Unggun Dahana from the master program of the Department of Marine Engineering, ITS, the oldest graduate at the ITS 124th Graduation, while monitoring the sea using a drone at the port.

ITS Campus, ITS News – Age is not a barrier to continuously gaining knowledge, as evidenced by Unggun Dahana, the oldest graduate at the 124th Graduation of Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS), Saturday (9/10). This graduate from the Department of Marine Engineering has completed his master’s program (S2) at 59 years and three months.

Unggun’s motivation to continue his studies stems from his undergraduate studies majoring in Ship Persistence Engineering at ITS in 1985. In addition, many seniors and juniors are lecturers at ITS. His interest in the marine world made him choose a master’s degree in Marine Engineering, ITS.

This department is also in line with the work he has been given in the oil and gas sector in oil and gas inspection and certification. Even though he is 59 years old, Unggun is still passionate about studying because, according to him, learning must be continued continuously. “Age is not a limit for learning,” he said.

Unggun Dahana as the oldest ITS graduate at the 124th ITS Graduation

This graduate who managed to get a 3.72 GPA said that he had encountered obstacles during the process of studying. This is because they rarely use the rules of scientific writing in their field of work. So he must learn more and adapt to the scientific writing system. “Because I am a practitioner, I rarely write with scientific principles at work,” he explained.

In dividing his time between lectures and work, Unggun, who took part in the online graduation procession, admitted that he had no difficulties. Classes are held five times a week, and each only lasts 2-3 hours, making it easier for him to manage his time.

The man who graduated with very satisfactory honors has succeeded in producing a thesis titled The Use of Drones for Monitoring Maritime Operations and Analyzing the Gap Between the Purpose of the Regulation of the Automatic Identification System and its Performance. This thesis aims to monitor the sea using a drone system to complement the Automatic System Identification (AIS) identification system at ports. There are still many ships that are not read by radar.

Unggun Dahana while following the online ITS 124th Graduation procession

Born on July 24, 1962, the graduate said that his thesis was inspired by the book entitled Maritime Economics by Stopford. This book tells about the maritime economic triumph in Mesopotamia since 5,000 years ago.

Unggun hopes that the thesis he has written can be helpful for safety in various fields. He explained that safety aspects should be considered when creating technology because there are proven prohibitions for some technologies. “I hope to prioritize safety and environmental aspects in developing technology,” he said.

Unggun also thanked the lecturers who motivated him to complete his Masters at ITS, particularly Dr. Ir Agoes Santoso MSc MPhil, Raja Oloan Saut Gurning ST MSc Ph.D., and Prof. Dr. Ketut Buda Artana ST MSc. “These three lecturers have always inspired and motivated me,” he concluded. (ITS Public Relation/far)