Micro Changes Initiate Giant Impact for Unit Operation Laboratory Future

By Elan Patria Nusadi

An ideal chemical engineering graduate is required to have certain competencies in

order to carry out his functions and skills when working in a chemical plant. One of the
competencies that must be possessed is knowledge of operating and understand how the work
of instruments which commonly used in plant process activities. The main function of the
Unit Operation Laboratory is to provide educational services in operating tools related to
chemical engineering and research in order to improve the quality of learning outcomes. The
practical material carried out at the Unit Operation Laboratory Undip are wetted wall column,
fluidization, filtration, size reduction, heat transfer, drying, and fluid flow. Due to the
importance of the existence of the unit operation practicum, innovations both from the system
to the practicum material must be held from year to year so its always revelant with the
changes of era.

In general, the unit operation practicum that is currently being implemented has been
going well. Even so, it still needs to be updated so that the objectives and the implementation
of the practicum always bring goodness to the assistants and practicant. An understanding of
importance of the unit operation practicum must be instilled to practicant since the preface,
this can be done by inviting guest speakers with industrial backgrounds to explain that the
knowledge they will learn is very important to support their future careers. Guest speakers
can come from Undip Chemical Engineering alumni, or even former unit operation
laboratory assistants.

In addition, the quality of the facilities in the operating unit laboratory must also be
maintained and updated. Laboratory assistants need to always report the condition of the
equipment to the lecturer in charge, and fight for funding for the sake of laboratory needs. For
example, in the filtration practicum, the rubber connecting the bulkheads on the equipment
has leaked a lot, such a condition, although it seems trivial, can have implications for the
quality of the data obtained by the practicant. So it’s important to replace it with a new
rubber. In addition, innovations that can be applied are by decorating the tools to make them
look more attractive, for example in the fluidization practicum, where the plywood board
looks monotonous and looks gloomy, laboratory assistants can innovate by decorating the
board so that the practitioners do the practicum with more excitement.
 The following has presented several innovations resulting from the author's thinking
on the operation of the unit operation practicum from system to technical needs. It is hoped
that this innovation can be used as a reference to always maintain the quality of the operating
unit's laboratory. Because the author believes: micro changes initiate giant impact for unit
operation laboratory future.