Dr. Suherman, a lecturer at the UGM Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (FMIPA UGM), was officially inaugurated as a professor of analytical and environmental chemistry on Tuesday (Apr. 22) at the Senate Hall, UGM Central Office.
He delivered a professorial inaugural address titled “Development of Chemical Sensors and Biosensors Based on Nanomaterials for Environmental Analysis Applications.”
In his speech, Professor Suherman stated that one of the major environmental issues is water quality, especially drinking water for consumption.
A 2020 UNICEF study found that nearly 70% of drinking water sources were contaminated with domestic waste and posed a risk of causing diarrheal diseases due to poor household sanitation management.
“The presence of E. coli bacteria is one indicator of drinking water quality. On top of that, industrial pollutants, including heavy metals, further contaminate the water due to inadequate infrastructure,” he explained.
Professor Suherman developed sensor technologies containing nanomaterials to assess water quality, which offer exceptional sensitivity and can be used for water quality detection.
“Environmental sensor approaches, particularly for water samples, can be carried out using methods such as spectroscopy, electrochemistry, and optical sensors to detect nickel content,” he said.
The new professor mentioned that fluorescence-based spectroscopy methods could detect heavy metals utilizing sensor materials based on carbon dots.
The carbon dot (CD) sensors can also be applied as biosensors for detecting E. coli bacteria.
Professor Suherman emphasized that research in nanomaterials has progressed rapidly, expanding not only in terms of material modification but also in its increasingly broad range of applications.
The current challenges lie not only in achieving selectivity and sensitivity parameters but also in developing handheld, mobile, and real-time monitoring sensor instruments.
“This reveals a wide window of opportunity, and the need for interdisciplinary collaboration is very much apparent,” he remarked.
Professor Baiquni, chair of the UGM Professorial Board, noted that Professor Suherman is one of 526 active professors at UGM and one of 56 active professors out of the 76 who have ever served at FMIPA UGM.
Author: Jelita Agustine
Editor: Gusti Grehenson
Post-editor: Afifudin Baliya
Photographer: Donnie