Last August 17 / Saturday, since I’m the Corporate Secretary of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of the Philippines Manila Chapter, I was assigned to prepare a closing remarks to the participants of the 4th and 5th Seminars of IECEP Manila Chapter. This is the Taglish (combination of Tagalog and English) speech that I have shared and have dedicated to my fellow Electronics Engineers:
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Likas sa mga Pilipino ang maging Jack of all trades. May kasabihan nga tayo na to master everything is to master nothing. Pansin n’yo ba gan’un din ang ECE, in the academe we have been studying partial of different specializations from various engineering discipline: like Thermodynamics of the Mechanical Engineer, Electrical Circuits of the Electrical Engineers, Strength of Materials of the Civil Engineers. Dapat sinama na rin nila pati ang cooking class at performing arts para certified Jack of all trades tayo! Joke lang ‘yun. Ako po nahilig talaga sa pagsusulat at performing arts bago pa’ko nag-engineer, ‘yun ang totoo.
But unlike any other engineering discipline, they can practice their profession straight forward after passing the board exam: ang mga ME sa machine companies, ang mga CE sa paggawa ng mga buildings and structures, ang mga EE sa construction din ng buildings and circuits design of high voltage connections. Eh ang mga ECE, some of us napunta sa broadcasting, sa semicon, sa telecoms; lately na-accept na din tayo to practice as network administrators pero originally, sa mga Computer Science graduates ‘yan. ‘Yan ang main industries ng ECE. Pero sa dami natin ‘yung iba nag-stay na lang sa mga call centers at hindi na pinractice ang pagiging Electronics Engineer, nakakalungkot. Naturingang pinakamahirap na engineering course, pero pinakamahirap din namang hanapan ng specialization at i-practice.
Last 2004, simula ng naipatupad ang RA9292, binago nito ang lahat dahil kung pagbabasehan natin ang batas, binanggit isa-isa ang sakop ng ating propesyon. Napakalawak ng sakop ng ating discipline, bukod sa mga binanggit ko kanina, isinama na rin ang Software Engineer, Biomedical Engineer, Safety Engineer, Security Engineer at kung anu-ano pang discipline, basta kabitan mo ng Engineer, sa’tin na ‘yun. Pero any equipments or device running in low-power, well-defined na sa practice natin ‘yun. No doubt, dahil batas na ang ating propesyon, pagdudahan pa ba natin?
Ang challenge nga sa’tin ay kung paano natin mari-reach ang next level para maging PECE. Alam n’yo ba na unti-unti ng sinusunod ang guidelines ng RA9292, pero dahil sa kakulangan ng mga PECE practitioners, hindi ma-fully implement ang batas. This is the best time for us to look at this great opportunity of our profession.
You may be wondering why am I wearing Accenture shirt. I am not working in Accenture but I used to work there. Hindi sa call center nila ha kasi kapag sinabing accenture, ang stereotype ay call center agad. Also not even as network administrator ha, sa I.T. po ako nag-work d’un, Solutions Workforce. Pero before accenture, nagwork din naman ako sa call center sa Convergys as Tech Support when I was reviewing for board exam. Siyempre, medyo may kamahalan ang bayad sa review center kaya kailangang maghanap ng pambayad, nakakahiya namang humingi pa sa parents matapos akong gumraduate. Currently, I’m working sa West Corporation at sa I.T. industry pa din, more on Software Engineering and Systems Analyst ang tasks ko at least defined na sa batas ang pinapractce ko at hindi na’ko nagdududa na ako nga’y isang ganap nang Electronics Engineer, batid ko din na hindi lang valid ID ang silbi ng aking lisensyang mahigit sa limang taon kong pinaghirapan. Marami pa sana akong gustong i-kwento ng mga karanasan ko bilang Electronics Engineer sa mahigit na limang taon sa I.T. industry pero sa susunod na lang siguro.
Ngayong mga professionals na tayo and we are in our respective industries, let’s not believe in the saying na, to master everything is to master nothing! Let’s change it this way: To master everything is to experience something. Siyempre mga former ECE students nga tayo ‘di ba? And that’s how we were trained in the academe. Let’s use that experience to hone our skills in our choice of specialization as ECT, ECE or PECE.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for attending this seminar. Like what Engr. Melvin Acosta told us this morning, let’s use this event not just for the purpose of earning CPE points to renew our licenses but also let’s consider this as an avenue to augment our knowledge and develop our technical skills.
Once again, thank you and see on the next seminars of IECEP Manila Chapter. This is Engr. Aleksandre Pates, proud to be an Electronics Engineer! (AAP)
