Faculty Member from the Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering FTIRS Serves as Visiting Lecturer at King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (KMITL), Thailand

On Thursday and Friday, July 24–25, 2025, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Widyastuti, a lecturer from the Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering, FTIRS ITS, served as a Visiting Lecturerat theDepartment of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, KMITL (King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang), Thailand. She delivered lectures on the subject Engineering Materials, focusing on the topics of Crystalline Solid Structures (Part II)and Imperfections in Solids. The students were part of an international class composed not only of Thai students but also international students, including several from Myanmar. To open the session, students were shown a short video introducing ITS, a glimpse of Surabaya City, and Indonesia as a whole. After a brief discussion, the class proceeded with a pre-test to assess the students’ initial understanding of the topics.

During the lecture on Crystalline Structures, Dr. Widyastuti explained the fundamental concepts, followed by an interactive activity where students physically demonstrated these concepts. All students gathered at the front of the class, ready to participate. When the word “crystal” was mentioned, they lined up to form a repeating, periodic crystal unit. When the term “grain” and “grain boundary” was called out, they formed a larger group representing a grain, with distinct boundaries between groups. Students were then divided into two teams—male and female—for a fun, competitive activity on the topic of imperfections in solids. They acted out various defects, including point defects such as vacancies, interstitials, and substitutional atoms, and two-dimensional defects like dislocations. The interactive method was very well received, as it helped students better visualize and understand the concepts. The winning group received Indonesian snacks as souvenirs, and students who asked or answered questions were given Indonesian rupiah banknotes as memorable tokens. The session concluded with a post-test, followed by a group discussion of the answers and an evaluation of how well the material was absorbed by the students. One noticeable difference from classrooms in Indonesia was that Thai students wear uniforms during lectures.

In addition to teaching, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Widyastuti had a meeting with Assoc. Prof. Chumpol Yuangyai, PhD, Head of the Department of Industrial Engineering. He expressed his appreciation for the opportunity given to Assoc. Prof. Yonrapach Areerob, a KMITL faculty member, to join the Guest Lecture Series and the Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) program initiated by ITS’s Directorate of Global Partnership (DKG). He also thanked the Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering at ITS for allowing one of its staff members to serve as a visiting lecturer and teach KMITL students. He further expressed interest in expanding collaboration opportunities between KMITL and other ITS academic communities, particularly in joint research, publications, and student exchange programs.

During the visit, the ITS delegation also toured the KMITL Museum, the KMITL Lifelong Learning Center (KLCC), and 42 Bangkok, a campus focused on innovative education. They also visited KMITL Inter, which was hosting an international cultural and education exhibition at the time. In parallel, an online lecture session was conducted between the ITS Department of Industrial Engineering and KLCC. ITS has held an MoU with KMITL since 2021. As of 2025, KMITL ranks among the top 10 universities in Thailand(ranked 9th nationally base THE) and is listed within the 1201–1400 band in the QS World University Rankings.

After completing the visit to KMITL, the ITS delegation continued to Thammasat University. According to the QS World University Rankings 2025, Thammasat University is ranked 551 globally. The delegation visited the Department of Physics, which includes a program in Materials Science, and met with the Head of Department, Assoc. Prof. Rawat Jaisutti, who is also an active researcher in the Research Unit in Innovative Sensors and Nano-electronic Devices. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Widyastuti presented various initiatives under the Directorate of Global Partnership (DKG), ongoing research programs within the Directorate of Research and Community Service (DRPM), as well as academic activities under the Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering. The meeting explored a wide range of potential collaborations, including academic exchanges, joint research, publications, and student mobility programs.