The Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia (FTUI) and Leave a Nest Malaysia have held a Hyper Interdisciplinary Conference (HIC) in Indonesia 2023 (18/11). The 2nd HIC Indonesia event successfully brought together 135 participants, including 30 poster presenters, 13 tech splash presenters, 9 research splash presenters, 1 keynote speaker, 9 panelists, and presented 10 exhibition booths. This international conference is expected to be an important stage that facilitates collaboration and explores innovative solutions by bringing together experts from various fields in Japan and Indonesia.
The implementation of the 2nd HIC Indonesia is the result of collaboration between Leave a Nest Malaysia, FTUI as a strategic partner and Real Tech Holdings Singapore as the main partner. Dompet Dhuafa and MiCAN Technologies also participated as community partners and event partners, respectively.
Dr. Hadi Akbar Dahlan, Chairman of the 2nd HIC Indonesia Committee, opened the conference by emphasizing the significance of the theme “Health Horizon Transformation in Indonesia.” Dr. Hadi highlighted the importance of collaboration not only among researchers but also between industry and academia, in line with HIC Indonesia’s goal 2023 as a center for new knowledge creation.
Prof. Dr. Heri Hermansyah, S.T., M.Eng., IPU., Dean of FTUI highlighted the synergy between Hyper Interdisciplinary Conference and the construction of a new building dedicated to interdisciplinary engineering education in his speech. “The role of entrepreneurship education for the future of the nation at FTUI is currently occupied by the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Unit led by Dr. Sahlan. This unit is expected to foster entrepreneurial spirit in FTUI students. It is my hope that this conference will be a new beginning for the collaboration of all relevant parties.”
The next session continued with a keynote speech by Dr. Prasandhya Astagiri Yusuf which focused on two topics: Transformation of referral services and Transformation of health technology. He discussed Indonesia’s National Health Transformation, revealing Indonesia’s plan to produce its own vaccines, medicines, and medical equipment in the period 2022-2025.
The first panel discussion featured Mr. Kazuo Miyazaki (CEO of MiCAN Technologies) who presented a presentation titled “Development of a test kit to predict dengue severity using stem cell technology.”
The first panel discussion featured three panelists, Dr. Siti Fauziyah Rahman (Director of the Biomedical Engineering Research Center, Universitas Indonesia), Dr. Hasballah Zakaria (Biomedical Engineering Lecturer from the School of Electrical and Information Engineering, Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB), and Prof. Dr. Bachti Alisjahbana (Lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Padjadjaran (UNPAD).
Moderated by Dr. Tanami Shuhei, the panel discussion discussed critical components of improving quality of life in Indonesia, including health awareness, accessibility of health monitoring devices, and interdisciplinary research. Early detection, facilitated by easily accessible devices, is emerging as a potential change in healthcare.
The Research Splash session showcased breakthroughs from 9 poster presenters selected from 40 submitted posters, providing a platform for interactive discussion. Each presenter was given three minutes to present their groundbreaking research to an audience. These sessions provide an opportunity for researchers to showcase their innovative ideas and research findings related to the health field.
After the presentation, the poster session began in the ground floor area, where participants had the opportunity to interact more actively with the presenters and discuss their research in more detail. These sessions enable the exchange of knowledge and ideas among researchers and participants, fostering collaboration and advancement in areas that contribute to the improvement of health services in Indonesia.
Along with the poster session, Real Tech Holdings (RTHD) Singapore also organized a startup clinic. The RTHD representative present, Ms. Shoko Suzuki, met with 6 local startups for a brief discussion. The discussion format is a 5-minute presentation by a local startup followed by a 10-minute discussion. Here are the Indonesian startups that met Ms. Shoko Suzuki during this session: Karla Bionics, PT Intala, eHealth.co, ATM Sehat, Dandos skin, and ReservoAir.
Panel Session 2, led by Dr. Suzianti Iskandar Vijaya featured Mr. Haryo Mojopahit (General Manager Communication and Strategic Alliance) from Dompet Dhuafa, Mr. Andi Nusa Patria (Co-founder and Chief Sustainability Officer) from JALA Tech, and Dr. Malikul Ikram (R&D Director) from PT Biops Agrotekno.
A key point of the session was to explore the challenges of producing high-quality and sustainable sources of protein from aquaculture and fresh agricultural products. In both fisheries and agricultural landscapes, not only technology adoption is important, but sustainable systems are needed to facilitate upstream and downstream development, and make value chains more sustainable, transparent, efficient, and fair, thus providing benefits to society.
Although Indonesia is rich in geographically good natural resources, there is a worrying issue related to stunting in children. The problem of stunting in children is not only caused by limited access to nutritious food, usually due to poverty, but also by their eating habits. Further efforts are needed to raise awareness of children to eat healthy foods and not rely on less nutritious foods, especially fast food. All panelists look forward to initiating cross-border collaboration and working on this pressing issue in Indonesia.
The Tech Splash session, as a pairing to the Research Splash session, featured 13 startups, presenting innovative solutions in the healthcare field. The presenter lineup includes PtBio Inc., CULTA Inc., Endo-phyte Inc., Wizray Co., Ltd., FiberCraze Corporation, HYDRONEXT, Solafune, Inc., Karla Bionics, PT Intala Insan Cendekia, PT. BIOPS Agrotekno, ReservoAir, PT. Telehealth Indonesia, and MYCL.
The closing session, sponsored by Euglena Co., Ltd., began with an opening presentation by Dr. Kengo Suzuki, their Chief Technology Officer. This panel session, hosted by Dr. Enrico Gianino from Euglena Co., Ltd., introduced the SATREP project and engaged leading panelists from the RIKEN Institute, the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), and the University of Tokyo in a discussion on its potential impact on Indonesian society.
Leave a Nest Malaysia expresses its sincere gratitude to partners, speakers, panelists, researchers, students, and volunteers for their contributions to the success of the 2nd HIC in Indonesia 2023. It is expected that this event will spark new ideas, collaboration, and innovation in the government, private sector, universities, startups, and researchers, encouraging economic growth, academic progress, and the application of technology for social benefit.
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Office of Public Communication, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia
