It’s About Conquering (Mt. Fuji has been conquered, You may pick another mountain!!)

It was August 12^th, we arrived in 5th Station of Mount Fuji. That afternoon was pretty dark. It was hard windy and news told that it was Typhoon passing by Mount Fuji. We thought that it will be suicide climbing Mt. Fuji that day. However, we’re still laughing, joking each other and finding opportunities or perhaps, reasons to climb this thing up. We were Alvin, William and Me; Two smart master and doctoral Filipino students and a lucky Indonesian student.

We were at 5th Station

We were thinking and I ended up with a reason to start climbing 30 minutes after the typhoon. It was so simple. It must be the clearest sky ever up there after the typhoon. That typhoon just took everything. For sure, the sky would be very bright and clear. Thus, we decided to climb up bravely. FYI, No one of us has experience climbing this Mt. Fuji. We were taking that “risk” and having “fun”. That’s the reason why my name is Ris-van .

We started climbing at 4 pm. It was still windy and a bit rainy. But, we required to adjust the time so that we can arrive on the top before the sunrise. And then, it was Ramadhan and I was fasting at that time. I had to ensure that we arrive in a good station just before the twilight to open my fast.

The Map

So, we started walking through a pretty flat path at the first time. Slowly but sure, it started inclining. Your feet were getting tired to step up. But, we’re just walking, talking, laughing, taking photo and joking of course.

And then, we arrived at 6th Station. It wasn’t that far from 5th Station. We thought that it’s not gonna be that hard. But, I was shaking. It was so cold. I was ignoring that feeling. I just need to move faster so that my body would be getting warmer due to the combustion of my calories.

From 6th station, we saw 7th station up there. I think it was twice further than achieving 6th station. And it was high. I mean it looks like 60 degrees inclining to reach that station. I was afraid. I felt the feeling of stepping down the stairs in Eiffel Tower 5 years ago. I was afraid of height. I was fasting and didn’t have enough energy. But, those couldn’t be enough reasons to get back.  Then, I decided to continue the journey. Fortunately, Alvin and William were very supportive. Thanks guys.

Thanks Guys..

It was totally like a hell. I was suffering. My legs were totally shaking and weak. I got one stick to help me out of this fear. I was afraid of looking the view behind. But, I was peeking sometime. Well, I don’t wanna miss that beautiful view thou.. What the worst is, my assumption was wrong. I thought that moving faster or motion would warm my body up and stop the shaking. It didn’t work at all. The further I was walking, the wetter my clothes. My sweat didn’t evaporate. It was trapped in my clothes. Why? Because I wore full-body poncho (anti-rain). It avoids water both from outside and inside. I was totally wet and shaking. In addition, the temperature is getting lower. Thus, I took off the poncho and changed my t-shirt. Well, I had no jeans anymore. So, that sticky jeans was still with me anyway. Dam*.. I couldn’t enjoy that feeling.

It was so scary

Land above the clouds

Finally, we arrived in 7th Station. It was twilight. It means I could eat and drink after fasting during the day. FYI, it was summer, day is longer than usual. The twilight came after 2.5 hours turtle-ly walking. Another challenge had been accomplished. But, the 8th station is waiting up there.

Smile over the fear

The Twilight Is Coming

The path is rocky now. And there is no wide stairs look-alike like we had in the path to 7th station. Moreover, it was quite harder windy than before. To be honest, I was still afraid of height. Those windy noise fears me more. It sounds like it wants to disturb my body balance that probably may push me down, lost my balance and falling all the way down there from 2500 m of height.  Dam*, I hate that feeling. Then, I plug my ears with earphone and play music from my cell phone. It was helping, kind of magic.

Before achieving 9th station, we needed to be at 8.5th station first. If you look at the map, this 8.5th station is located pretty close to the 8th station. My first thought is they were wasting money. But, they weren’t.

At the time, the situation was getting worse. The path was not like a path anymore and getting narrow. It was more and more inclining. Probably, it was around 65-75 degree. Moreover, it was nightfall. There was no sunlight anymore. The only light we had was flashlight. I had my flashlight attached on my forehead. It was helpful so that my two hands were free to grab anything in order to help my body balance. Anything refers to only the rocks. I was still shaking thou.. Yeah, they had reasons why they put 8.5th station there.

Night view from Mt. Fuji

I can’t remember, I think we took a nap for while at that station. After that station, I couldn’t notice any stations anymore. We stopped a lot. I mean I asked to stop a lot. The only thing in my mind was I need to reach the top as soon as possible before I lost my breath and before my fear imagination of falling down from 3250 m of height is happening. Slowly, my breath frequency is getting slower. We saw a shooting star up there. It wasn’t once or twice. But, it happened repeatedly. Yes, it had been predicted that the night of August 13^th,2010, we’d have chances to watch many shooting stars from Asia. We were so lucky. I wish the magic story of shooting star is true. But, whatever, I wish I could be on the top of Mt. Fuji safely and get back safely. The other wishes would be a secret for sure. . Well, at least the first wish is happening.  :D.

Taking Nap

It took around 8 hours to be on the top of Mt. Fuji. We arrived just before the dawn. Lucky us, it was beautiful sunrise occurs. The sun was rising up from the clouds. The sky upper the cloud was really clear. I felt like living on the land above the clouds. So high, and you can see the world unfold and after that you’ll realize that you’re nothing, not even better and more useful than a dust. You might be worse than other organisms which always try to keep the world rotating continuously. But, human? You judge by yourselves.

Well, below is our documentation video of climbing this Mt. Fuji.

However, we were icy. It was around -5 degree C up there. And you can warm your hand up with a can of coffee for not more than 5 minutes. It cost 400 yen. Yeah, when the demand is higher than the offer, the price will be increasing sharply. .

After documenting a lot of picture and “stuff” of our present up there, we walk down Mt. Fuji at 7 a.m. through different path. This mount has the different path to climb up and walk down. You know what we did? We’re running like child through that path. I wasn’t afraid anymore, dude. And it took around 3 hours of going down Mt. Fuji by running. .

It was remarkable. At least, for me. I didn’t only just conquer Mt. Fuji but also my fear of height. You know what challenge is?

“It is about the thing that you do not want to feel

and you do not know how solve the fear;

that come to you at that time, but you’re really want to felt that moment again after finishing that thing.”

Ivan The Conqueror

Well, if you experience the same thing for the second time, it isn’t gonna be challenging anymore. .

Alright, let’s see another challenging opportunity for this year. .

Nippon Steel-Kimitsu Works

By surfing on the internet, I could find top 10 biggest steel companies in the world. The biggest one is ArcelorMittal. Nippon Steel is one of those top 10 and it is said that this company also the biggest steel company in Japan. At that time, we had an opportunity to visit this company, in Kimitsu Works, Chiba exactly. We passed through Tokyo Bay Channel at that time.

Kimitsu works was built to serve the Kanto area-Japan’s largest steel consuming region. It ranks at the top in product quality, production, equipments and production volume. It is divided into four production areas; Iron making, Steel Making, Hot-Rolling and Cold Rolling area.

As usual, we were welcome by company in the big hall of main building and introduced on brief information about Nippon Steel-Kimitsu Works. Any directions were explained at that time. We also need to wore some typical industrial uniform to avoid any possibilities of accident.

First, we visited blast furnace in Iron making area. As raw materials, sintered ore and coke are mixed inside blast furnace. In this process, sintered ore and coke are sequentially charged from the top while hot air is blown-in from the bottom about 1200 degree Celsius. The temperature inside is increasing to more than 2000 degree Celsius. So, a chemical reaction separates the iron from the sintered iron.

From the blast furnace, a pig iron is produced. After that, the impurities and carbon are removed in steelmaking process until the carbon content below 1.7%. This process shall soft the steel. Then, this solidified steel can be reshaped into specific shape; billet, bloom and slab.

The second visiting area was Hot-rolled area. In this area, a slab are continuously rolled to produce steel sheets with thickness ranging from 1.2 mm to 25.4mm. After this process, the sheets will follow the next process in Cold-rolled area. Not only sheets, this company also produces other shape of products such as wide-flange beam and sheet pile, plate, UO pipes and tubes, wire rod, electro-galvanized sheets etc.

Moreover, we also visited plastic recycling equipment. In this area, plastic wastes and waste tires are being proceeds to produce a raw material for steel making. In addition, this company has achieved recycling rate approximately 98% of its process. Coke oven gases are byproduct in iron-and steel making process and they are effectively utilized as fuel for reheating steel product and as a source of energy. Further, more than 90% water is circulated for reuse in many processes. Byproducts such as slug, dust and sludge are not only re-used as materials for in-company use but are also reutilized for the society.

This company’s products are very useful for human life. For example, a high strength, lightweight steel wires are needed to support long-span bridges, steel frame buildings, railways, pipeline, shipbuilding, automobiles etc. The more human population number, the more development will be. It means the more steels support are needed. Based on statistic, Nippon steel may achieve those needs. It is said that the production is increasing almost every year. Beside that, the company’s efficiency is also increasing averagely. It said that the number of employees is currently less than half of its number in 1977. This company is successfully implementing the high technology in their working system.

Steels are highly in demand for human being development. The processes of making them are also very risky for human. Implementing computer control system in those processes may reduce any risky and also definitely increase the products number and accuracy.

Risvan Dirza

09R12111

Pertanyaan Klise : “Selesai S1 ngapain??”

Selasa siang minggu ini, aku beranikan diri untuk menghadap Prof. Fujita secara langsung. Sebelum-sebelumnya saya cenderung enggan untuk menghadap sang sensei. Alasannya sederhana, “saya mau ngebahas apa?”. Mau nanya tentang topic riset, dari awal sang sensei sudah meminta saya untuk lebih banyak berinteraksi dengan Assitant Professor atau Tutor. Maka, lebih banyaklah saya berinteraksi dengan mereka. Jujur, saya agak kewalahan berinteraksi dengan mereka. Klise, masalah bahasa!. Yang pada akhirnya, lebih banyak terjadi “kesalahpahaman”. Untuk mengurangi kondisi itu, aku lebih banyak bekerja sendiri dan mengumpulkan laporan saja ke assistant professor. Walaupun pada akhirnya, ternyata, nggak dibaca. Kecewa sih iya.. Tapi, bagi saya itu tidak merugikan, toch yang belajar kan saya .

Setelah timbul tenggelam berjuang “sendirian”, walaupun kadang-kadang ada yang diperjuangkan tidak dipakai, karena tiba-tiba Assistant Professor berubah pendirian (atau mungkin karena salah paham sebelumnya). Lagi-lagi, tidak apa apa, ini hanya masalah proses. Dan setiap proses yang saya lewati bagi saya tidak sia-sia, pasti ada hikmah di dalamnya. Paling nggak, nambah wawasan. .

Yup, setelah hampir kelelep, akhirnya, report dan paper saya selesai juga. Jangankan orang hebat di bidang control, saya yang masih cupu saja sadar, kalau report research saya tidaklah hebat-hebat amat. Biasa saja, dan banyak sekali yang harus diperbaiki. Bahkan, mungkin validitasnya diragukan. Entah mengapa saya tidak kecewa, dan tidak pula berbangga. Tapi, saya terima semua kesalahan dan kekurangan yang saya perbuat selama proses penulisannya. Dan tentu saja, untuk bahan pengingat untuk kegiatan serupa berikutnya.

Dengan keadaan legowo dan siap terima segala konsekuensinya, akhirnya aku menghadap Prof. Fujita. Kenapa saya berani menghadap? Karena, hari itu laporan riset saya sudah dibaca oleh Prof. Fujita dan menurut pendapatnya tidak perlu ada yang direvisi. Sebelumnya, saya juga sudah mengumpulkan laporan riset itu ke Assistant Professor, tapi tidak juga kunjung memberikan feedback. Mungkin dia terlalu sibuk (atau entahlah).

Seperti yang selalu diajarkan papa, “give, give, give, give, give…. and take”, artinya kalau udah bener-bener mepet baru minta bantuan. Selama masih bisa memberi, maka memberilah. Dan, pada hari selasa itu aku benar-benar mepet karena masih “bias” mengenai masa depanku selesai S1 nanti. Padahal jalannya sudah harus dirancang sejak dini.

Nah, berhubung saya sudah “give” report saya. Maka, saya pikir, saya sudah punya alasan dan tidak melanggar prinsip yang ditanamkan ke saya.

Pembicaraan siang ini diawali dengan pertanyaan sederhana,

“Sensei, saya minta saran Anda mengenai pendidikan ke depan saya, boleh?”

Sensei pun dengan tenangnya mempersilahkan saya untuk duduk berdiskusi lebih detail.

Awalnya, sensei merekomendasikan saya untuk melanjutkan studi ke US atau Eropa. Karena, ada alumni Fujita laboratory dari Indonesia yang melanjutkan studi di sana

Selain itu, menurut pandangannya, U.S merupakan tempat yang tepat untuk berkompetisi bagi orang-orang dari berbagai negara seperti yang dilakukan warga RRC dan India yang survive di sana. Pertimbangan lainnya adalah karena saya pernah punya pengalaman di Eropa 1 tahun, lalu sekarang 1 tahun di Jepang, maka berikutnya adalah memperluas wawasan dan jaringan internasional di belahan dunia lain yaitu U.S. Sensei berpendapat bahwa kerja sama international antar bangsa sangat penting juga di dunia akademisi (misalnya dalam kolaborasi menulis paper kelas wahid yang langsung ditunjukkannya di situs CDC).

Jujur, saya tidak menyangka beliau malah menyarankan demikian. Padahal, saya sadar dan merasa saya bahkan mungkin tidak mampu mencapai posisi pada level itu. Sekarang saja saya kewalahan setengah mati, terlepas dari kondisi “negative-nya”. Pernah terpikir, kalau dunia research bukanlah hal yang cocok bagi saya.

Setelah panjang berbincang, akhirnya tibalah pembahasan kerja sama antar negara Asia. Mungkin, kita semua sadar bahwa poros kemajuan teknologi dunia sekarang mulai bergeser ke timur yaitu China, India dan Jepang. Di sini sensei menyarankan bahwa bangsa Asia harus maju bersama-sama. Lalu, ia menyarankan saya untuk memajukan negara saya (Wah, orang Jepang saja bisa merasakan betapa pentingnya memajukan negara saya. Saya paham ada beberapa orang yang keluar negeri karena kesulitan  berbuat sesuatu untuk Indonesia, walaupun sebenarnya mereka ingin. Tapi, kalau masih ada orang yang keluar negeri untuk tujuan pribadi tanpa sempat berniat untuk berbuat buat negara. Itu sih keterlaluan hehe..).

Cerita punya cerita, sensei menganjurkan saya untuk melanjutkan studi ke negara-negara Asia seperti China, Korea dan Jepang. Mendengar kata Jepang, saya langsung “to the point”, mengenai kemungkinan  “jika” memang saya harus kembali ke Jepang, tepatnya di Fujita Laboratory. Singkat kata, jawabannya ia akan menerima kedatangan saya.

Wah, gawat, saya salah ngomong! Soalnya, saya berniat kalaupun mau lanjut studi S2, saya memilih TU Delft (Belanda), ETS Zurich (Swiss), atau U.S.

Tapi, saya sadar, dengan track record dan kemampuan saya sekarang, maka jawaban sensei hanyalah basa basi. . Tidak ada yang pasti,kan di dunia ini.??

Untungnya, sensei tampaknya cukup terbuka melihat dunia. Dia tidak “mengikat” saya, beliau tetap memberikan kemungkinan terburuk andai saja ada kondisi dimana Lab tidak mampu lagi menerima mahasiswa asing. Dari sini beliau merekomendasikan saya untuk maju menggali pengalaman berbeda yaitu U.S atau Eropa dan tetap membawa tanggung jawab sebagai mantan visiting student di Fujita Laboratory. (Wah ini yang susah.. T_T, kapabilitas saya belum cukup untuk menanggung hal yang begitu.. Capek.. T_T)

*Jujur, saya hanya ingin menikmati proses memahami sesuatu tanpa harus dikejar gelar, ujian, laporan atau apapun. Saya hanya ingin menikmati “rasa haus” ini tanpa terikat “system” yang membelit semacam pencapaian gelar atau apapun namanya”.

Teman Berkendara

Driving Partner

Melanjutkan tulisan “Mengintip Teknologi Canggih Mobil Jepang” pada edisi sebelumnya, penulis berniat untuk sedikit berbagi mengenai “Robot Mobil” yang kini sedang dikembangkan NATC (Nissan Advance Technology Center). Ini adalah teknologi kedua yang menarik perhatian penulis setelah DCA (Distance Control Assist) pada kunjungan hari itu.

Sebelum bebicara lebih jauh mengenai teknologi “Robot Mobil”, ada baiknya kita terlebih dahulu mengenal teknologi ini dari permukaan. Mengapa disebut “Robot Mobil”? Penamaan ini merujuk pada keberadaan sebuah robot yang terintegrasi pada mobil. Pada kunjungan hari itu, robot ini dimodelkan dalam keadaan menempel pada dashboard mobil.

Lalu, mengapa teknologi ini dikembangkan? Dengan beberapa pembicaraan bersama engineer yang memperkenalkan teknologi ini, maka penulis sedikit banyak dapat memperoleh informasi mengenai keuntungan teknologi ini. Keuntungan pertama adalah keamanan. Robot yang tertempel di dashboard mobil ini dapat mengenali sang pemilik mobil. Kehadiran pihak yang bukan sang pemilik tidak akan dilayani dan akses penggunaan mobil dinonaktifkan. Misalnya, pintu terkunci secara otomatis.

Selain masalah keamanan, sang engineer juga memperkenalkan konsep “friendly car”. Maksudnya, diharapkan kedepannya nanti, robot ini dapat menjadi teman bagi pengemudi ketika berkendara. Mungkin strategi ini akan efektif untuk menghindari kecelakaan yang disebabkan pengemudi mengantuk ketika berkendara.

Menelaah lebih jauh, sekarang kita akan mencoba melihat bagaimana teknologi ini bekerja. Sebelum dianggap sebagai pemilik mobil oleh sang robot, si pemilik yang sah harus dipotret terlebih dahulu. Data hasil pemotretan bersifat digital. Dengan pemotretan itu, dapat diidentifikasi pola wajah sang pemilik. Beberapa titik yang menjadi lokasi identifikasi signifikan terletak pada bentuk garis muka, posisi hidung, mata dan mulut.

Pada kunjungan itu, seorang engineer juga memperagakan cara kerja robot mobil ini. Seorang sukarelawan diajak untuk menjalani sesi pemotretan wajah. Lalu, sang sukarelawan diminta menghadap sang robot, tepatnya tegak lurus pada mata sebagai alat pengindraan visual sang robot. Seketika, sang robot menyapa sukarelawan dan menurut skenarionya, seluruh akses pengunaan mobil diaktifkan.

Sebenarnya, data digital hasil pemotretan dan identifikasi titik signifikan itulah yang merupakan informasi bagi sang robot. Informasi digital tersebut disimpan oleh mobil berbasis sistem komputer ini. Ketika input baru diidentifikasi melalui sensor visual robot, maka input baru tersebut dikomparasi dengan dengan data digital hasil pemotretan. Ketika hasil komparasi positif atau benar, maka akses terbuka. Kejadian sebaliknya terjadi, jika hasil komparasinya adalah tidak benar. Hal ini terbukti ketika salah seorang relawan menutup sebagian wajahnya ketika menghadap sang robot. Robot tersebut tidak mengenalinya. Menanggapi kondisi itu, engineer yang berada di tempat peragaan tersebut menyatakan bahwa pola identifikasi yang dilakukan robot belum disempurnakan. Pengenalan pada titik-titik identifikasi signifikan masih bersifat basic.

Mungkin beberapa dari Anda mengagumi teknologi canggih mobil Jepang ini. Membayangkan berkendara ditemani “seorang” robot mungkin akan menjadi pengalaman yang tak terlupakan. Apalagi jika robot tersebut dapat mengenali “mood” anda. Akan tetapi, selalu saja ada pandangan yang berbeda mengenai sebuah teknologi. Bukan mustahil beberapa orang beranggapan bahwa menempelkan robot pada dashboard mobilnya akan mengganggu kenyamanan berkendara. “Bukankah sebuah finger print saja sudah cukup?”, mungkin itu salah satu pertanyaan mereka.

Terbukti bahwa kemajuan teknologi memang tak terbendung. Berbagai bentuk aplikasi teknologi dari yang wajar hingga yang tak wajar telah diciptakan. Apalagi pengembangan teknologi itu dilakukan di Jepang yang notabene adalah negara yang memiliki level kreatifitas dan keunikan yang relatif tinggi. Apapun bentuk teknologinya, terlepas diterima atau tidaknya pada sekelompok orang tertentu dan selama itu membawa keuntungan bagi kemajuan umat manusia, maka setidaknya dapatlah ia menjadi insiprasi bagi kita semua untuk terus berkarya.