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Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, Chair of the Senate Committee on Energy, was one of the keynote speakers of the Sustainable Energy Ecosystems International Conference 2018 (SEECON 2018), co-located with the 1st Philippine International Microgrid Exhibition and Conference (PIMEC) on October 24-26, 2018 at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel.

Prof. AbuBakr Bahaj, University of Southampton, and Dr. Peter Lilienthal, CEO of HOMER Energy, also delivered keynote speeches representing academia and industry, respectively, in addition to Sen. Gatchalian, who represented government. The three speakers spoke on energy access and energy efficiency.

There were also plenary talks on the same topics, as well as in renewable energy and energy policy. There were 20 oral research papers, and nine poster presentations by researchers from the academe including faculty members, graduate, and undergraduate students from universities in the Philippines as well as from the University of Jember, Indonesia.

The three-day conference was graced by University President Fr. Dionisio Miranda, SVD, who gave the opening remarks, while the conference rationale was delivered by Dr. Evelyn Taboada, Dean, USC School of Engineering.

Senator Gatchalian talked about “Kuryente for Every JUAN.” As Chair of the Senate Committee on Energy, the senator presented government initiatives towards 100% country electrification by 2022. He was pleasantly surprised to know that the University of San Carlos, through the Center for Research in Energy Systems and Technologies (CREST), is conducting research to contribute to improved electricity access in the country. He encouraged CREST to be the center of excellence in energy access research in the country.

The SEECON conference chair was Dr. Luzvisminda Bellotindos, CREST Director, while the conference co-chair was Engr. Isabelo Rabuya, project leader of USC CHED Newton Fund Institutional Links Grant.

Tags: Engineering, Events