Competitions in the field of Robotics have always been popular among students. However, Siemens in collaboration with top Indonesian campuses took it to the next level in a bid to support and nurture the competitiveness of national industry.
The Mechatronic Technology Center with Mechatronic and Industrial Automation-Research Center (MIA-RC) as a center of excellence of Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) Surabaya with support from PT Siemens Indonesia, hosted the Siemens SciTech Competition 2017 from October 9-11, 2017.
The Siemens SciTech Competition is an exclusive national competition held in every two years. The first event in 2015 managed to attract participants of up to 99 teams from 22 universities and 8 senior and technical schools across Indonesia.
This year鈥檚 competition is also part of the Industrial Mechatronic and Automation Expo 2017 (IMAE 2017); serving as a forum for students from senior high school and universities to explore their skills on industrial automation. The competition has evolved into a benchmark for all students, who wish to advance their knowledge or pursue careers in industrial automation.
鈥淚t is imperative to equip the students with necessary knowledge in this field. Mastering industrial automation will be the key in driving the competitiveness of our national industry, in anticipating the global trend and seizing the opportunity from the fourth industrial revolution,鈥� said Pascal Dricot, Head of Factory Automation of PT Siemens Indonesia.
Industrial Automation is an extremely fast moving area, so students need to gain strong underpinning knowledge, expertise and a wide range of skills through training and regular participation in quality competitions. The Siemens SciTech Competition consists of four groups: Programmable Logic Controller (PLC), Human Machine Interface (HMI), Distributed Control Systems (DCS) or SCADA systems and Mathematic and Sciences.
PLC SIMATIC S7, as well as TIA Portal Version 14 along with a complete range of digitalized automation service devices will be showcased at the event, representing the most innovative design control systems that provide high performance and improvement in efficiency within the industrial process. Students will be given the chance to explore and understand the improvements these devices provide, from digital planning and integrated engineering to transparent operation.
鈥淭hrough this competition, we want to attract more young talents who will play crucial role in advancing Indonesian industries to enter the era of Industry 4.0. They will be the ones who build our smart factories, smart buildings, smart grids and eventually realize the concept of smart mobility. Therefore, ITS with MIA-RC will give a real contribution to enrich tomorrow鈥檚 generation competencies. In the future, we hope ITS could become the center of mechatronics and industrial automation technology development since robotics center building was established鈥� said Prof. Ir. Joni Hermana, M.Sc.ES. Ph.D, Rector of ITS.
In parallel, PT Siemens Indonesia also provided another opportunity for students to gain insight into the latest technology in industrial automation through the Siemens Digitalization Day where it presented digitalization solutions in energy, manufacturing, and transportation on October 10, 2017.