Revolutionizing teaching methods and providing hands-on experience for its students, Biliran Province State University set a history as it pioneered in acquiring the latest edition of the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA).

"BiPSU is the first SUC in the Philippines to acquire SCADA 3 because other universities have only SCADA 1 and SCADA 2," Mr. Edmund Guzman, consultant and technical training manager of Hytec POWER Incorporated, revealed in his statement during the orientation on SCADA handling held September 3 at the engineering laboratory room.

In its move to advance its engineering program through the provision of upgraded equipment for instructional laboratory and research use, the School of Engineering (SOE) proposed to procure SCADA in 2021.

Subsequently, SOE, through the Higher Education Development Fund (HEDF) of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), was granted the amount of 10-million for the Modernization of Engineering Laboratories for the Delivery of Cutting-Edge Higher Education. In January 2022, BiPSU received its SCADA 3 from its supplier, De Lorenzo Global.

SCADA system, a crucial component of the state-of-the-art electrical engineering laboratory, enables students to precisely simulate power plant operations and control.

The said initiative is part of the #WoWBiPSU 2.0 development plan of the university headed by BiPSU President Victor C. Cañezo, Jr., which underlines the administration’s efforts in providing quality and relevant education.

In a statement, Dr. Cañezo reaffirmed his commitment in advancing education in BiPSU as a higher education institution. “This is one of the priorities of this administration, to revolutionize methods and provide hands-on training for our students through our cutting-edge facilities,” Dr. Cañezo added.

In a proposal, the engineering school explained that the equipment-trainer is beneficial for the students as it would allow them to do high-level simulation of the operations, control and supervision of the power plant and power generators.

Additionally, during the previous semester’s start of the limited face-to-face classes of BiPSU, the Electrical Engineering Department had already utilized the newly acquired  equipment by conducting series of trainings to the electrical engineering faculty as well as the senior electrical engineering students

According to Engr. Vivencio A. Pelesco, dean of the School of Engineering (SOE), in order to advance the technology that university has, the engineering school recently upgraded its SCADA 3 by acquiring additional equipment to complete the power generation system of the electrical smart grid.

Moreover, the cost of the equipment upgrade composed of a generator for parallel power operation simulations, conventional machine trainer, and power generation protection, amounted to Php6,200,000.00

The SCADA-upgrading secured a funding of Php5,000,000.00 from CHED’s Institutional Development and Innovation Grant (IDIG), with a counterpart contribution of Php 1,276,000.00 from BiPSU.

In an interview, Engr. Pelesco emphasized that the upgrade is groundbreaking for engineering education. "This equipment-trainer will revolutionize our teaching methods and provide students with hands-on experience in power generation systems," Engr. Pelesco said.

Engr. Pelesco added that the project's primary goal is to enhance the knowledge and skills of BiPSU's BSEE students in operating and controlling power generation components within smart grid systems using SCADA technology, meeting industry demands.

This project will also provide cost savings for students who no longer need to seek industry immersion outside the province and for electrical engineers in the area who can avail of the university's training programs.

Furthermore, aside from its benefits for the students, the upgraded laboratory will also enable faculty members to conduct research studies on power generation system performance under various conditions.

Meanwhile, Engr. Neil S. Sereño, chairperson of the Department of Electrical Engineering, expressed gratitude to the administration for supporting the department with this new equipment.

"I just want to extend my heartfelt gratitude for the support extended to the School of Engineering and to the BS Electrical Engineering department" Engr. Sereño expressed.

#WoWBiPSU