UNIVERSITAS AIRLANGGA NEWS – Universitas Airlangga is intensifying its participation in various scientific forums. It can be seen from academics’ involvement at conference activities at local and international level to improve their knowledge. The conferences can also be a forum for the academics to carry out research development.
This time Prof. Dr. Nyoman Tri Puspaningsih, M.Si., a professor from Faculty of Science and Technology (FST) UNAIR had the opportunity to attend 4th Green & Sustainable Chemistry Conference in Dresden, Germany, on 5-8 May. In the conference, she presented her research on processing biomass from agricultural waste.
“My presentation was Research Based Learning on Biomass Acting Enzymes to Develop Human Resources for Green Technology Competency in ASEAN Countries,” explained Prof. Nyoman in her e-mail on Wednesday, May 8, 2019.
According to Prof. Nyoman, processing biomass from agricultural waste can produce more useful natural ingredients, such as organic fertilizer, animal feed, and used paper processing. Before becoming a natural ingredient, biomass processing will go through biodegradation process with an enzyme called excelzyme.
Excelzyme is a consortium enzyme that maximizes the use of agricultural waste. It is the result of Prof. Nyoman’s research with the team of UNAIR Biological Molecular Engineering Research Center for nearly two decades. Excelzyme has also obtained patent rights and is recognized in the GenBank and Protein Data Bank (PDB).
“Besides attending conferences, I also took part in a workshop on the first day, ‘Be an entrepreneur! – A Workshop for Curious Scientists’. We discussed about the downstream process of research products into commercial products so that they benefit the community,” said the professor of biochemistry.
Prof. Nyoman said that at the conference, she met many great people. They had a great discussion and gave input to each other, such as on how to change the research results into a potential business.
“They gave me an advice not to publish products before they were patented. Furthermore, we must also be able to convince stakeholders if our products are very good and have competitive prices. We have to be sure it can be commercialized,” said Satyalancana winner.
Promoting UNAIR International Programs
A gathering with alumni of Academic Mobility Exchange for Undergraduate Program (AMERTA). (Photo: By courtesy)
As Executive Director of Airlangga Global Engagement (AGE), the conference in Germany was used well by Prof. Nyoman to promote Academic Mobility Exchange for Undergraduate at Airlangga (AMERTA). It is a program attended by local students, as well as international students, such as from Thailand, Myanmar, Brunei, Philippines, Malaysia and Cambodia.
“In AMERTA Program, there were also courses that I taught, Enzymology. Besides taking place in the classroom, there are field lectures and practices in proteomic laboratories at UNAIR Biological Molecular Engineering Research Center, ” she explained.
During the lecture process, they will learn about thermophilic microorganisms from hot springs, then select it to produce a potential biomass degrading enzyme. Through the Enzymology class, students are expected to design their research related to isolation, selection, characterization, and production of biomass processing enzymes so that they will also preserve the nature.
“The team and I also took the time to hold an alumni gathering with AMERTA students from Germany. We hope they can become ambassadors in promoting UNAIR’s international programs, ” she concluded. (*)