French President Granted IPB Lecturer Laureate Award 2018

The development of renewable energy is an important issue in the World today. In accordance with troublesome increasing pollution and global warming, member of developed countries have been competing with each other to obtain environmental-friendly energy substitutes. Environmental regulations are established aiming for oblige the industrial–forward countries to participate in resolving the global warming issue. Not merely those industrial countries that ought to obey, so do the developing countries. Dr. Ika Amalia Kartika, lecturer in Department of Agroindustrial Technology, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Bogor Agricultural University (IPB), Indonesia, has developed renewable energy in form of biodiesel derived from Nyamplung (Callophylum inophylum) fruit seeds. This plant can be found around coastal areas and rivers banks. Until now, Nyamplung fruit seeds have not been utilized for daily needs. This phenomenon motivated Dr. Ika’s research on converting Nyamplung fruit seeds to be biodiesel ingredients. Her work included Nyamplung oil refinery from resin, aside of by-products from Nyamplung fruit seeds. Compared to her initial work using castor fruit, the resulting content had remarkable improvement. Bringing this innovation, Dr. Ika participated in the “Make Our Planet Great Again 2018” programme. This project was initiated by the French government as an effort to tackle global warming and intended for international researchers and students. During this occasion that was participated by various countries, the French President granted Dr. Ika the Laureate Award on last October 2018.