UNAIR NEWS – The Dewa Ruci Room at the Airlangga Convention Center (ACC), Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR), came alive with a vibrant mix of languages and cultures from Malaysia and Thailand on Tuesday, September 15, 2026. A total of 18 top students from six universities from Malaysia and Thailand attended the 2026 EXCEED x NEWTON Integration Student Mobility Program, an output from a collaboration between Faculty of Advanced Technology and Multidiscipline (FTMM) and Faculty of Science and Technology (FST) UNAIR.
This program operates under the broader umbrella of “UNAIR Integration”, focusing on key themes related to the SDGs: waste management, environment, and biomedicine. Those 18 students are coming from Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Management and Science University, Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN), Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), and Prince of Songkla University, Thailand.
Warm regards for friends from Malaysia and Thailand
The first day agenda began with a Saman Dance performance and the national anthems from three of the participating countries, followed by a ceremonial session. Opening remarks from the Director of Airlangga Global Engagement, Irfan Wahyudi SSos MComms PhD, warmly welcomed all of the international participants.
“Good morning, everyone. On behalf of Universitas Airlangga, I would like to extend a warm welcome to all of you, the outstanding students from Malaysia and Thailand. Welcome to Surabaya, welcome to Universitas Airlangga. May this program mark the beginning of our collaboration and our friendship,” said Wahyudi.
After the ceremonial session, the participants continued to attend the day’s two main sessions: “Transformation of Solid Waste to Materials and Energy” by Dr Eko Prasetyo Kuncoro ST DEA, and “Carbon-Based Nanomaterials for Various Applications” by Mirza Ardella Saputra SSi MSc PhD.
Research showcase and plans for future collaborations
According to the Dean of FTMM UNAIR, Prof Dr Ir Retna Apsari MSi IPM ASEAN Eng, a series of the event will continue to following days ahead, ranging from laboratorium visit and FTMM facility tour which specifically designed to highlight UNAIR’s strength in technology and engineering, until the closing of the program’s series with ecotourism excursion to Malang.
“The international participants were very enthusiastic. In fact, many of them were requesting materials about the environment. In the future, we hope UNAIR will be able to forge deeper partnership, whether through joint research, joint activity, or joint publication,” said Prof Apsari.
She acknowledged that preparations for the event were completed on relatively short notice. Nevertheless, the entire program ran smoothly, thanks to the strong teamwork of the organizing committee. “Hopefully, the participants can exchange ideas and build networks for future collaboration,” said Prof. Apsari.
Author: Farelnanda Ramadhani
Editor: Ragil Kukuh Imanto
