INFOMATIC PTE. LTD Singapore Visited Multimedia Nusantara University

INFOMATIC Singapore representative visited UMN. (Doc. Marketing Communications UMN)

TANGERANG – Multimedia Nusantara University (UMN) welcomed a visit from Oliver Wu, the Managing Director of INFOMATIC PTE. LTD, Singapore, to discuss potential collaboration between the two parties. The meeting was conducted offline at the UMN campus on the 24th of January, 2023.

Oliver’s visit was welcomed by several UMN representatives: Prof. Dr. Muliawati G. Siswanto, M.Eng.Sc. (Vice Chancellor for Relations and Cooperation), Boby Arinto, S.E., M.M. (Global Office Manager), Marojahan Tampubolon (Electrical Engineering Lecturer), and a few UMN Electrical Engineering students.

“I received information about Olivier Wu’s plan to visit UMN. This company (INFOMATIC) provides simulation software for the power electronics field, including hardware and software systems. Software like this will be very much needed for the Power Electronics course held by the Electrical Engineering Study Program in the future,” Marojahan said.

Oliver Wu introduces PLECS to UMN representatives. (Doc. Marketing Communications UMN)

INFOMATIC Pte. Ltd. is an authorized distributor for Plexim GmbH, Imperix AG, and Hitachi Energy in power electronics design, simulation, real-time testing, and power semiconductor products in Greater China and Southeast Asia. They were founded in Singapore in 2008, focusing on providing simulation and experimental systems for power electronics.

Since 2018, they have represented Hitachi Energy power semiconductor module products, including IGBT, Thyristor, and SiC modules, and provided customers in Southeast Asia with purchases.

“PLECS is a software name for the simulation platform for power electronic systems. Plexims is actually the company name, but before 2002, they were part of a school in Zurich,” Oliver shared. The main purpose of Oliver’s visit to UMN is to introduce PLECS.

PLECS stands for Piecewise Linear Electrical Circuit Simulation. PLECS are used to simulate electrical circuits at the system level. According to their website, PLECS tools can be applied to many disciplines of power electronics engineering. Conceived with a top-down approach, PLECS facilitates the modeling and simulation of complete systems, including power sources, power converters, and loads.

“Since we also cover the Indonesian market, my purpose is to adopt PLECS to different universities in Indonesia. Right now, Indonesia only has one university that uses PLECS. So, we are trying to find other universities that also teach electronics in Indonesia,” Oliver said, sharing his purpose of the meeting.

Why are plecs important? Power electronics system is complex. Oliver gave an example– let’s say UMN decided to develop an Electronic Vehicle (EV). If there’s a mistake or error, it may cost a lot in damage. 

“For a university, it’s a very huge cost when teaching, especially regarding high power or advanced system like EV. That’s why people now consider using simulation for power electronics. A lot of universities in Japan, the US, Korea, or Taiwan uses simulation software to teach students about power electronic design,” Oliver explained. 

He then continued sharing and explaining the concept and usage of PLECS to UMN representatives. He also invited his colleague to present an example of how PLECS are used through a Zoom meeting.

(Doc. Marketing Communications UMN)

Muliawati and fellow UMN representatives reacted positively to Oliver and his colleague’s presentation. Out of curiosity, Muliawati asked why INFOMATIC and Plexims chose UMN to partner with.

“I contacted a professor in Taiwan from the Taiwan National University of Tech. He suggested contacting UMN since his student (Marojahan) works here (UMN) and he believes UMN is a good university I should contact. He believes UMN students here has potential and can use the latest version of the simulation,” Oliver responded.

Regarding the collaboration, Oliver suggested a sponsorship program where UMN will be sponsored the license to use PLECS for free– in hopes that UMN graduates can work in prominent companies like Tesla and introduce PLECS to their future companies. 

“It’s like an investment. So, if in the future UMN may have a course dedicated to power electronics, graduates may work or have some project with local or multinational company using PLECS,” Oliver shared. He also shared that he looks forward to UMN becoming a partner network of Plexim. 

(Doc. Marketing Communications UMN)

UMN Electrical Engineering will be revising their curriculum to make power electronics a mandatory subject in the Electronic Engineering major. Currently, they are solely focusing on automation which is still related to power electronics.

“The software can be useful here. In my opinion, what they offered (the sponsorship) is very beneficial. Currently, the collaboration is in the beginning stage, and we hope shortly, we can have a real collaboration where students and lecturers can research and study using the software,” Marojahan said in a separate interview. 

Through this international collaboration with Plexims, it is hoped that students can have a broader global insight and further improve the learning and research process using PLECS.

By Levina Chrestella Theodora

English translation by Levina Chrestella Theodora

Kuliah di Jakarta untuk jurusan program studi Informatika| Sistem Informasi | Teknik Komputer | Teknik Elektro | Teknik Fisika | Akuntansi | Manajemen| Komunikasi Strategis | Jurnalistik | Desain Komunikasi Visual | Film dan Animasi | Arsitektur | D3 Perhotelan , di Universitas Multimedia Nusantara. www.umn.ac.id