Some 200 electrical engineering students from 12 colleges and universities in Regions 1, 2 and the Cordillera Administrative Region trooped to MMSU on Aug. 28-30 to participate in the 10th Institute of Integrated Electrical Engineers – Council of Student Chapters (IIEE-CSC) Conference.

Held at the covered court, the events highlights included a student congress, math quiz, and sports activities dubbed EElympics.

The student congress involved the presentation of research papers that contain curriculum-based innovations  that benefit EE and electrical technology (ET) students. The event also aimed to unite all EE and ET students in the country by establishing interregional cooperation.

“This congress enables the students to help uplift regional academic standards,” said Dr. Edmund Esteban, COE dean, during the opening program.

The student congress also bannered technical seminars that enriched the participants’ knowledge on recent topics and relevant developments in the profession.

Meanwhile, the Math quiz is the trademark of the CSC and is considered as the most prestigious academic competition in the country. It was simultaneously conducted in different parts of the country by various chapters of the IIEE-CSC.

A way of promoting healthy activities among the students through sports competitions, the EElympics allowed participants from the three regions to mingle with each other and build friendships.

In her welcome remarks, Wilma Natividad, MMSU VP for academic affairs, thanked the participants for taking the lead role in continuously enhancing the competitiveness of electrical engineering practitioners toward global excellence.

“This initiative is a giant stride in making our respective colleges and universities relevant and responsive to the changes of the times as we maintain our niches in the delivery of quality and excellent education in our regions,” she remarked.

Dr. Natividad lamented, however, that the economic and political landscape of the country is facing trying times and that the electrical industry is not considered very stable, with power costs steadily increasing and power supply on a shortage.

“We are now facing the challenges of borderless education, ASEAN integration, and outcomes-based education, and so we need to harness our strength and resources to overcome these formidable challenges,” she said, adding that we must strike a balance between technical and managerial skills to be able to respond to convergence trends.

“We could attain these through a well-developed and responsive system of electrical engineering education that will develop students holistically,” she said.

Dr. Natividad believes that with the world moving toward a knowledge economy, there is a need to broaden the perspective of students in their respective fields.

Participants of this three-day event were from MMSU, Cagayan State University, Saint Louis University in Baguio City, Isabela State University, Divine Word College of Laoag, Florencio L. Vargas College in Cagayan, Northwestern University, Nueva Viscaya State University, University of Cagayan Valley, Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University in La Union, University of Saint Louis Tuguegarao, and the Patria Sable Corpus College in Isabela.