Today I visited Mr Arief Hamdani, Director of the Leadership Program at the BUMN School of Excellence, Danantara. As the Advisor and Chair of the IEEE Indonesia S&S SIGHT, we discussed the IEEE framework for cultivating strategic leadership founded on technological capability and the orchestration of humanit program.
Happy IEEE Day! Started as professional collaborations in 1884, the IEEE expands to research & dissemination, to strategic global plan and standardization, to cutting-edge technology design & deployment, to the engagement of industry, universities, schools, students, and startups, and to humanitarian technology activities. IEEE: advancing technology for humanity.
In April 1884, a group of pioneers, including Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, George A. Hamilton, met in New York to form a professional body for the nascent field of electrical engineering, establishing the AIEE under Norvin Green. That same year, on 7–8 October, the AIEE held its first technical meeting at the International Electrical Exhibition in Philadelphia, an event widely regarded as the birth of organised electrical engineering in America. Among its early contributors were Nikola Tesla, Elihu Thomson, Edwin Houston, and Edward Weston, whose collective work later shaped the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
Upon returning from Tokyo, I flew straight to Yogyakarta to attend the reunion of the 1988 Electrical Engineering cohort of Universitas Brawijaya.
Although the reunion has been held several times over the past three decades, this was my first time joining.
Of roughly a hundred alumni, about seventy were able to attend this special year’s gathering. The event took place at Sambi Resort in Kaliurang, Yogyakarta — a serene venue that perfectly suited the occasion.
The reunion was filled with laughter, old stories, and the kind of humour only long friendships can carry. Many of those memories, along with a few personal reflections, I have previously shared on https://kun.co.ro and other blogs.
In addition, there were a few smaller gatherings — delightful offshoot reunions with fellow alumni from SMPN 3 and SMAN 3 Malang.
A real enchantment to take part in the IEEE Region 10 Humanitarian Technology Conference 2025, Chiba University of Commerce, 28 September to 1 October, themed “Beyond SDGs, A New Humanitarian Era with Intelligent Partners.”
The day before the Conference, I reported the IEEE President-Elect Mary Ellen Randall and HTB President Grayson Randall about the IEEE humanitarian collaborative innovations in Indonesia, strengthening digital ecosystems and sustainable innovation.
During the Opening Ceremony, HTB President spoke about the unique role of engineers as architects of hope — those who bridge innovation with social responsibility. IEEE President-Elect Mary Ellen Randall followed the next day with a visionary keynote on IEEE’s global roadmap to elevate the engineering profession while enhancing the quality of human life.
I had the privilege of speaking in Special Program 15, “Synergy for Sustainable Impact,” sharing insights on how synergy, complexity, and ecosystem collaboration can drive sustainable transformation. Drawing from Indonesia’s national vision, I presented examples of the MSME digital ecosystem, where engineering, entrepreneurship, and social innovation intersect to empower local communities. I also highlighted initiatives under IEEE Indonesia SIGHT in Sociopreneurship and Sustainability, where student branches are developing real solutions — solar-powered water systems, IoT monitoring, and sociopreneurship incubation — now being implemented at Gadjah Mada University and Udayana University.
The IEEE R10 HTC 2025 was not just a conference of ideas, but a living demonstration of synergy — where intellect, empathy, and technology converge. It reaffirmed a truth I deeply value: engineering is not merely about machines or systems, but about humanity itself.
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