TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The string of lies spread by Dwi Hartanto which the media dubbed as the next Habibie has been finally revealed to the public. Hartanto is a Doctoral student of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics, and Computer Science at Technische Universiteit (TU) Delft.
His name became well-known in the past two years after numerous online and television news agencies featured the news of Dwi Hartanto being asked to develop a sixth-generation fighter jet. Dwi was even praised as the 28-year-old professor to-be in the field of rocket science and an Indonesian “hero” studying in the Netherlands.
It turns out that the claims were all lies. Dwi actually was born on March 13, 1982, which means that he is 35 years old.
On October 7, Dwi released a five-page clarification letter on the official website of the Indonesian Student Association (PPI) in Delft. The letter contained his public apology in which he also admitted his mistakes and clarified some of the false information that had been circulated in mainstream news agencies and social media throughout the past three years.
The document suggested that he did not graduate from the Tokyo Institute of Technology but studied his undergraduate at AKPRIND Institute of Science and Technology in Yogyakarta and graduated on November 15, 2005.
Dwi is currently undergoing his Doctorate in an Interactive Intelligence research group at Delft’s Department of Intelligent Systems under the guidance of Prof. M. A. Neerincx. “The information about my position as a post-doctoral or an assistant professor at TU Delft is not true,” Dwi wrote.
Contrary to what he told the media, Dwi did not design and build a Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV). The fact is that he was part of a team of college students that designed the subsystem for the embedded flight computer for Cansat V7s owned by Delft Aerospace Rocket Engineering (DARE). Regarding his interview broadcasted by an Indonesian TV channel claiming that he was the only non-European that managed to enter the European Space Agency was also not true.
Dwi Hartanto admitted of lying about the story behind his infamous photo where he held a large check of 15,000 euro (US$17,659) written as the prize. He originally claimed that he won an inter-space agency technology research competition in Germany this year.
Regarding his meeting with B.J. Habibie, Dwi explained that it was not Habibie that requested the meeting, but it was himself that requested the Indonesian Embassy (KBRI) in Den Haag to meet him with Habibie. He confirmed that he was invited to an event called ‘Visiting World Class Professor’ held in Jakarta.
Dwi Hartanto also mentioned that since September 25, TU Delft has held trials of the code of conduct for the actions he had done. The verdict is still in the process.
AMRI MAHBUB