Batangas State University Celebrates WED 2022: World Engineering Day For Sustainable Development Engineering Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow Day 1

Batangas State University celebrated World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development, WED 2022, globally themed Build Back Wiser: Engineering the Future. The three-day event was participated in by leaders, innovators, and champions local and international focusing on Sustainable Development Goals, Innovation, and Futures Thinking.

Opening the WED 2022 celebration, University President Dr. Tirso A. Ronquillo welcomed the participants and set forth BatStateU efforts in reimagining engineering education through CIEE - the University's official arm in advancing engineering education.

Inspired by her role as the Chairperson on the Committee of Sustainable Development Goals, Innovations and Futures Thinking, Hon. Sen. Pia S. Cayetano discoursed mainly on tracking progress with the SDGs, preparing for various futures, changing mindset in embracing futures thinking as the key policy reform, and shared her initiative in allocating SDG, Innovation, and Futures Thinking offices locally. The committee has been deliberating the future of work and the role of women in engineering, women in stem, and studying the fourth industrial revolution. The knowledge of the possible future must be the reason to prepare for it.

Hon. Sen. Pia remarked that the future is bright, but there is a need to be prepared, a need to reinvent the way of living, a need to discover better and easier ways to live sustainably to look forward to something great in the future.

A keynote address delivered by Prof. Dr. Gong Ke, President of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations, highlighted the progress of adaptation to the changes happening during the pandemic. As it mainly focused on maintaining productions and services. Witnessing the engineering approaches and the key technologies in helping combat COVID19.

According to him, it is a requirement for engineering practitioners to master the basic knowledge and skills to promote sustainable development, especially digital technologies to meet global challenges. And pointed out that youth and women must also be empowered to take impartial action in the innovative engineering profession.

Dr. Diosdado Banatao, a World-Class Filipino Innovator, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist, Founder, and Chairman of PhilDev shared the making of his legacy in the field. Thru the foundation they created, PhilDev sees that economic growth is essential as it plays a vital role that can spare the entire population from poverty and slavery.

Technical knowledge is not the only foundation of future engineering leaders. They must learn how to work in multi-disciplinary teams, iterate designs rapidly, manufacture sustainably, and address global market needs. They should also be futuristic in knowing what to do and how to do innovative projects, involve their critical thinking skills, and promote the advancement of their ideas for sustainable development.

Embedding the SDGs into the university curriculum, Prof. De. Hsing-Lung Lien focused on three things: the importance of pushing forward with the integration of the SDGs into the university setting, the tangible procedures that are executable at the faculty and the management level, and the approaches of other benchmarks universities and education institutions.

Prof Hsing-Lung shared insights on the Circular Economy, where it requires multiple disciplinary academic teams. He cited colleges at the National University of Kaohsiung that would relate to different SDGs. The SDGs can serve also as a platform in developing an innovative and interdisciplinary program.

He gave high importance to establishing the system - implementation, software, and infrastructure. There'll be a better understanding of the institution from the system through the evidence-based approach.

Introducing strategic and futures thinking, Prof. Shermon Cruz emphasized technology foresight, engineering, and breakthrough innovations in futures thinking. Being a co-founder, and currently the Chief Futurist, Philippine Futures Thinking Society has inspired the world in advancing and democratizing futures thinking through impact foresight education, research, training, and advocacy, and with its approach to Hiraya foresight.

Innovation requires having a long, hard, and deep look at the future. Living in the present, but also looking far ahead into the future. By looking far ahead into the future while living in the present, it enables seeing the insight to create authentic, sustainable and novel innovation. Reminding everyone that for a breakthrough in engineering and technological progress to occur, there are two things; imperative or essential.

Batangas State University Celebrates WED 2022: World Engineering Day For Sustainable Development Engineering Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow Day 2

Batangas State University is in solidarity with the engineers all around the globe in celebrating World Engineering Day. Led by Dr. Tirso A. Ronquillo through the Center for Innovation in Engineering Education (CIEE), alongside United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO), the university organized an international conference with the theme “Build Back Wiser: Engineering the Future”, which was held virtually via Facebook Live last March 4, 7 and 8, 2022.

On its second day, the anticipators were welcomed by the Associate Professor - Vice President for Research, Development & Extension Services himself - Engr. Albertson D. Amante. Opening the forum, he reminded the participants to continue the conversations in engineering, development and SDG attainment in the respective fields of engineering and different HEI's in the Philippines. The host of the conference, Engr. Junnix Kaalim, introduced the invited delegates as well. They are distinguished leaders, innovators and champions in their communities and specialized fields.

The first speaker was Dr. Ronald L. Orale - the Vice President for Planning, Research and Extension of Samar State University since 2016. His message was entitled: “Engineers at the Forefront of Making Cities one of the Solutions to Climate Change”. He discussed the pressing issue of climate change and how cities contribute to this problem. With data on vulnerable cities and negative climate change impacts, he encouraged urban-re-engineering and lowering carbon footprint to be a possible solution to climate change. He ended by stating that since Engineers understand nature, with visionary skills, they can lead the communities and prepare the future.

The next speaker was Dr. Leonell P. Lijauco - Dean of the College of Engineering and Technology of Tarlac Agricultural University. He talked about a specialized topic about “Postharvest Processing of Sweet Potato”. He taught the participants about how simple products, like the sweet potato, can be manufactured with a higher level of quality to appeal more to the market which yields a better profit. The practicality of his speech was well-accepted by the audiences. He concluded his talk by asking more engineers, and future engineers, to have the opportunity to share their technology as he did.

Next was Dr. Rowell M. Hernandez - Department Chair for BS Computer Science at the Batangas State University, Alangilan - with his topic “Driving Innovations through Engineering and Information Technology Collaboration. He began by asking why there is a need for collaboration. According to him, innovation and collaboration build upon each other: it’s not one or the other. Putting emphasis on both of these ideas, Dr. Hernandez made it clear that in order to upgrade our communities, we need to innovate - and to innovate, we need to collaborate with others.

Dr. Cristina Amor M. Rosales was the fourth speaker during this conference. Currently, she is the Assistant Director for Industry, Energy & Emerging Technology Research and the Program Chair for BS Transportation Engineering at the Batangas State University, Alangilan. She talked about the “Ädvancement of Engineering Collaborations and Innovation for Futures Thinking”. She discussed the expectations for engineers in the future by different local and global associations. According to her, every engineer is expected to step up as they help build the future - a challenge every engineer should complete.

Dr. Jihan H. Adil - a Faculty of the Department of Environmental Engineering at the Western Mindanao State University - shared her thoughts about the efforts of the Filipino Environmental Engineers to forge partnerships for innovations to build back wiser. She highlighted the use of Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) as a means to help people adapt to and mitigate the adverse effect of climate change. As an Environmental Engineer, she recognized herself and those in the same field to be technical professionals who can identify and design solutions for environmental problems.

As all the speakers had finished sharing their thoughts, the question & answer session of the conference began. It was moderated by Associate Professor Albertson D. Amante. The speakers were asked about their expert opinion on what the Philippines and the field of Engineering mostly needed today to promote collaboration on the sectors of industry and academe.

Dr. Adil said that conversing with the locals is important to know their existing problems. She added that pursuing sponsorship for financial support will also help solve these problems as projects dedicated in helping the locals will need some funding to be implemented and succeed

Designing something that actually works is what Dr. Orale amplified. As he mentioned in his presentation, engineers are masters of nature, so they must plan and build projects that are responsive to the behavior of the natural environment. He appealed for engineers to be driven not by profit but by the goal of solving the problems of the society

For Dr. Hernandez, the Philippines lacks a long term and concrete plan for the direction of engineering. The practices in our industry also inhibit us from becoming a better country. By having a clear target, and implementing new trends to our academe and industry, Dr. Hernandez said that the Philippines will have a brighter future ahead.

Dr. Lijauco tackled the importance of having strong relationships with SUC's, LUC's and the private sectors from different fields. Engineers must connect with other experts nationwide. By doing so, he stated that an advancement and extension of technology will be enjoyed among engineers in the Philippines.

The academe must be at the forefront for innovation according to Dr. Rosales. She said that by being open to new knowledge and technologies, the collaboration among and within the industry and the academe will be achieved.

After the Q&A session, the host of the conference launched the Sustainability, Innovations and Futures Thinking (SIFT) Hub on behalf of the university and the CIEE. This aims to bring students, researchers and academicians closer to the research centers of the university. It is an avenue to promote learning, collaboration and innovation towards sustainable development and an engineering education of the future.

The session ended by promoting the scheduled activities for the last day of the virtual conference.

Batangas State University Celebrates WED 2022: World Engineering Day For Sustainable Development Engineering Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow Day 3

The 8th of March 2022 marked the third and last day of BatStateU's celebration of World Engineering Day (WED). For the past two days, the university - through the initiative of the Center of Innovation for Engineering Education - has invited local and international resource speakers and partners from different fields of engineering and education who discussed global goals for 2030 and the ways by which they can be achieved and sustained. This time, in accordance with the WED theme “Build Back Wiser, Engineering the Future”, WFEO announced the launch of the “WED Hackathon” which encourages university students worldwide to design and simulate engineering projects that aim to solve real-world problems and advance the UN's sustainable development goals.

A video clip from UNESCO explained how students can participate, which has already started last January. Dr. Marlene Kanga, the Immediate Past President of WFEO, in partnership with the Engineers Without Borders (EWB), the International Engineering Alliance (IEA), the International Federation of Engineering Education Societies (IFEES), and the Global Engineering Deans Council (GEDC), presented the challenges for the WED Hackathon. The organization also gave the judging criteria and the name of the thirty-nine judges, links for a wide selection of useful references, and submission details. Selected entries of the engineering project proposals have been showcased by the teams via video presentation. These final entries were featured and promoted on the World Engineering Day website and the winning team was announced during the pinnacle of the 24-hour live coverage in the celebration of World Engineering Day aired last March 4, 2022, through the WED's official website.

The Batangas State University was invited to participate by the WFEO, and six groups representing Electronics, Instrumentation & Control, Chemical, and Industrial Engineering stepped up to the Hackathon challenges. They each submitted their project proposals to solve the given challenges and to achieve certain SDGs.

The first group was Briquetting Team (Formento, Aneroso, Villa) from the Industrial Engineering Program. They propose that agricultural waste, such as grass, can be turned into briquettes to optimize the resources. It will also produce income through livelihood and protect the environment by minimizing waste. It contributes to achieving SDG12 (Responsible Consumption & Production). Next was Team BRYCE (Pitel, Macatangay, Ramos) who are from the Chemical Engineering Program and developed a semi-closed looped system for producing biodiesel from waste cooking oils. They aim to achieve both SDG12 and SDG7 (Affordable Clean Energy) by converting waste oil into something useful as fuel.

Team Batt2SAI_ (Macalalad, Mendoza, Opiña, Robiso) from the Chemical Engineering Program aims to achieve SDG12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) by providing a new dimension of recycling carbon material waste. Team SDR (Andal, Bunggo, Marasigan, Silva, Sumanga) of the Electronics Engineering Program proposed to have a quickly deployable communication link using software-defined radio to ensure wireless communication which will be useful, especially during emergency responses and calamities. According to the team, this project will contribute to SDG13 (Climate Action) and SDG9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastracture). Team SIS Penman Monteith (Sillaca, Petalvero, Garcia, Isagunde) of Instrumentation and Control Engineering Program developed a smart irrigation system based on Penman Monteith model of evapotranspiration to ensure agricultural development and water conservation and efficiency. It focuses on SDG5. Finally, Team WONDERPETS (Luwalhati, Tan, Bool) of Chemical Engineering Program proposed water remediation using metal organic framework derived from PET bottles. Their goal is to devise a water-pollutant absorbent and produce clean water in the process and achieve SDG6 (Clean Water and Sanitation). SDG12

From the 125 teams of 23 participating countries, WONDERPETS was among the nine finalists to be selected. Their engineering project proposals were judged by a representative from UNESCO, IEA, WFEO YE/FL, EWBI, IFEES, and INWES.

Finally, it was revealed that the university's representative - Team WONDERPETS, an all-female team from the Batangas State University in the Philippines, as Dr. Kanga defined - won the 2022 World Engineering Day Hackathon. Having been the only Filipino finalist, the team does not only make the university proud but all of the Philippines especially the engineering community. There's arguably no better way of ending this university's 3-day event than this.