The leadership of the Dumai Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN) visited the Mechanical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, University of Riau, on Thursday, May 14, 2025, to discuss a planned collaboration that will be outlined in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoA).
The discussion was attended by Mr. Zulfan Ismaini, SH, Chairman of the Dumai Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Mr. Helmy, Deputy Chair for MSMEs and Creative Economy Tourism; Mr. Anora, Deputy Chair for Coordinator II for MSME Trade and Investment; Mr. Arif, Deputy Chair for Organization and Partnerships; and Ir. Yohanes, MT, Deputy Dean III for Cooperation at the Faculty of Engineering, University of Riau; as well as Dr. M. Dalil and Dr. Jahrizal, lecturers representing the Department of Mechanical Engineering.
The collaboration between Mechanical Engineering and the Dumai Chamber of Commerce and Industry has been in place since the 2023/2024 academic year, initiated by Dr. Dodi Sofyan Arief, with the assistance of a spice filter and dryer (gonseng) to the Dumai Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN) for use by the Buya MSMEs.
The visit resulted in several agreements, including: the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Unri, agreed to collaborate with the Dumai Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN), outlined in a Cooperation Agreement (MoA). As a follow-up, the Dumai Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN) is scheduled to gather potential MSMEs for an activity in early September 2025 to receive assistance in processing technology. During this activity, MSMEs will discuss directly with Mechanical Engineering lecturers and students about the challenges they face in product processing and the necessary technology, including efforts to improve product quality and quantity, packaging technology, packaging design, and marketing networks. Through this activity, students will be directly involved in solving community problems. The technological solutions derived from the research and equipment applied can be directly submitted as final assignments or theses as a requirement for graduation from Mechanical Engineering.
Dr. Dodi Sofyan Arief will also hand over a cooking spice dryer (Gonseng) to the Dumai Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) for use by Buya MSMEs.
During this discussion, the Dumai Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN) also requested the development of a 50 kg capacity Buya cooking spice dryer (Gonseng). This is expected to improve the quality of spice products for export. Buya cooking spices have already been exported to Malaysia.
Another agreement is that the Dumai Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN) will facilitate internships for Mechanical Engineering students at several companies, business units, and MSMEs in Dumai. The laboratory will be utilized for testing, research and development, quality and quantity improvement, product protection guarantees in the form of intellectual property rights (IPR), patents, and cooperation in the form of standardization and certification assistance, to create a sense of security for the community, and to enhance promotional activities by various parties in marketing. (3D)
