Politeknik STTT Bandung Indonesia marked the end of the SMARTEX project by the SMARTEX final conference
"Smartex Final Conference" marked the conclusion of the SMARTEX project, which has successfully continued for the past three and a half years since the end of 2019. It is also important to note that the project struggled during the COVID-19 global pandemic, which lasted for almost the whole project's duration. There was battle on its ups and downs, difficult communication dynamics, and any other unique conditions during this time, but it has finally made it to this final event.
The smartex project, a partnership of institutions in Europe and Asia that provide degrees in textile technology and textile engineering, is a mutually advantageous international collaboration for the growth and internationalization of educational programs of each partner. For Politeknik STTT Bandung specifically, it is in fact consistent with the university's goal of developing into a premier international institution of higher learning with a focus on textile, apparel, and fashion design. A wider range of textile communities throughout the world are now accessible to play and mingle in thanks to Politeknik STTT's participation as one of the Smartex consortium's members.
Final report on the project accomplishments in Politeknik STTT Bandung, with a focus on a few standout deliverables. One of this project's main goals was accomplished by updating three already-existing courses that were used in three of our Bachelor's degree departments, namely Technical Textiles in the Department of Textile Engineering, Smart Textiles and Fashionable Technology in the Department of Textile Chemistry, and Advanced Garment and Smart Clothing in the Department of Garment Production and its concentration in Fashion Design. Out of the 87 modules created by all the Smartex partners, Politeknik STTT's Smartex project team has created 11 modules in English specifically for those courses. Additionally, we translated 29 modules as the subjects for the aforementioned three courses.
The three upgraded courses have been put into practice in the odd-numbered semesters of the academic years 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 for students in the three departments of our Bachelor's program.
In the purpose of capacity building, Politeknik STTT has acquired three new pieces of equipment from the project money that have been used for staff and student research and education.
- Electrochemical workstation potentiostat
- Contact angle goniometer
- High speed stirrer for making the micro- or nanometer sized particles/materials
Internships have been implemented for sixth semester students in our domestic textile and apparel industries as well as in the three European countries involved in this project for the purpose of international mobilities, which is one of the project's main deliverables. We sent 246 students to a total of 83 companies in the even semester of 2021 for internships in the national textile industries.
Additionally, we have taken part in the other Smartex Project events, such as management and consortium meetings, academic symposiums, academic visits, and online and offline training sessions.
The conclusion of this project was celebrated at the conference taking place on July 4, 2023. There were a diverse group of presenters for the Final Conference who will mostly discuss smart textiles from various angles. The first plenary session's speakers were all academics: Dr. Mohamad Widodo from Politeknik STTT Bandung in Indonesia, Dr. Benny Malengier from Ghent University in Belgium, and Prof. Muhammad Tufail from NED University of Engineering in Karachi, Pakistan. In the second plenary session, 5 representative students were presented in an interesting talk show to share their experiences in having international internship in Europe and the pilot teaching of the updated courses under the Smartex Project during the semester.
There were a total of 12 oral presenters from each of the Smartex project partners in the concurrent sessions. Politeknik STTT Bandung was honored to host both domestic and foreign visitors, including representatives of the Smartex project partners (Universiteit Gent, Belgium; University of West Attica, Greece; NED University of Engineering, Pakistan; Bahaudin Zakaria University, Pakistan; Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia; and Universiti Tun Husein Onn, Malaysia); Polytechnics under the Indonesian Ministry of Industry; Indonesian Textile Industries; and Indonesian Textile and Apparel Industries.
Download the Book of Conference Program from here
