Student Activity: Campus Visit to Korea

Study Visit DTK UI 2019

CHEMICAL PROCESS ENGINEERING IN INDONESIA AND KOREA:EXPANDING PROCESS BOUNDARY OF NATURAL INGREDIENTS THROUGH CHEMICAL AND BIOPROCESS ENGINEERING

In general, the visit was carried out to examine how technology is used in campuses and facilities that produce natural ingredients, to explore opportunities for research collaboration between Indonesia and Korea through Universitas Indonesia, and to carry out comparisons between the Research Center for Biomedical Engineering at the University of Iowa and BIOMAX-SNU in Korea. The funding for its implementation came entirely from participant tuition fees, support from the UI Research Center for Biomedical Engineering and the Chemical Engineering Department, as well as sponsors from PT Luas Birus Utama, PT Garuda Indonesia, Tbk., and PT Kinarya Inovasi Mandiri, who provided financial assistance or product assistance.

The crew first pays a visit to Chonnam National University in Gwangju, South Korea, which has contributed to the advancement of polymer technology in a number of ways. Chonnam National University conducted research to create polymers for electrical applications. In essence, they are working to create synthetic and organic polymer materials that, through physical and genetic alteration, can have tremendous flexibility. This is required in order to use polymer materials in infrastructure, particularly where it is necessary to maximize available space. The research also includes the production of carbon nanotubes lining the modified polymer side to reinforce the molecular structure of the polymer. As the national polymer industry is still fixated on the use of simple raw processing industries, opportunities for cooperation between Indonesia and Korea through Chonnam National University can be done in the process of developing raw materials into intermediate materials that have these specifications. Indonesia has the benefit of having a wealth of natural resources to support its industrial and research needs, giving it significant potential negotiating leverage.

In Sintanjin, Daejeon, South Korea, the visit was then extended to the Korea Tobacco & Ginseng Corporation Factory. This facility, which is the biggest one that belongs to KT&G, makes everything from premium cigars to traditional and electronic cigarettes. This facility has the capacity to manufacture 5000 tons of finished, combustible tobacco. Additionally, there are 2 factories abroad, specifically 1 in the Russian Federation Republic and 1 in the United States, and 5 industrial facilities in South Korea. Due to logistical reasons, the ginseng processing plant can only be operated in South Korea. Each of the 21 production machines of the Sintanjin plant has a capacity of 16,000 cigarettes per minute, and they can all operate simultaneously. In general, processing tobacco leaf raw materials imported or sourced from South Korea accounts for 30 to 40% of the process used to make cigarettes at KT&G. For this raw material to produce flavors and smells that meet the established product criteria, processing begins with the humidification process, which ferments tobacco leaves. The humidification phase is followed by two steps of the casing process.

The visit to the BIONEER Corporation production facility, which is involved in the development of genetics, was then made. The development of genetic technology in South Korea stretches back to the 1980s. A trend toward using organic materials in manufacturing at the time led domestic investors to believe that supporting genetic technology was necessary. This prompted the South Korean government to take the initiative and start building a genetic material processing facility that can be utilized to support homegrown research and eliminate the need for imports. In order to broaden the scope of analysis and the development of analytical tools, BIONEER Corporation has moved beyond manufacturing facilities to genetic material.

In addition, the School of Chemical and Biological Engineering was visited at Seoul National University on the following visit. The team was welcomed to share information about chances for research collaboration, particularly in the area of creating products from natural materials. Opportunities for this collaboration can be achieved in one of two ways: either by working with the National Research Foundation of Korea, which offers opportunities for South Korean researchers to collaborate with researchers from other countries, particularly Indonesia, or by working with universities that have a joint funding system. The group also launched an appeal with BIOMAX-SNU, the primary source of research for biomedical fields like RCBE-UI.

A visit at the Indonesian Embassy and an industry exhibition at the COEX Convention Center marked the end of the visit. Mr. Purno Widodo, the acting head of the Indonesian Embassy's Education, Social Affairs, and Culture Division, welcomed the visitor. He discussed how the bilateral relationship of the Government to Government (G-to-G) system, which enables investors from each nation to invest and receive the same benefits as those provided to their respective citizens, has led to a close partnership between South Korea and Indonesia. The opportunity for investment between South Korean consumers and Indonesian industry is enormous, with a target of 30 billion US dollars. Higher education institutions are strongly advised to lobby the central government to accommodate the research and development interests at the Indonesian Embassy in Seoul in light of the enormous potential for research collaboration. This will open up the possibility of developing technology-intensive industries in the form of joint corporations in both South Korea and Indonesia. The industrial exhibition I visited also featured automation tools for the manufacturing process, but it also placed a strong emphasis on sensor effectiveness and fuel usage.