UNAIR NEWS – At first he was just trying his luck when he applied for a position, but now Sugiyana, an alumnus of Physics bachelor program, Faculty of Science and Technology (FST), Universitas Airlangga is a supervisor in a lab of National Nuclear Power Agency (BATAN).
He never thought that he would be accepted in the nuclear energy agency. After he finished his study in Physics bachelor program, he sent a lot of job applications to various institutions. BATAN was one of them.
“There was no real intention actually to get into BATAN as I was taking a military test at that time,” said Sugiyana over the phone on Monday, January 23.
Now, he is responsible for one of the Nuclear Emergency Laboratories, Whole Body Counter Laboratory. It is stationed in Jakarta, his job is to check the employees believed to be contaminated by radioactive.
“My job is to check the employees who have made contact with radioactive. Every country must have nuke emergency unit. In Indonesia, it is in BATAN and I am the person in charge,” said Sugiyana who has worked in BATAN since 1992.
As a nuclear regulator, his job requires him to often update his knowledge on spectroscopy and its supporting instruments. Sugiyana had to learn about internal dosimetry and look after the instrument to it would work well every time. He and his team are also obliged to maintain the quality of measurement so the result can be acknowledged by the international community.
To update his knowledge on nuclear power, Sugiyana has taken part in education and trainings. He has been in Internal Exposure Monitoring in Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI), and Computer Modelling and Simulation in Pusdiklat BATAN, Radiation Measurement and Nuclear Spectroscopy in BATAN-JAERI.
He has also been in trainings such as Statistic Application for Data Processing in Training center (Pusdiklat) BATAN, Radiological Emergency Preparedness and Response in BATAN and Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), also Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) First Responder Training Program in Defence Research and Development, Canada.
Even he has been a nuclear regulator, the alumnus of Physics in 1985 also published his works. Some of them are Accuracy Level of Whole Body Counter Device Accuscan Canberra Model 2260, Prototype Status of Whole Body Counter Mobile Dual Probe, and Creation of Mannequin Phantom 5 Age Groups for Calibration of Whole Body Counter Device.
Asked about nuclear energy future in Indonesia, Sugiyana said that he believes that it will be used widely in daily life.
“Because the nuclear energy is inexpensive and safe. We don’t have to be afraid of electricity nuclear plant (PLTN). I don’t know why the government prioritized fossil fuel or coals,” he said.
Physics
Sugiyana did not use to be interested with the one of the oldest science in the world. During admission test, he chose Marine Engineering as the first choice, and Physics as the second.
“I just chose Physics. Most importantly in East Java. So I chose UNAIR,” said Sugiyana.
He admitted that during his study, he was not an active student in organization or scientific conference. Asked about his GPA, he said that it was not more than 2.50.
“The highest in the same class was 2.80,” he said.
He advised UNAIR students to make the most of any opportunities to join competitions. “Students must often take parts in competitions between universities,” he said. (*)
Author : Defrina Sukma
Editor : Faridah Hari
