The Chemical Engineering Department of Universitas Sumatera Utara (USU), in collaboration with the USU Chemical Engineering Alumni Association and the Chemical Engineering Student Association (HIMATEK) USU, organized an online public lecture on Saturday, December 5, 2020. The event was attended by students, lecturers, and alumni of Chemical Engineering at USU.
The guest speaker for the lecture was Muhammad Rahmad, S.T., an alumnus of USU's Chemical Engineering program who currently serves as the Manager of Engineering & Development at Pertamina Refinery Unit (RU) III Plaju, Palembang. The event began with opening remarks from the MC, a prayer, a speech from the HIMATEK Chairperson represented by the Secretary of HIMATEK, and a welcoming address by the Head of the Chemical Engineering Department at USU, Ir. Maya Sarah, S.T., M.T., Ph.D., IPM.
Muhammad Rahmad, S.T., delivered a presentation titled "Understanding Refinery Unit III as a Historic Refinery and Its Products." He shared his career journey at Pertamina and provided an overview of Pertamina RU III, including crude oil supply and production processes, as well as the achievements of RU III. He emphasized that refinery units are crucial for Pertamina in serving Indonesia's energy needs for over 80 years.
Pertamina operates seven refinery units with a total processing capacity of up to 1 million barrels of crude oil per day. For RU III, crude oil supply comes from local sources in South Palembang, Jambi, and Riau, as well as domestic sources from Java, Sulawesi, and Papua. The refinery produces a variety of products, including fuel oil (BBM), specialty fuels (BBK), and non-fuel products, distributed across Indonesia.
The lecture concluded with a highly engaging Q&A session where several participants had the opportunity to ask questions directly addressed by the speaker. The event wrapped up with the presentation of a certificate to the guest speaker by the Head of the Chemical Engineering Department, followed by a group photo. Despite being held online, the knowledge shared in this public lecture is expected to benefit all participants, including students, alumni, and lecturers of USU's Chemical Engineering program.