Visit to the Gowa Campus: Japanese Ambassador Commends the Faculty of Engineering at Unhas for Its Outstanding Performance in Implementing Phase 1 of the Indonesia-Japan Cooperation Program
During his working visit to South Sulawesi Province, the Japanese Ambassador to Indonesia, Kenji Kanasugi, paid a working visit to the Faculty of Engineering at Hasanuddin University (FTUH) in Gowa (March 1, 2023), where Ambassador Kanasugi had previously been received by the Rector of Unhas, Prof. Jamaluddin Jompa, and the Unhas Rectorate leadership during his visit to the Unhas Campus in Tamalanrea, Makassar. During his visit to the FTUH campus, the Japanese Ambassador was welcomed directly by the Dean of FTUH, Prof. M Isran Ramli, along with the entire Dean’s Office leadership and department heads within FTUH, as well as former Deans of FTUH who were in attendance, including Prof. M Saleh Pallu and Prof. M Arsyad Thaha. In addition to the FTUH Dean’s Office leadership, representatives from the UNHAS Rector’s Office were also present to welcome him, including the Vice Rector for Partnerships, Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Business at UNHAS, Prof. Adi Maulana; the Director of Planning at UNHAS, Dr. Yahya Sirajuddin; and the Chair of the PIU Batch-1 for the FTUH Gowa Campus Development Project, Prof. Rudy Djamaluddin.
During his meeting in the FTUH Dean’s Office, Ambassador Kanasugi—accompanied by secretaries Furunobu Koichi and Yahata Hironori, as well as the Chief of the Japanese Consular Office in Makassar, Yasue Katsunobu—received a briefing from the Dean of FTUH on the latest developments regarding the university’s facilities and infrastructure, as well as its academic community. Prof. Isran stated that 10 educational facilities have been constructed on the FTUH campus through a cooperative assistance program between the Japanese and Indonesian governments, and there are four other facilities built with funding from the central government, the provincial government, and Unhas’s internal funds. “Currently, FTUH educates 6,500 undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral students spread across 32 study programs in 13 departments at FTUH,” Prof. Isran told Ambassador Kanasugi. Furthermore, Prof. Isran noted that FTUH is currently one of the top engineering higher education institutions in Indonesia. This is evidenced by the performance achievements in the fields of research, teaching, and industry-university-community partnership activities by the FTUH academic community, which have been steadily improving in both quality and quantity—both nationally and internationally—over the past five years. These achievements are closely tied to the strong support provided by the Japanese government through collaborations between Japanese universities and the FTUH academic community, Prof. Isran noted. During this meeting, the Dean of FTUH also added that the implementation of Phase 1 of the Indonesia-Japan Government Cooperation Project for the construction and development of the FTUH campus has successfully fostered an excellent academic environment for the FTUH academic community to engage in creative learning, research, and innovation. On behalf of the entire FTUH academic community, Prof. Isran expressed his hope to Ambassador Kanasugi that Phase 2 of the Indonesia-Japan Cooperation Project for the Development of the FTUH Campus could continue in order to maintain sustainability and further improve performance regarding the utilization of laboratory facilities and infrastructure at FTUH that were established during Phase 1.
During this visit, Ambassador Kanasugi had the opportunity to tour the FTUH Exhibition Hall in the CoT Building to view and learn about the latest research and innovation achievements by FTUH faculty members across its 13 engineering departments. Ambassador Kanasugi also received a comprehensive overview of the implementation of the FTUH Campus Master Plan in Gowa, as presented by Prof. Rudi Djamaluddin. In the next part of his visit, Ambassador Kanasugi toured several research laboratories that have long been pioneers, producing outstanding research results that have brought renown to FTUH and Unhas on both the national and international stages. The laboratories visited by Ambassador Kanasugi were located in the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning building, the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering building, the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering building, and the Department of Geological and Mining Engineering building.
At the conclusion of his visit, Ambassador Kanasugi expressed his deep appreciation for the FTUH’s outstanding achievements in optimizing the use and utilization of facilities, infrastructure, and human resources—the results of Phase 1 of the Indonesia-Japan Cooperation—through the implementation of activities in the fields of engineering education, research, and innovation, as well as partnerships with the government and industry by the entire FTUH academic community.