The government’s plan for renewable energy to meet a target of allocating 23 percent by 2025 has been significantly supported by Indonesian engineering students, especially in the area of West Java. This support was demonstrated by President University, who hosted a national conference entitled “Indonesia Conference 2019, RE: ACT”. The conference was held at the Charles Himawan Auditorium of President University on Saturday, 19 October 2019. The name “RE: ACT” itself was taken from the abbreviation “Renewable Energy, Automation, and Control Technology” with the theme “Renewable New Energy, Technology for the People”.
According to the association of mechanical engineering students of the West Java area who organized the event, the development of renewable energy utilization technology can now be directed to a smaller scale that is affordable and can directly be used by the community. Therefore, introducing the development of renewable energy technology as a technology for people’s prosperity became an important theme in this conference.
The event started off with a seminar, delivered by three speakers that focused on sociotechnopreneurship. The first speaker is Prof. Dr. Ir. Raldi Artono Koestoer, DEA., M.Phil, known as the “Father of Premature Babies in Indonesia” (Bapak Bayi Prematur Indonesia). He is the initiator for the design, manufacture, and the rent of free incubators for premature babies at home for the underprivileged.
Besides that, the seminar that was moderated by the lecturer of Mechanical Engineering Study Program of President University Nanang Ali Sutisna, M.Eng. also invited the other lecturer of Mechanical Engineering Study Program of President University Dr. Eng. Azhari Satranegara, B.Eng., M.Eng. who explained engineering simulation as the key element that will set the path of the Industrial Revolution 4.0. The last speaker was Ujang Koswara, S.T., a local entrepreneur who is also a community empowerment activist who introduced his invention Rice ATM to the students.
After the seminar, the event was continued with scientific paper presentations from 20 undergraduate, graduate, and doctorate students to which their paper would be selected further before getting submitted into Journal Mechanical Engineering and Mechatronics, Jurnal Rekayasa Teknologi dan Sains Terapan, and the Proceeding of Indonesian Conference on Renewable Energy, Automation and Control Technology 2019.
The Head of Mechanical Engineering Study Program of President University Dr. Eng. Lydia Anggraini, S.T., M.Eng. fully supported this conference. According to her, this conference can provide as a platform for students, lecturers, and practitioners to broaden their knowledge, insights, as well as exchanging ideas as to implementing the concept of the triple helix (academic, business, and government). “This conference received a very positive response from the students who attended the event. Considering its big benefit, we plan to organize RE:ACT annually,” explained Lydia.