Visayas State University

College of Engineering
Department of Civil Engineering

CEng 199: Undergraduate Seminar

Name of Student: Sheila Marie M. Omega Year: 5___________________

SEMINAR NARRATIVE REPORT

Title of the Seminar: Global Competitiveness________________________________________

Name of Speaker: Engr. Socorro Q. Ramos_________________________________________
Date & Time of the Seminar: February 23, 2017 9:00 AM_____ Venue: VSU Convention Center

I. Introduction:
Now, quality education is measured not only by sustainability, efficiency, effectiveness but also
by its relevance. This would mean that relevance in education should address the need of the
students and employers and of course provide the future graduates a curriculum of global
comparability. The College of Engineering is celebrating its 7th year anniversary as a college and
in line of the different activities organized for the COE Week is a seminar focused on empowering
engineering students for global competitiveness.

The first keynote speaker was introduced by Engr. Florentino Morales Jr. and she is Engr.
Socorro Q. Ramos. She is a licensed chemical engineer who graduated from Divine Word
University of Tacloban and holding a doctorate degree in Management. Engr. Socorro Q. Ramos
is currently working in the Commission on Higher Education Region VIII. The seminar on Global
Competitiveness aimed to inform the College of Engineering faculty and students on the different
requirements, memorandum orders and the strategic plans set out by CHED. It also stressed on
the Washington Accord, Outcome Based Education (OBE), important attributes of an engineer
and comparative skills needed for global competency. In the end, the speaker asked the students
on how globally competitive they are, and the faculty of the College of Engineering was assessed
on the level and status of the education system that they have now.

II. Knowledge learned/acquired:

At the seminar, I learned about the different requirements of an engineering graduate from the
CHED Memorandum Order (CMO) like the ability to apply knowledge from various fields and
analytical thinking and there are many things that one must possess to be on edge of other
engineering graduates. The speaker also emphasized on the importance of the English subjects
that we took in college since in the work there are many papers and documents that an individual
have to work on and it is really inevitable.
I also learned more on the Washington Accord on how it defines common standards for
equivalency among the graduates of engineering programs. With the Washington Accord, the
graduates from their accredited engineering programs are mutually recognized by countries to
have met the academic requirements for entry to the practice of engineering which in turn,
promotes the mobility of professionals (engineers) across the borders. There are still many things
that have to be met before this is attained and it all starts by the Outcome Based Education
System.
The important attributes of an engineer include technical, personal, professional and
managerial ability and these attributes will help shape and define the engineer’s chosen field to
work on since as said by the speaker that engineering is the key to many doors. As for
employability skills the student must have the ability to undertake problems and have solutions,
ability to execute presentation with confidence, ability to function as individual and as part of a
team and the ability to use techniques and acquire and apply engineering knowledge. Overall, to
be successful in a time of vast changes, the engineer must be of highest quality and meet the
global market’s requirements.
III. Observations:
a. Relevance of the topic
The topic on Global Competitiveness was timely for both the students and the faculty
of COE since it gave the audience something to reflect on and assess their level in terms
of competency in the market. It also showed the different things that CHED is
implementing now to raise the Philippine education system. As mentioned, it is important
to be both technically and non- technically competent now.

b. Strengths of the Speaker

The speaker really knows the topic that she discusses from the technicalities down to
the different processes. She also plays well with her experience not only from CHED but
more importantly on being an engineer and a teacher at the same time. The speaker can
also answer the different questions thrown at her. Her outfit was also on point, a right
touch of simplicity and professionalism.

c. Weaknesses of the Speaker

First of all, the speaker has a low speaking voice which can result for the audience at
the back to not hear her. Sometimes, she is not aware that she goes to fast on discussing
the topics and she is not so engaging to the audience.

d. Strengths of the Visual Aid

The PowerPoint presentation was very informative and it contains all of the things that
the speaker pointed out during the seminar. The background has good colour and not too
striking to the eyes but still keeping emphasis on some important parts of the presentation.

e. Weaknesses of the Visual Aid

For a crowd of around 400 plus, the size of the texts in the PowerPoint presentation
are too small especially for the people at the back.

IV. Recommendations:
a. Suggestions to improve the seminar
Maybe some subtopics should be added to the seminar which is tilted more on the
students’ improvement. There should also be examples cited on some success stories of
engineering graduates working inside and outside of the country since young people need
something to look up to.

b. Suggestions to improve the way the speaker deliver the seminar

The speaker should make her voice louder and be more engaging to the audience by
making eye contact to them.

c. Suggestions for the clarity of the visual aid

The size of the texts on the PowerPoint presentation should be larger for everyone to
see and to compensate for the not so wide projector screen.