SGU establishes environmental lab

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Swiss German University (SGU) on Thursday inaugurated an environmental laboratory, which will provide its students as well as governmental institutions with the most up-to-date research equipment to study the environment.

Abdollah Kazemi, a German professor tasked with establishing the laboratory, said on Thursday that the laboratory would provide professional services, particularly with regard to the analysis of water, soil and sludge.

"It will also provide analysis of food for organic and inorganic pollutant contents," Kazemi, who is of Iranian descent, told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of the laboratory's inaugural ceremony at the SGU campus in Bumi Serpong Damai (BSD), Tangerang.

Also present at the ceremony were Jakarta deputy governor Fauzi Bowo, Iranian and German diplomats, officials from the Jakarta and Banten administrations and lecturers as well as students from the university.

Kazemi said the SGU environmental laboratory, equipped with automatic machines, was the equal of the environmental laboratory used by the German government.

"The process of analysis only takes place for few seconds and the results can be directly read on a computer screen," said Kazemi, who is a German government certified expert on environmental analysis.

Water analysis will show various pollutants -- metals, pesticides, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), cyanide, chloride, fluoride and phenol, while soil and sludge analysis will show the metals, mineral oils and PAH.

SGU Rector Peter Pscheid said that the laboratory was very important to intensify research on the condition of the environment.

"With the result of our studies, we may contribute input to decision makers -- government officials and legislators -- so that they can make the right policies on how to protect our environment," he added.

SGU was established in 2000. Starting with 32 students, the university now has over 800 students.

The university offers bachelors and masters programs in mechatronics engineering, business engineering, information and communications technology (ICT), software engineering, business computing, business administration, hotel and tourist management, pharmaceutical engineering, food technology and biomedical engineering.

Before finishing their studies, SGU students are required to undergo apprenticeship in Germany for at least six months.

The students are, therefore, required to speak not only English, but also German, according to the faculty coordinator of life sciences Maruli Pandjaitan.