Engineering Faculty of Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (UMY) invited a professor of Hydraulic Engineering, Professor Muto Yasunori, of Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Tokhusima, Japan on Wednesday (1/6) He was accompanied by Dean of Engineering Faculty of UMY Jazaul Ikhsan, S.T., M.T., Ph.D. and Head of Civil Engineering Department Ir. Anita Widiati, M.T. Professor Muto shared his experience when tsunami hit Japan on November 2011. “After huge wave occurred on Pacific beach in Japan, tsunami hit Tokushima in the 40th minute. Japan was shuttered because of the earthquake scale,” he stated.
Besides, Prof. Bambang Cipto, M.A. told tsunami in Aceh. “Tsunami in Aceh killed a great number of people and destructed buildings for a few minutes,” he conveyed.
Prof. Muto maintained that Japan attempted to minimize the number of victims due to disasters like tsunami. “After the tsunami, Japanese government constructed high and earthquake resistant buildings. A lot of preparations to confront the disasters in Japan are also necessary,” expressed Prof. Muto who was also a graduate of University of Bradford, the United Kingdom.
He explained that tsunami is derived from a Japanese word and is now used in the entire world. “Tsunami means tidal wave coming suddenly, or refers to underwater explosion,” he elucidated.
In the meeting, both parties proposed student exchange to learn and explore Tokushima. “I think that it is necessary to organize student exchange to Japan for a few weeks. Three weeks may be adequate,” Prof. Bambang said.
Nevertheless, Prof. Muto recommended that the student exchange could be longer than that since students need to learn many things. “I think three months are much better than a few weeks,” he argued.
Furthermore, Ir. Anita Widianti, M.T. mentioned that schedule with Prof. Muto from was noted from 5 to 14 January 2016. “The schedule is introduction of academic system at University of Tokushima as well as a short course for Civil Engineering students of UMY and a number of representatives of several universities in Yogyakarta,” she mentioned.
In his visit, Prof. Muro also observed the condition of Progo river with the students, and gave a lecture as one of the activities of the shout course.
“The visit of Prof. Muto is expected to provide a lot of information, cooperation, and merits for the development of Civil Engineering Department of UMY,” Anita wished.
