Press Release

Engineering professionals from different ASEAN universities converged recently in Manila for a regional conference focused on geological engineering research and its applications in sustainable development.

Conference discussions focused on innovative industries in Southeast Asia including electric vehicles and rare earth elements. Said regional conference is a component of a JICA Knowledge Co-Creation Program (KCCP) ASEAN University Network / Southeast Asia Engineering Education Development Network (AUN/SEED-NET) that encourages academic collaboration between ASEAN and Japanese universities in engineering education.

"The conference is a platform to build a network of professionals in ASEAN and share knowledge in engineering research so we can find innovative solutions to development issues," said JICA Philippines Chief Representative Yoshio Wada. To date, 40 engineering universities from ASEAN and Japan are part of the network. In the Philippines, the University of the Philippines Diliman, De La Salle University, and Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology are part of AUN/SEED-NET. The University of the Philippines currently hosts 81 students in electrical and electronics engineering as well as environmental engineering under said network.

Examples of studies presented during the conference are on geotechnical approaches for assessing seismic hazards, landslide susceptibility mapping, and using information system for dam safety among others. At the conference, universities who presented their research include: University of the Philippines, Universitas Gadjah Mada and Institut Teknologi Sepulu Nopember (Indonesia), University of Yangon, Yangon Technological University and Monywa University (Myanmar), Pyay University, Chulalongkorn University and King Mongkut's Institute of Technology (Thailand), University Putra Malaysia, Institute of Tehcnology of Cambodia, Ho Chi Minh University Technology (Vietnam), as well as Japan's Kyushu University and Hokkaido University.

Aside from the regional conference, AUN/SEED-NET initiative also backs the ASEAN Engineering Journal that has recently been part of Scopus, the largest citation database of peer-reviewed literature ensuring quality research outputs. Aside from the regional conference and journal, AUN also implements a regional collaboration program between ASEAN and Japanese universities, and an Alumni Support Program for member universities.

AUN/SEED-NET is part of JICA's efforts to engage Japan in knowledge exchange on development issues and boost human resource development in the ASEAN region. To know more about this program, information is available in this link

• https://www.jica.go.jp/philippine/english/activities/activity02_03_08.html