in response to the sustainable development index.

The collaboration further aims to create mutual collaboration between a community welfare organization, other non-profit organizations, and an academic institution that strengthen the society and acts as an example for further development.

School of Global Studies, Thammasat University will support with academic personnel to contribute to the development of knowledge and new innovations in the community and social welfare system. The school will also provide academic support to develop a database of community welfare funds with a variety of issues and to be able to be utilized for policy-making strategies and development plans in various areas.

The School will also contribute through the study, research, upgrade relevant knowledge organizations to support the development of the community welfare system to be efficient and sustainable, including for dissemination, expanding knowledge both in educational institutions and other sectors in society, and linking the Thai community welfare network with academics and development organizations of Thailand and international.

The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding for ‘Development of Community’s Welfare System to Achieve Sustainable Development Goals’ was held at Sanya Dharmasakti Convention Room, Thammasat University (Tha Prachan Campus) on December 16, 2020.

Representatives from 4 organizations, including Mr.Kaew Sangchu, Coordinator of National Community Welfare Organization, Mr.Amporn Kaewnoo, Vice President of Community Organizations Development Institute, Mr.Thananon Praichan, Director-General of Institute for Small and Medium Enterprises Development, and Asst.Prof.Dr. Prapaporn Tivayanond Mongkhonvanit, Dean of School of Global Studies, Thammasat University, were present during the signing of the collaboration agreement.

Mr Kaew Sangchu, Coordinator of National Community Welfare Organization, said, “60% of the money in community welfare funds mostly come from donations in the community. The four management principles are the goodness of people in the community, the beauty of the cultural way in the community, the capacity of people in the community, and transparency. We adopt these four principles for sustainable practice in order to strengthen community welfare funds across the country and strengthen the community as well.”

“The main objective for the community welfare fund is to upgrade the quality of life of all groups of people and all classes. The point is we do not compete with the government but we have to strengthen and support the government because sometimes the matter is unreachable for the state. For example, the community welfare fund successfully brought resources and personnel to help and alleviate the flood incident in the south of Thailand,” added Mr Kaew

“Today, we are delighted that the four organizations have signed MOU and agreed to strengthen the community by supporting more than 6,000 funds. With the collaboration of all parties, the funds are successfully implemented and is  the New Year’s gift for local people in the community.”

Asst.Prof.Dr. Prapaporn Tivayanond Mongkhonvanit, Dean of School of Global Studies, Thammasat University, stateD, “Academic sectors have to collaborate with other organizations and recognize the importance of globalization for the university. Globalization means the movement and integration of societies around the globe in terms of economy, society, politics, and culture or the mix of global and local.”

“Therefore, it is an important matter as we can learn from case study around the globe and adapt to Thailand. As a result, academic sectors should support and spread knowledge to everyone, all sectors both in the country and abroad.”

The community welfare fund also supports those non-members who are disadvantaged or in trouble in both direct and indirect ways such as by giving food and face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic and creating awareness campaigns for COVID-19 prevention. This work is in accordance with the UN’s sustainable development goals in areas such as Goal 1-6 and 11-15.

On January 13, 2021, Dr Bambang Pramujati, the Vice-Rector of Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember  (ITS) for Research, Innovation, Cooperation, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Dr. Charlito P. Cadag, the President of Camarines Sur Polytechnic Colleges (CSPC) the Philippines.

This partnership has been driven by the similarities of both universities in academic achievement, especially in the fields of engineering, science, and business management.

ITS will soon implement the partnership by inviting CSPC students to ITS virtual programs, such as e-exchange, e-internship, and e-short programs. ITS is also planning to send their International Undergraduate Program (IUP) students to CSPC once the pandemic is over.

Dr. Charlito P. Cadag said, “This partnership is an extraordinary opportunity for CSPC to start a new journey with ITS since internationalization is on top of CSPC priority. The partnership between ITS and CSPC has once again marked ITS spirit on becoming a World Class University.”

Specialists from Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University (SPbPU) improved the cybersecurity system mechanism, based on the ECU (Electronic control unit) in modern vehicles. The research results were published in the scientific journal “Nonlinear Phenomena in Complex Systems”.

Modern road transport systems are complex cyber-physical systems. Car electronics have a number of security problems, the solution of which is difficult due to the limited computing power of some ECU’s and rather stringent requirements for speed, including the data transfer rate. Most scientific articles divide the internal network of a motor vehicle into many domains according to its purpose.

“This distinction is relevant for solving relatively simple issues, not requiring flexible configuration. We divide the domains not according to their intended purpose, but according to their “integrity level”, an indicator, which characterizes the susceptibility of each specific electronic unit to cyber impact and the potential harm caused by the disruption of its operation,” notes Evgeniy Pavlenko, Associate Professor at the Institute of Cybersecurity and Data Protection SPbPU.

Our scientific group developed a simulation model, which automatically clusters the control units of a vehicle’s on-board system and divides it into domains thus the security breach doesn’t lead to negative consequences,” adds Evgeniy Pavlenko.

“This approach is modular and highly scalable. It doesn’t impose the restrictions on computing resources, and also minimizes the redundancy of the applied security measures,”

Experts mention that this is a unique development and such safety systems are not implemented In the vehicles.

Evgeny Pavlenko adds that in modern security systems the intruder’s model practically doesn’t consider the introduction into the electronic system of vehicles itself, and most studies are aimed at preventing the possibility of controlling the car from the outside.

The developed technology ensures that the intruder wouldn’t be able to introduce some kind of electronic units to affect the wrong decision-making in terms of piloting the vehicle.

“Our development doesn’t require complex calculations from the electronics installed in the car. We don’t add cryptographic schemes. Currently, we are at the stage of discussing our system with manufacturers of electronic devices for its experimental approbation,”  says Evgeny Pavlenko.