Dr. Ahmad Agus Setiawan

Energy expert staff in the Executive Office of the President of the Republic of Indonesia

Department of Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Gadjah Mada

http://acadstaff.ugm.ac.id/aasetiawan ; Email: a.setiawan@ugm.ac.id

Dr. Ahmad Agus Setiawan is an energy expert staff in the Executive Office of the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Outstanding ASEAN Science Diplomat 2020, expert panelist for Indonesian Presidential Debate 2019 on energy and environment issues and US-ASEAN Fellow for Science and Technology. He has research passion in Renewable Energy Systems and Applications for Sustainable Development. Realising Indonesia is an archipelagic country he undertook study focusing on utilising renewable energy resources for sustainable energy supply as well as to tackle Net Zero Emission challenge to the nation. He obtained PhD in Renewable Energy and Power Systems from Curtin University, Australia; MSc in Sustainable Energy Engineering from The Royal Institute of Technology, KTH, Sweden and BEng in Electrical Engineering from UGM, where he is currently an Assistant Professor at the Department of Nuclear Engineering & Engineering Physics.

Dr. Ahmad Agus Setiawan is the recipient of Habibie Award in Engineering from The Habibie Center (a foundation owned by former President of Indonesia), a Fellow of ASEAN Science and Technology by USAID, ASEAN Science Leadership Program Fellow, and a visiting Professor in Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain through Erasmus+ Program. He is an Instructor in HOMER Training for Power System Planning with High Share of Variable Renewable Energy in Island Grids by GIZ Germany, Instructor in Regional Workshop & Exhibition on Appropriate Renewable Energy Technologies for Application by Rural Communities in Indonesia by DANIDA - Royal Danish Embassy and Co-Course Designer and Lecturer on Renewable Energy Technologies and Policy Short Course Awards by Australian Government. He serves as a member of Joint Selection Team Member Australia Awards Indonesia involves Indonesian officials, researchers and academics working in partnership with Australian academics to evaluate and rank candidates who meet the eligibility and selection criteria for the scholarships and have the best potential to contribute to the Program goals and objectives on return to Indonesia.

Dr. Setiawan is actively involved in the Working Group on Energy Self Sufficient Program for Indonesia within the Institute of Research and Community Services of UGM and an active member of Indonesian Renewable Energy Society. He is involved in the project development of hybrid power system for outermost island of Marampit, in cooperation with the Ministry of Research and Technology Indonesia.  He is a clean energy specialist for World Bank on Improving Energy Project Delivery (IEPD) at Indonesian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources and expert staff in formulating Draft of Local Government Regulation on Renewable Energy for Yogyakarta Province, Indonesia. He is an Indonesian Expert Resource Person for Mapping Research and Development on Renewable Energy Technologies and Policies in ASEAN by ASEAN - German Energy Programme (AGEP) & ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE), and winner of Mondialogo Engineering Award sponsored by UNESCO & Daimler. This work draws some other awards: PII Engineering Award from The Institution of Engineers Indonesia, Australian Alumni Award for Sustainable Economic and Social Development from Australian Embassy in Indonesia; Energy Globe Award and Ambassador from Austrian Energy Foundation, the Outstanding Flagship Project recognition in the Global Regional Centre of Expertises RCE Conference Okayama, Japan, and also The Professional Achievement Award Science & Engineering in the Curtin University Alumni Achievement Awards. 

Video Profiles: US – ASEAN Science & Technology Fellow: https://youtu.be/V4MVMiORT24; Australia Awards Scholarships: https://youtu.be/m9g1M_ROd5E; Curtin University: https://youtu.be/1P5q3cX9EPU; Habibie Award 2014: https://youtu.be/slylNa-XX7o 

Updated CV can be found in http://ugm.id/CVAAS and Life after PhD 

keynote speaker

Delivering keynote speech on Powering the future islands in Indonesia in the WEBINAR PUBLIC DISCUSSION – IMPROVING CLEAN ENERGY TO INCREASE ELECTRICITY ACCESS and other Invited Speaker on Renewable Energy Development for Indonesia in The 2024 International Conference on Sustainable Technology and Healthcare Engineering (ICSTHE), 2-3 December 2024: http://icsthe.ukrida.ac.id/ 

Ahmad Agus Setiawan was born in Jogjakarta, Indonesia on August, 1975. He obtained a BSc in Electrical Engineering from Universitas Gadjah Mada in 1999, where he received scholarships from the Government of Republic of Indonesia during his undergraduate study, and since then he has worked at the University as a junior lecturer at Department of Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics. He earned an MSc in Sustainable Energy Engineering from The Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Sweden, in 2002, with scholarships from Swedish Government - STINT. He then continued to pursue his doctoral study with an Australian Development Scholarships AusAID scheme at University of New South Wales (UNSW), Australia, in 2004, undertaking courses on Applied Photovoltaics at ARC Photovoltaics Center of Excellence and Power Electronics at School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications.

After this, he moved to Western Australia to conduct his PhD research project at Renewable Energy and Power Systems Research Group in Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (formerly known as CRESTA - Center for Renewable Energy Systems Technology Australia), Curtin University, and performed experimental works with industrial partner Regen Power Pty Ltd. Mr Setiawan pursued PhD research project with Professor Chem. V. Nayar as Supervisor, and Professor Volker Rehbock as Co-Supervisor. During his PhD, he was involved in real life project implementation of renewable energy systems application, particularly in Maldives Project on AC coupling microgrid hybrid power system. He also initiated formation of a group of student at Curtin University to make a contact with a group of student at Universitas Gadjah Mada , to participate in Mondialogo Engineering Award 2007, an intercultural dialogue and partnership initiated by Daimler Chrysler AG and UNESCO to promote sustainable development in developing countries. This partnership resulted in the Award winning project proposal “Development of Sustainable Power and Water Supply for Remote Areas and Disaster Response and Reconstruction in Indonesia”.

Mr. Setiawan was also actively engaged in education and academic activities during his doctoral study. He supervised tutorials and laboratory works in number of courses, such as Engineering Sustainable Development, Power Electronics, Renewable Energy Systems, Electrical Circuits, Electronics Design, Instrumentation and Control utilizing PLC–SCADA, Electrical Machines and Drives, Fundamental Electronics, Engineering Management, and Engineering Economics. He also served as a member of an organizing committee for colloquium and symposium held by the University. In addition, he volunteered in engineering and social related activities, such as working in casual job for SEDO (Sustainable Energy Development Office), Government of Western Australia; “Science and Engineering Challenge” organized by Engineers Australia for high school students in Perth metropolitan area and surrounding districts; “PC for Refugees” organized by Engineers Without Borders (EWB) Western Australian Branch; becoming presenter in seminars at Perth Sun Fair in 2007 & 2008; etc. He was a student member of IEEE, Engineers Australia, the Royal Society of Western Australia (RSWA), the Australian Institute of Energy (AIE), Engineers Without Borders (EWB), the Indonesian Renewable Energy Society (IRES), and the AIPSSA (Association of Indonesian Postgraduate Student and Scholars in Australia). 

Upon completion of his doctoral study at Curtin University in 2009, Dr. Ahmad Agus Setiawan resumes his position as a lecturer at Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia. He is actively involved in Working Group on Energy Self Sufficient Program for Indonesia within Institute of Research and Community Services at the university. He served as Vice Head of Department of Engineering Physics from 2009 to March 2011. In November 2009, he was awarded as a member of the Australian Scholarships Alumni Reference Group (ARG), as part of an elite group in contributing to development in Indonesia and to the strong people to people links between Indonesia and Australia. The ARG also serves in assisting the Government of Australia and the Government of Indonesia with future development plans. In 2010 - 2012  he served as an Australia Awards ARG Executive ~ Representative for Indonesian's Central Region. Dr. Ahmad Agus Setiawan received an Australian Alumni Award 2011 for Sustainable Economic and Social Development presented by The Ambassador H.E. Mr. Greg Moriarty on 11 June 2011.

As the result of his academic professional activities, Dr. Setiawan received number of distinguished awards: The Best Research based Community Service 2009 and 2010 from Universitas Gadjah Mada and PII Engineering Award 2010 from The Institution of Engineers Indonesia (Receiving PII Engineering Award 2010  The Institution of Engineers Indonesia @ www.pii.or.id). The project is also receiving Outstanding Flagship Project recognition in the 9th Global Regional Centre of Expertises RCE Conference Okayama, Japan 4 - 7 Nov 2014. He is Energy Globe Ambassador in 2013 and Energy and Innovation of Technology Team Coordinator in Australia Awards Alumni Reference Group ARG 2014 - 2016. Dr. Setiawan is the recipient of Habibie Award 2014 in Engineering from The Habibie Center.

Dr. Ahmad Agus Setiawan served as Head of  Student Creativity Center in Universitas Gadjah Mada initiating a new office as a center for developing and maintaining creativities among student of UGM that can raise thousands national and international achievement from 2015-2018. Previously he served as Head of Alumni Relations (2014 - 2015) in the newly established office tackling alumni related matters where one of the prominent alumni is the President Joko Widodo, and a Manager of Student Affairs, Research & Community Services at the Faculty of Engineering from 2011 - 2014. 

Dr. Setiawan keeps good contact with Curtin University, Australia by volunteering in the NEXT STEP MENTORING PROGRAM that aims to provide student mentees with a sense of control over their career direction and assist them to adapt and thrive in a dynamic global labor market. In 2018 he is among Curtin alumni recognised for their life-changing work in annual Curtin University’s 2018 Alumni Achievement Awards. The Awards recognise graduates who have demonstrated outstanding accomplishments and an exceptional standard of excellence in their field of endeavour. Curtin University Vice-Chancellor Professor Deborah Terry congratulated all award recipients for their incredible achievements and significant contributions in their chosen fields.  “The Alumni Achievement Awards acknowledge the very best of Curtin’s graduates who have enriched the lives and welfare of others through their commitment to making a better future for local and global communities,” Professor Terry said. “The positive impact this year’s highly accomplished winners are making in science, health, business, engineering and the arts is truly inspirational.” 

Later, Dr Ahmad Agus heard from colleagues and friends about the high reputation of the Australia Award Scholarships and how they could enhance his engineering skills; he also wanted to improve his English.

“Strategically and geographically, Australia is the closest neighbour to Indonesia, so we all need to be aware of the importance of sharing a common future for this region.”

Dr Ahmad Agus applied successfully for an Australia Awards Scholarship and completed his PhD studies at Curtin University in 2009.

“Returning home to Universitas Gadjah Mada after completing my PhD study, I was asked to take—and elected to—the position as Vice Head for Academic Affairs, and later as the Vice Head at the Department of Engineering Physics, a position I held until April 2011.”

In May 2011, Dr Ahmad Agus began his post as Manager of Student Affairs, Research and Community Services at the Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Gadjah Mada.

In 2014, he was appointed as Head of Alumni Affairs at the university level—a position he held until early 2015, when the newly elected first female Rector of Universitas Gadjah Mada, Prof. Dwikorita Karnawati, appointed him to his current position as Head of Student Creativity Centre at the Directorate of Student Affairs.

Dr Ahmad Agus is also actively involved in the Institute for Research and Community Services within the University, where his main activities involve a national project on Energy Self-sufficient Villages in Indonesia.

“And because the topic is very important to me, I am also an active member of Masyarakat Energi Terbarukan Indonesia (or METI), the Indonesian Renewable Energy Society.”

On 22 December 2010 in Jakarta, Dr Ahmad Agus was among 13 individuals and 7 institutions honoured at the Persatuan Insinyur Indonesia – Institution of Engineers Indonesia –Award. He won the prestigious Adhicipta Pratama Emas in the Engineering category, given to individuals under 35 for their achievement in technology deemed beneficial for the development of the nation and state.

Using capital from the Mondialogo Engineering Award (MEA) in India that the concept won in 2007 as a collaboration project between two groups of students at Curtin University and Universitas Gadjah Mada, Dr Ahmad Agus installed the system. Realizing that ease of access to water sources tremendously impacts the social-economic dynamics of a region, he made sure to involve community service students across disciplines from Universitas Gadjah Mada as well as the local community.

Dr Ahmad Agus was awarded the Australian Alumni Award for Sustainable Economic and Social Development in 2011 and most recently, the Habibie Award for Engineering in 2014.