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An Indonesian researcher responsible for groundbreaking developments in four-dimensional imaging technology now used by institutions such as NASA has called on his fellow scientists to battle relentlessly for knowledge despite any shortages in funding or equipment.

“Don’t be spoiled. Don’t give up just because of lack of funding or facilities,” said Warsito P Taruno.

“We have more than enough capability, I think we’re just lacking the fighting spirit.”

Warsito, 42, currently works out of a modest workshop in Tangerang and with the help of small local factory that churns out circuit boards, manufactures the, 4-D imaging technology he developed for a high-tech international market.

The flow imaging technology — called electrical capacitance volume tomography (ECVT) — enables real-time, 3-D imaging of a moving object or real-time 4-D volume imaging and has applications to both man and machines. For example, it can produce a real-time visual reconstruction of flow inside an oil pipe or a chemical process, and is currently being developed for medical purposes.

“As of August this year, I have sold four ECVT to buyers from the United States and Malaysia. Now I am working on five more,” Warsito said, adding that prices vary depending on the buyers, but on average the equipment is worth $30,000 for universities and up to $150,000 for companies.

“There’s no mass-scale production yet,” he added.

“Me and my team [consisting of 20 researchers, eight of them holding doctoral degrees] work in the workshop to design the necessary components, such as printed circuit boards, the censors, the software, etc.,” Warsito said.

“It’s pretty easy to find the components here. Even some of the imported ones are available in Glodok,” he added.

Warsito has been dabbling in the science of tomography since his time at Japan’s Shizuoka University in the early ’90s, but he came to his invention while working on the research staff for the Department of Chemical Engineering at Ohio State University in 1999.

ECVT is patented under his name with Ohio State University, and was first launched in the United States in 2006.

Warsito said that it was only in the last year that he started to find the “best formula” to make his technology more customer- friendly. He said customers now included the US Energy Department, with others also lining up for his product.

“My method is now being used by NASA to scan dielectric material on the outer protective thermal wall of their space shuttles,” Warsito said.

For his international contribution to technology, Warsito was one of five distinguished Indonesians recently honored with the Achmad Bakrie Award.

He said he was happy with his work and appreciated the award, adding that such awards helped motivate researchers.