UGM, in synergy with KAGAMA held a webinar on UGM Contribution in Handling Covid -19 through the Invention of Medical Tools on Sunday (31/1) via the Zoom Meeting Room. Approximately 800 participants attended the event. The Rector appreciated this event, considering how Indonesian people are currently struggling to overcome the pandemic and restore the disrupted economy.
“Hopefully, each of us can contribute to overcoming this problem,” said Prof. Ir. Panut Mulyono, M.Eng., D.Eng., IPU., ASEAN Eng. in his speech commencing the webinar.
In his presentation, the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto said that tens of millions were infected and millions of people died due to the Covid-19 outbreak. As of January 30, 2021, there were 1.06 million confirmed positive, and 862.5 thousand were cured in Indonesia.
“Looking at the economic impact,” he continued, “2020 is an unprecedented year and never happened in the last 100 year.”
“As we can see, our economy suffers contraction but not worse than other countries,” he said
Looking at the mortality rate and GDP contraction in the past year, Indonesia is in the best possible situation, where health and economic management can go hand in hand, not sacrificing one another. UGM also contributes to the development of the Merah-Putih Vaccine through GeNose. Moreover, Airlangga added, UGM is expected to increase the research and innovation products not only in the pharmaceutical and health fields, but also in other fields such as garden-based agriculture, sustainable economic activities, and the downstream products; both minerals and their derivatives and the digitization of the economy to accelerate economic improvement which will involve many young people.
The presentation was commenced by Prof. dr. Sofia Mubarika, M.Med.Sc., Ph.D. discussing “Rapid Test RI – GHA, Our Contribution to the Country”. Prof. Sofia and the team developed the RI-GHA Test to help to trace as well and determine policies in handling Covid-19.
Next was Dr.apt. Ika Puspitasari, M.Si., Ph.D. delivering her presentation titled “Production of Viral Transport Medium (VTM) for Handling and Prevention of COVID-19″. This team was established voluntarily. However, it turned out many hospitals have ordered this VTM. Currently, VTM has been acknowledged and required by several hospitals, especially in Yogyakarta, Central Java, and several regions in Indonesia.
The third speaker was Dr. Eng. Adhika Widyaparaga, S.T., M.Biomed. E. explaining “V-01 ICU Ventilator and R-03 Emergency Ventilator by Team Jogja”. He developed ventilators to help the hospital in need.
Then, Prof. Drs. Kuwat Triyana, M.Si., Ph.D., delivered his presentation titled “GeNose C19 for Health and Economic Recovery During the Covid-19 Pandemic”. GeNose is one of UGM innovations that caught public attention because it can detect the Covid-19 virus through the breath. GeNose is a significant innovation believed to be able to assist health workers in dealing with this pandemic.
The last presentation was delivered by Prof. Dr. Paripurna, S.H., M.Hum., LL.M. titled “UGM Product Downstream Process for Covid-19 Prevention”. He said that the science techno park supports down-streaming the innovations by facilitating funding and trial testing. Furthermore, creating a good university ecosystem proves that UGM is embracing and facilitating researchers who are qualified and have innovation to downstream their products.
Various innovations have been discovered and developed by UGM academicians to help this country survive amid a pandemic. It is tangible evidence of how researchers implemented science and utilized the technology.
This webinar is expected to give the participant insight. Therefore, they could contribute to handling the pandemic and respond to global challenges.
[Alumni Relations / Articles: Winona, Photo: Dave]