Dr Bidhari Pidhatika, a senior researcher in the Research Center for Polymer Technology of the National Research and Innovation Agency, Republic of Indonesia (BRIN Indonesia), has won the prestigious APEC-Australia Women in Research Fellowship to conduct research at the College of Medicine and Public Health together with Professor Krasimir Vasilev and his team at the Biomedical Nanoengineering Laboratory.
Dr Pidhatika will use the unique surface nanoengineering capabilities available in the Biomedical Nanoengineering Laboratory to work on a project entitled “Plasma treatments for strong adhesion between bioplastics and natural colourants”
Bidhari graduated from Universitas Gadjah Mada (Indonesia) in 2003 and from Chalmers University of Technology (Sweden) in 2006. She then joined the Laboratory for Surface Science and Technology at ETH Zürich (Switzerland) for a PhD program. In 2011 just after her graduation from PhD program, she received the L’Oreal-UNESCO For Women in Science Fellowship with a research topic: Antimicrobial Surfaces. In 2016- 2018 she had the opportunity to carry out a prestigious research fellowship funded by the Alexander von Humboldt (AvH) Foundation in developing dual-functional (biopassive-bioactive) coatings for biomaterials.
Bidhari worked for the Ministry of Industry, the Republic of Indonesia from 2003 to April 2022. In May 2022 she joined the newly formed National Research and Innovation Agency, Republic of Indonesia (BRIN Indonesia) as a senior researcher in the Research Center for Polymer Technology, under the Research Organization of Nanotechnology and Materials.
Project Outline
According to a critical literature overview on the role of plastics concerning the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, it was clear that plastics play important roles in modern society, sustainable development, and the success of the 2030 Agenda. Research and development of new solutions/ materials were one of the future scenarios outlined in decreasing the negative impacts of plastics on the environment. Indonesia’s imports from Australia of Plastics and articles were US$61.94 Million in 2019, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database. It is the responsibility of both countries to take part in the research and development of new solutions/materials to minimize the negative impact of plastics. In the proposed project, the effect of surface modification of starch-based plastics with natural colorants on the multifunctionality of the surface of the plastics (non-fouling, antibacterial properties, etc) will be assessed. While the substrates (starch) and natural colorants (surface modifier) are abundant in Indonesia, we lack experts and laboratory facilities in plasma technology, which is a highly interesting emerging technology for surface modifications of various substrates. A successful project in this direction will foster ongoing collaboration and cooperation between Australia and Indonesia, which can be initially started from this APEC-Australia Women in Research Fellowship.
Goal
Local and international collaborative networks are keys to achieving sustainable goals, as well as to recovering together and recovering stronger (in line with the G20 Presidency theme 2022). Performing the international research project in Australia is one of my efforts in building the international network and aligning forces internationally.
Profile
Bidhari graduated from Universitas Gadjah Mada (Indonesia) in 2003 and from Chalmers University of Technology (Sweden) in 2006. She then joined the Laboratory for Surface Science and Technology at ETH Zürich (Switzerland) for a PhD program. In 2011 just after her graduation from PhD program, she received the L’Oreal-UNESCO For Women in Science Fellowship with a research topic: Antimicrobial Surfaces. In 2016- 2018 she had the opportunity to carry out a prestigious research fellowship funded by the Alexander von Humboldt (AvH) Foundation in developing dual-functional (biopassive-bioactive) coatings for biomaterials.
Bidhari worked for the Ministry of Industry, the Republic of Indonesia from 2003 to April 2022. In May 2022 she joined the newly formed National Research and Innovation Agency, Republic of Indonesia (BRIN Indonesia) as a senior researcher in the Research Center for Polymer Technology, under the Research Organization of Nanotechnology and Materials.