Synergy of Academics and Electrical Practitioners at SENKA 2015

Electrical Engineering Research Group, School of Electrical Engineering and Informatics (STEI) ITB held the National Seminar on Electricity and Its Applications (SENKA) 2015 on August 19-20, 2015 at the Aston Primera Pasteur Hotel, Bandung. In this event, STEI ITB collaborated with the Indonesian Engineers Association (PII), IEEE, and several universities in Bandung City such as Bandung State Polytechnic (POLBAN), General Ahmad Yani University (UNJANI), STT Mandala, National Institute of Technology (ITENAS), Siliwangi University, and Telkom University. SENKA 2015 was officially opened by the Deputy Dean for Resources of STEI Dr. Ir. Nana Rachmana Syambas, M.Eng. This year's event is the first of a biannual event planned to alternate with the IEEE Conference on Power Engineering and Renewable Energy (ICPERE).

According to the chairman of the SENKA 2015 organizing committee, Dr. Ir. Pekik Argo Dahono, SENKA 2015 was held to provide a space for discussion and sharing of knowledge for practitioners and academics in the field of electricity and its applications on a national scale and in Indonesian. Considering that it is still very rare to hold a national seminar in Indonesian in the field of electricity. It was recorded that representatives from 12 universities participated in SENKA 2015, including the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), the National Institute of Technology (ITENAS), the Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS), the Bandung State Polytechnic (POLBAN), Udayana University (UNUD), Dehasen Bengkulu University, General Achmad Yani University (UNJANI), the University of Lampung, Makasar State University (UNM), Malang State University (UM), Padjadjaran University (UNPAD), and Sultan Agung Tirtayasa University (UNTIRTA). Not only from university academics, practitioners in the electricity industry also participated in presenting the latest technological developments at SENKA 2015, including the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, PLN Research Institute, PT Antam, PT Pertamina (Persero), PT PLN (Persero) P3B Sumatera, UPT Banda Aceh, PT PLN Persero, PT. Indonesia Power, PT. PHE ONWJ, PT. PJB UP CIRATA, and PT. Asia Pacific Tbk. The fairly balanced combination of participants from academia and industry at this first event indicates that SENKA 2015 has the potential to become an interesting discussion forum in the electricity sector in the future.

SENKA 2015 is a national seminar designed to provide a balanced portion of guest speakers and paper presentations. In the two days of the event, the morning to lunch sessions always present presentations by experts in the guest speaker session followed by presentations by presenters who submitted their papers to SENKA 2015 in two parallel rooms. There were 6 guest speakers during the two days of SENKA 2015 including Dr. Rejeki Simanjorang from Rolls Royce Singapore, Ahmad Husnan from PT. LEN Industri, Ir. E. Haryadi from PT. PLN P3B Jawa Bali, Dr. Andhika Prastawa from BPPT, Dr. Ferry Viawan from Jacobs Consulting, Australia, and Dr. Muhammad Aziz from Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan. A total of 40 papers were presented at SENKA 2015 during the 2 days of the event.

SENKA 2015 was considered quite successful, with a wealth of information and camaraderie emerging throughout the event. The high level of participation from electricity industry practitioners demonstrates the importance of such events for a wider audience, not just academics. However, much work remains to be done to encourage even more active participation. SENKA aspires to become a prestigious, regular national conference.