Panut Mulyono was inaugurated as Rector of Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) on 26 May 2017 for the term of office between 2017-2022. He was born in Kebumen, Central Java, in June 1960, graduating from Chemical Engineering Department at Faculty of Engineering UGM in 1986 and soon became assistant lecturer in that Department. Later he earned both his Master of Engineering (M.Eng.) and Doctor of Engineering (D.Eng.) degrees from Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan, respectively in 1990 and 1993. His doctoral dissertation was entitled Concentration Difference Heat Pump Using Fusion and Freezing Processes. On 10 April 2018 Panut Mulyono was granted Honoris Causa doctorate (Dr. H.C.) in education by Hanseo University, Korea. He received Primary Professional Engineer Certificate (IPU) from The Institution of Engineers Indonesia in March 2019, then he earned the status of ASEAN Engineer (ASEAN Eng.) from the ASEAN Federation of Engineering Organizations (AFEO) on 13 September 2019.
He held a number of positions at UGM, including Head of Instrumental Analysis Laboratory, Chemical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering (2007–2008), Assistant Director of Finance of The Quality of Undergraduate Education (QUE) Project in Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering (1999–2004), Assistant Director of Equipment of The Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund (OECF) UGM Project (2000–2005), Assistant Director of Finance of The Competition Grant Program B (PHK B), Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering (2006–2008), Vice-Director of Facilities and Infrastructure of Faculty of Engineering (1995–2003), Vice-Director of Finance of Faculty of Engineering (2003–2005), Assistant to Vice-Dean II of Faculty of Engineering for Planning and Facilities-Infrastructure (2005–2008), Vice-Dean of Faculty of Engineering for Administration, Finance, and Human Resource (2008–2012), and Dean of Faculty of Engineering (from 2012–1016 and 2016–2017). Panut Mulyono also served in Board of Experts of UGM’s Centre for Energy Studies since 1997 until today.
Panut Mulyono earned awards as Outstanding Lecturer I, Faculty of Engineering UGM in 1996, and in May 2012 earned Satyalencana Karya Satya XX award from the President of the Republic of Indonesia. Then he earned Satyalencana Karya Satya XXX award in August 2019. Furthermore, a 25 Years of Service award was earned from Rector of UGM in 2013. On 2 May 2018 Panut Mulyono was granted Dwija Widya Abiyasa honorary title by Darma Persada University, and on 1 October 2019 he was declared the winner of Academic Leader Award 2019 in the category of Lecturer with Additional Duties as Rector of Legal Entity State University which is organised by Director General of Science & Technology Resource and Higher Education in the Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education. He was appreciated as Tough Rector 2020 by Obsession Media Group (OMG) in May 2020 and he was also granted the Best University Leaders by OMG on 17 December 2021. Meanwhile he earned Chemical Engineering Education Leader award from Chemical Engineering Chapter of The Institution of Engineers Indonesia in November 2021.
Panut Mulyono conducted research in areas of heat transfer, mass transfer, and energy. Many of his research were related to extraction of precious substances from Indonesian plants, extraction of metal elements from Indonesian mineral substances, and new and renewable energies. Panut Mulyono has published over 67 scientific papers in national and international journals, and proceedings in national and international seminars. Panut Mulyono has written two books, those are Chemical Engineering Systems Analysis (ISBN: 978-602-386-154-5) and Engineering Economics (ISBN: 978-602-386-930-5), and a chapter of Hydrogen as Renewable Energy: Production Process, Transportation, and Storage in a book entitled From Yogyakarta for Indonesian Energy (ISBN: 978-602-97979-3-0). He also co-author of a chapter entitled the Implementation of Pancasila: Moral Science Obstacle and Scientific Approach in a book of Nation’s Character Building Through the Implementation of Pancasila (ISBN: 978-623-376-124-6).
At UGM he teaches courses including Heat Transfer, Analysis and Optimisation of Chemical Engineering Systems, Analysis with Instrumentation in Chemical Engineering, Engineering Economics, Energy Management and Conservation, Mathematical Analysis in Chemical Engineering, Advanced Mathematical Analysis, Environmental Systems Modelling, The Potential of Industrial Raw Materials, Operations Management, Hazardous Waste Control, Engineering Drawing, and Calculus.
He joined professional organisations such as The Institution of Engineers Indonesia (PII) and The Society of Chemical Engineers of Japan (SCEJ). He is chairman of Indonesia Rector Forum (FRI) for the service period of 2021-2022 and also chairman of Higher Education Forum for Village (PERTIDES) since 2019.
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