Ian earns fame with his achievements

BRAUNSCHWEIG, Germany (JP): Born in Medan, North Sumatra, Harianto Wijaya just turned 25. Only last year he graduated with a Dipl-Ing (engineering) degree from the School of Information Engineering, Rhine-Westphalia Technical College (RWTH), Aachen, Germany. Though still very young, he has earned fame in the international information engineering community, particularly after Ian -- his nickname -- became the first recipient of the German government's green card a few months ago.

In the United States a green card is obtainable through a tight application process. In Germany, it is only for qualified university graduates. The German government calls this green card a High-Tech Visa.

"Germany is an excellent place for foreign skilled workers," said president of the German Labor Office, Bernhard Jagoda to Newsweek last July, after handing over the green card certificate to Ian in a ceremony attended by the manpower minister Walter Riester in Nurenberg.

Unlike other applicants, Ian was accepted without having to go through a series of tests because of his extraordinary achievements. He graduated from the university with excellent grades. He has written quite a few of scientific papers which have been published in a number of international computer engineering journals like IEEE (Institute for Electric and Electrical Engineering) and the European Wireless. His more stunning achievement is that he has obtained two patents in the mobile wireless communication area. He got his first patent together with his superior, Prof. B. Walke and the second with Siemens. With these qualifications and a recommendation from his professors, he could easily get the High-Tech Visa.

Ian said that he was indeed in need of this green card because it was the only permit that would serve as a passport for him to join Siemens-backed COVERAGE (Cellular OFDM System with Extension Point for Increased Transmission Range) project, and the Multihop project of BMBF, Germany's State Ministry for Education and Research. Through COVERAGE, Ian and his colleagues are now working at Mobile Wireless Company AixCom, which is owned by Walke, to develop the prototype of a HIPERLAN/2 (High Performance Local Area Network) system, namely the fourth generation of the system now employed in cellular telephones and communication satellites. In the Multihop project, Ian and his colleagues are developing a new concept for the future system, which is more sophisticated than the current system. The GSM now available in the market is the second generation. Together with Walke, Ian is now also working on the concept for the fifth generation.

With the LAN system he is developing, a computer will no longer need a cable. This system may be utilized for many purposes such as cellular phones, communication satellites and multimedia purposes. Later, photographs taken with a digital camera can be directly transmitted to the hard disk at home. If you forget to take a document with you, this system can upload the data stored in your office directly to your laptop.

It is this quality of genius Ian possesses that has made U.S. software companies interested in hiring him. For the present at least, Ian, taking Walke's recommendation, will pursue a deeper study of the theory and implementation of wireless LAN and at the same time join a post-graduate program. Besides, he will have to save money to join an MBA program in the United States. That's why he prefers to work in Germany although he earns only half of what U.S. companies have offered him, i.e. some DM 98,000 (about US$43,000) a year.

Ian, who has a younger brother now also studying in Aachen, said that he became attracted to the computer at the age of four when his father gave him a computer as a gift. He tried to join the Computer Management Business Institute in Medan but failed because he was too young. He tried again and this time he was allowed join the institute after his IQ was tested. "I believe I have a knack for information technology," he said.

He later sent applications to a number of U.S. and German universities. All his applications received a favorable response but he finally chose RWTH Aachen because his technology idol, Prof. B.J. Habibie was one of the graduates of this university. Ian, who likes to face challenges, said that studying at university in Germany was a lot more difficult and tougher than in other countries. When he began taking lectures in 1995, he majored in informatics or computer science and electrical engineering. He completed these studies in four years, causing astonishment among his lecturers because the normal period of study in this difficult department is seven years.

Although Ian, who enjoys cooking, has a lot of opportunities to work in a number of sophisticated companies, he has no intention to move to another country. He said he knew his country best of all and therefore he would prefer to work in his home country. With a population of some 200 million people, he said, Indonesia is a market with high potential for telecommunications. When he returns to Indonesia later, he plans to cooperate with telecommunications companies like PT Telkom, Indosat or Satelindo. Or, he will set up his own company in wireless communications.

Ian has been interviewed by almost 100 international print and electronic mass media like CNN, The Washington Post, Frankfurter Algemeine Zeitung and Financial Times. He said he had to work really hard to make his ambition materialize. At present he works some 65 hours a week.

"I spend virtually all my time taking lectures and working," said Ian, who loves to watch action and science fiction films as well as comedies. (Sri Pudyastuti Baumeister)