To discuss Industry 4.0 and its inevitable impact on the scientific and education landscapes, the Department of Science and Technology-Science Education Institute (DoST-SEI), together with the Accelerated Science and Technology Human Resource Development Program-National Science Consortium (ASTHRDP-NSC), convened science scholars and educators in the 8th ASTHRDP Graduate Scholars Conference.
The conference, aptly themed “Level Up to Level All: Science as Platform for Industry 4.0”, was held on May 2 to 3 at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City, with more than 400 DoST graduate scholars, faculty members of the NSC member-universities under the ASTHRDP and guests in attendance.
Science and Technology Secretary Fortunato de la Peña, through a message delivered by Assistant Secretary Leah Buendia, encouraged participants to adapt to changes and find ways to thrive amid such.
“We have a technological environment that is different from what it used to be a decade ago, which means we have to speed up our efforts to catch up or even leapfrog other countries technologically,” he said.
The NSC is the implementing arm of DoST-SEI for the ASTHRDP, which provides PhD and Master of Science scholarships in priority basic and applied sciences. It is composed of the following member-universities: Ateneo de Manila University, Central Luzon State University, De La Salle University, Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology, University of Santo Tomas, Visayas State University, and University of the Philippines Diliman, Los Baños, Manila and Visayas.
Among the highlights of the two-day activity were the plenary talks with invited experts, parallel oral and poster presentations featuring researches of DoST graduate scholars, and an awarding ceremony for top poster and oral presentations.
The first day of the event featured two plenary talks: Industry 4.0 Policy Strategies and the Role of Universities by Dr. Joseph Frohlich of the Austria Institute of Technology, and 4Cs Framework to Transform Higher Education Institution into an Innovation Producing ecosystem by Mr. Johnson Ong Chee Bin of the ASEAN University Network in Singapore. After the parallel sessions, participants and guests walked through the poster exhibit to get an overview of the researches.
The last two plenary talks — Self-sustainable Building by Dr. Noor Amila Wan Abdullah Zawawi of the Institute of Self-Sustainable Building Universiti Teknologi Petronas, Malaysia, and Industry 4.0 Implications on S&T Higher Education and Human Capitalby Dr. Celia Reyes of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies — were held on the second day.
Melvir Sucaldito, a DoST scholar-graduate from the De La Salle University, lauded the conference for giving DoST scholars an opportunity to share their researches with the public. “It is also a venue to communicate with DoST-SEI and give constructive criticisms for the different programs. This has been a yearly celebration of success and triumphs,” he said.
DoST-SEI, the country’s arm in science and technology human development resource development, is known for its undergraduate and graduate science and technology scholarship programs. The annual ASTHRDP Conference is one of the agency’s supplemental projects aimed to urge DoST scholar-graduates to continue their engagement in research activities and collaborations to further develop the Philippine science community.
“We hope this conference will forge our scholars’ commitment to develop IR 4.0-ready skills and help small industries catch up technologically,” DoST-SEI Director Dr. Josette Biyo said.
