by Bernard De Guzman
September 19, 2016 – Chemical engineering delegates and faculty from colleges and universities in the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Singapore have gathered at the Teresa Yuchengco Auditorium in De La Salle University-Manila. The first day of ASEAN Undergraduate Chemical Engineering Summit (AUChEEdS) is composed of a keynote speech and series of plenary talks from accomplished engineering educators in ASEAN and US, and a student from University of the Philippines-Diliman. The program was commenced by a welcome speech from Engr. Jonathan Dungca (on behalf of De La Salle University President Br. Raymundo P. Suplido FSC, PhD), an opening speech from Prof. Alberto A. Laurito, over-all chair of the Organizing Committee, and Engr. Proserfina Matugas-Coro, PIChE National President.
Prof. Richard M. Felder, Hoechst Celanese Professor Emeritus of Chemical Engineering at North Carolina State University and a co-author of Elementary Principles of Chemical Processes, delivered the keynote speech. Prof. Felder’s message focused on innovative teaching strategies drifting from the traditional classroom-lecture setting. Emphasizing the brain science and learning process’ roles in effective learning, he suggested lecturers should introduce new materials in context of students’ prior knowledge, interests, and goals.
The plenary speakers consist of: Dr. Nathaniel P. Dugos, a professor and chair of the Chemical Engineering Department of De La Salle University-Manila; Professor Dr. Khairiyah Mohd-Yusof, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Centre for Engineering Education Director; Dr. Kun-Lin Yang, Deputy Head of Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at National University of Singapore; Dr. Mohammad Tazil-Azizan, senior lecturer from the Chemical Engineering Department of Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP); Dr. Sorada Kanokpanont, Associate Professor at Chulalongkorn University’s Department of Chemical Engineering; Prof. Ben Chan, Assistant Professor of Engineering Education at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Associate Director at the Center for Engineering Education and Innovation; Engr. Emerson G. Chua, Technical Trainee Manager; and Ms. Ma. Victoria M. Abargon, President of PIChE-Junior Chapter Luzon and student of UP-Diliman.
Dr. Nathaniel P. Dugos featured DLSU Chemical Engineering Department as the host institution for ChE under the ASEAN University Network/Southeast Asia Engineering Education Development Network (AUN-SEED-NET), and its ties with Japan International Cooperation Agency to fund research. The program produced a total of 62 graduates from the ASEAN region.
Dr. Khairiyah Mohd-Yusof inspired the audience as she discussed the role of chemical engineers as solvers to modern-day problems. She mentioned the changing world calls for world-class engineers and their need for a paradigm shift in engineering education.
Dr. Kun-Lin Yang discussed how learning ChE courses can be appealing to the students. According to him, this is through the use of modern engineering tools and softwares, and participative and hands-on pedagogy. The strategy is implemented beginning in the first year until graduation.
Dr. Mohammad Tazil-Azizan and Dr. Sorada Kanokpanont shared teaching innovations of UTP and Chulalongkorn University, respectively. Dr. Tazil-Azizan discussed how his university prepares 21st century chemical engineering students. UTP’s goal is to achieve well-rounded attributes of the students. One of the steps for achieving such is conducting of a boot camp for freshmen ChE students, to motivate and orient them for their academics. Meanwhile, Dr. Kanokpanont introduced Chulalongkorn’s newer version of education known as “Engineering Education 4.0” for ChE Curriculum to effectively achieve learning outcomes.
Prof. Ben Chan imparted his insights in strengthening peer-learning for design courses. According to him, designing is group work in nature and is a tool for a multi-disciplinary learning and improvement of social skills.
Engr. Emerson G. Chua delivered the plenary talk for Engr. Nathaniel Orillos. Engr. Chua gave us a glimpse of Petron Bataan Refinery’s training program for newly-hired chemical engineers, and as well for the promising engineering students. He mentioned the importance of curriculum as a fundamental of honing competent engineers.
Ms. Ma. Victoria Abargon made the crowd energetic by sharing relatable experiences of students dealing with academics and her tips on how to overcome them.
At the end of every plenary talk, a student and a faculty ‘reactor’ ask substantial questions about the topic to the speaker. The first day of the summit was concluded by giving the audience a summary of every talk.
Photos from Membership and Documentations Committee
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