ITHB Inaugurated 243 Fresh Graduates in 2016

On 3 September 2016, Harapan Bangsa Institute of Technology (ITHB) inaugurated 243 fresh graduates. A grand yet solemn graduation ceremony was held at Harris Hotel Convention Hall, Festival Citylink, Bandung. Among these former students, 37 graduated cum laude. Almost half (49%) of these 2016 graduates have already been employed by various multinational corporations before they even finished their study.

ITHB Rector Dr. Ir. Samuel Tarigan, M.B.A. in his inauguration remark emphasized that this year was an important year for fresh graduates to enter the world of work. This year has seen numerous improvements following the implementation of the government policies regarding bureaucratic reform, and large-scale investment in infrastructure. Economic prospects are promising on the one hand. However, fresh graduates must also realize on the other hand that the challenges would not at all be easy. They would not only have to earn a living, but, as scholars, they, as Tarigan advised, would also have to be able to educate the society by changing their way of thinking. It is a general view that our people are still users not producers of technology. Our economy still focuses on selling raw materials rather than producing processed materials. We still need to gear our people toward a culture in which reading, hard work, logical and data-informed thinking and argument are valued highly. The graduates, as the Rector again and again reminds ITHB students, are expected to be agents of change who can make Indonesia a more respectable country in the eye of the world.

In the occasion, Dr. Ir. Hoetomo Lembito, M.B.A., an expert in logistics and member of the Coordinating Minister of Economy’s expert staff, presented an academic oration on the role of higher education institutions in producing quality human resources in the field of logistics to improve the country’s human resources’ international competitiveness. At present, the logistics industry is in need of up to 17,000 people per year. The government realizes that its economic development cannot be separated from the development of both infrastructure and logistics human resources.

What ITHB is doing through the opening of the Supply Chain Management Program is in line with the government’s program initiated by President Jokowi. As one of ITHB’s foremost majors and the country’s first IT-based logistics program, ITHB’s Supply Chain Management program became a favorite choice immediately following its opening this year. About 50 students are currently registered at the program. A number of big companies in various sectors are already looking forward to recruiting them.

At the end of the graduation ceremony, R. Yusuf Fadli, an Engineering Informatics alumnus now working as General Manager at PT Equine Global, a large national IT company with 700 developers and programmers, gave his testimony on how the strong character education he received at ITHB has been crucial in his career and that it has led him to reach a senior position within only 6 years.