The demand for research and technological development in education continues to increase. This forces Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (UMY) to continue innovating and following the market’s demands for lecturer and student creativity in order to branch out to various disciplines. For that, UMY in association with PT. UMB (Umat Mandiri Berkemajuan) under UCT (Umat Construction Testing and Trading) has started a project to build a Research and Innovation Center building. This building will later be used as a center for research and development of many different disciplines in UMY.
In the M. Dasron Hamid Ground Breaking Research and Innovation Center ceremony, the Head of the Central Board of Muhammadiyah, Dr. Haedar Nashir, M.Si was present to officiate the building of the new UMY research and innovation center. Haedar stated that this building is named after the late M. Dasron Hamid, because the former Rector of UMY has always dreamed of building a research building within the UMY campus complex.
“Now we can make his dreams come true, as well as remember him for all his deeds. God willing, with the 120 billion funds, we can use this building to its maximum potential. Later, UMY lecturers will be given scholarships to increase their knowledge. We hope that in two years, after the building has been completed, it will provide for UMY lecturers’ representative research, not only exact science but also in social and humanities,” He stated.
The same notion was given by the current Rector of UMY, Dr. Ir. Gunawan Budiyanto, MP. He stated that the laboratorium will function not only as a research center for UMY academic personnel, but also from researchers from outside of UMY. “Until now, professors from outside of UMY cannot research exact sciences. We hope that the research and innovation center will help the researchers to perform research in not only social and humanities, but also for exact sciences. If we perform good deeds for the people, then good things will come to us,” He stated.
Meanwhile, Alni Rahmawati, S.E., M.M as the director of PT. UMB stated that the research and innovation center will be build over a 11.272 meter square land with 7 floors and 8 research clusters. The construction process is projected to take two years. “We hope that this building will support the three values of higher education, especially in research” she stated.
Alni also stated that UMY aims to build Cafe 1912 next to the Admission building. “Because this construction will take a parking location, the existing parking spaces need to be regulated, so lecturers and students are not allowed to use their vehicles in certain campus areas. This is done to help support the green campus program so the people in the UMY complex will feel more comfortable breathing the clean campus air,” she added. (ads)
