Depok, November 1st 2023. Universitas Indonesia (UI) inaugurated Prof. Dr. Ir. Myrna Ariati Mochtar, M.Sc., as a professor in the field of Heat Treatment Science, Faculty of Engineering (FT) at the Makara Art Center (MAC), UI Depok Campus, this morning (1/11). During the procession, she delivered her inauguration speech entitled “Increasing the Productivity of Heat Treatment Processes with Empirical Data-Based Modeling”.
Prof. Myrna explained that the current economic performance in Indonesia, especially in the non-oil and gas processing industry sector during the first quarter of 2023, is still recording consistent growth, in fact it is still the main source for forming the structure of gross domestic product (GDP) during the first three months of this year, which reached 5.03%. The manufacturing industrial sector remains the largest contributor in supporting national economic growth in the first quarter of 2023, with a contribution of up to 16.77 percent.
Seeing this great and growing opportunity, Prof. Myrna said that this must be balanced with increasing process efficiency and quality of manufactured products. Various methods must continue to be pursued to increase the quality and efficiency of production in the manufacturing industry, one of which is through the heat treatment process.
Prof. Myrna explained that her research produced a model to predict the mechanical properties of materials in the heat treatment process based on empirical data. This was obtained from experiments with various material compositions, temperatures, and heating times. The existing phenomena were then taken into a mathematical approach, and the constants of the factors that influenced them were included. Therefore, this model will describe various final product results more accurately. The data that was used was the relationship between heat treatment parameters and hardness as well as material strength as a result of research and various material compositions in industry.
She further said that this model was then validated, comparing the results of mathematical model calculations and experimental results, which showed that the model obtained had high precision. This means that this method of forming a model based on empirical data can be used to predict the properties of hardness, strength, changes in dimensions of heat treated materials on various heat treatment parameters, such as temperature, time, heating and cooling speed.
According to Prof. Myrna, these accurate results can reduce the trial error process in product development for the manufacturing industry, which can increase process efficiency in terms of costs, time, energy and materials. In terms of benefits for society, Prof. Myrna explained that this model can be applied to heat treatment processes in the manufacturing industry, such as the automotive components and machine components industry. This model was created based on data from research on optimizing heat treatment processes in various industries with various steel materials.
“This is a real form of collaboration between academics and industry players. Research can continue to be refined with a larger number of samples to produce results that are more precise. We, academics, certainly hope that together with industry, we will continue to collaborate, thus providing mutual benefits. Industrial cases will enrich our knowledge and the joint research carried out can be useful,” said Prof. Myrna at her inauguration procession which was broadcasted live via the Universitas Indonesia YouTube channel and UI Teve.
The inauguration, which was led directly by the Rector of UI, Prof. Ari Kuncoro, S.E., M.A., Ph.D., was also attended by the Minister of Industry of the Republic of Indonesia (2014-2016 period) Saleh Husin, S.E., M.Si. who is also Chair of the UI Board of Trustees (MWA) for the 2019-2023 period; Director General of the Transportation Equipment and Telematics Industry, Ministry of Industry (2010-2015 period) Dr. Ir. Budi Darmadi, M.Sc.; Inspector General of the Ministry of Industry (2015-2018 period) Ir. Soerjono, M.M.; President Director of PT Indoheat Metal Inti, Parizal; and General Manager of PT Sinar Putra Metalindo Amran Alamsyah.
During her education, Prof. Myrna completed her education from undergraduate to doctoral degree at the Universitas Indonesia. She received a bachelor’s degree in Metallurgical Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering in 1985. In 1992, she succeeded in obtaining a Master’s degree in Materials Science at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (FMIPA). In 2010, she returned to FTUI and received a Doctorate in Engineering. Some of her scientific works in the last year include the titles Effect of tempering temperature and sub zero treatment on microstructures, retained austenite, and hardness of AISI D2 tool steel (2023); Comparison of wet and dry milling on carbon biomass as dispersed particles in quench medium for steel heat treatment application (2023); and The Effect of Pyrolysis Duration on Thermal Conductivity, Stability, Viscosity, of Dispersed PCB-based Particles in Thermal Fluid (2023).
