At its initial conception in 2019, the conference was planned to take place on 5th and 6th of February 2020 at College of Science and Technology. With interested participants registering from various institutions in Bhutan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Australia, the conference participants were prepared to depart from their station while the speakers and guests were invited. However, a week before the conference, international travel ban in Bhutan due to increasing cases of COVID-19 around the world withheld the progress of the conference.
The conference was suspended for indefinite period without clear dates to reschedule. In the 9th IEEE meeting held on 22nd November 2020, the committee finally decided to organize it on the same dates in 2021. However, due to deteriorating pandemic situation, the conference was finally held online on the 5th and 6th of February 2021.
The Conference had four session with the keynote session delivered by Dr. Tshering C Dorji, CEO of Thimphu Techpark on Bhutan’s Journey towards Digital Transformation: the Past, Present and Future. He enlightened the audience on past, present and future of digital transformation in our country with need to further improve the connectivity to the outside world. He also presented the dream of Bhutan and its technological footprints for better connectivity in Bhutan.
The first sessions were chaired by Dr. Tshewang Lhendup, Asst. Professor and Dean of Academic Affairs, CST. A total of 7 technical papers were presented in the first session. Prof. David Cook from Australia presented on Asymmetrical Trusted Technology Networks in Developing Economies: A Case study on Critical Infrastructure in Bhutan. He focused on the need for stakeholders to work together to secure critical infrastructure. He elaborated on the interdependency of the infrastructure. This was followed by papers on Data Preparation for Dzongkha ASR by Mr Pema Galey; Assessing the Groundwater Quality of Rohingya Refugee Camp Cox Bazar Bangladesh by Prof. Nadim Khandekar; Airtightness of Modelling and optimization techniques of off-grid applications in developing countries by Mr Nawaraj Sanjel; Effect of Air Infiltration Rate on Energy Consumption – A study on Residential Building in Bebena, Thimphu by Ms Neelam Monger; The Facets of Green City by Jose Mathews; Landslide susceptibility mapping by the multi-criteria approach of Frequency ratio, Pairwise comparison- AHP and Logistic Regression: A case study in Phuentsholing, Bhutan by Dechen Wangchuk.
The second session was chaired by Mr. Tshewang Nidup, Lecturer and Program Leader of ME in Construction Management. The session saw 8 presentations in A Case study on slope instability of Punatshangchhu Hydroelectric Project Authority-I dam in Bhutan by Rinchen Lhamo, Exploration of groundwater potential zones: a case study in Phuentsholing by Kezang Yuden, Bhutanese Ornamental Windows and Its Contribution to Inter-story Drift in Rammed Earth Structure - A Case Study by Nimesh Chhetri.
The other presentations were Stator earth fault detection & evaluation of delaminated stator bar ground wall insulation of generator G-4 of HPP Chhukha – A case study Rinchen Wangdi, Test for Inconsistency using Double Mass Curves on Precipitation data of Bhutan by Kirtan Adhikari, Electronic Voting System for Visually Impaired People by Dema Choki, Redesigning Direct Air Capture using Renewable Energy by Abhar Bhattarai and The Effects of Untreated Textile Effluents on Groundwater near Kodda Gazipur Industrial Area in Bangladesh by Faisal Fahad Rio
In the third session, Dr. Cheki Dorji, President CST and Chair ICSciEnTec2020 was the moderator and session chair. In this session, the presentations concentrated on researchers in electrical engineering concentrated in transformers to measuring the changes in environmental conditions around the world. A proposal on gamification of teaching learning process was also proposed. Mr Hemant Chhetri presented on Landslide Susceptibility Assessment With Machine Learning : A Comparison Between Logistic Regression And Random Forest Algorithms. Mr. Tshereing Penjor Presented on Retrofitting the atrium of CST Administration building: To achieve optimum thermal comfort. The presented by Mr. kirtan Adhikari concentrated on Approximate Convection Diffusion Wave Method to Compute Discharge Using Only Stage Data. Mr. Deepen Sharma presented on determining the condition of existing power transformers using a suitable transformer condition assessment tool. Mr. Bharat Humagai presented on Assessment of Ambient Particulate Matter Concentrations-PM10,PM2.5 and PM1 at Rinchending in Phuentsholing Bhutan followed by Ms. Yeshi Choden on Ecological Health Assessment of Lake: case study on Renuka Lake of Himachal Pradesh, India. Dr. Nadim Khandaker presented a Case Studies of Holistic Approach to Engineering: GNH-Engineering while Sonam Choden presented on Green Urbanism: Adopting Sustainable Transport in Phuentsholing City. The final presentation was by Kinzang Pelden on Gamified learning environment (GLE): A Case study to compare between traditional learning and Gamified learning environment
The conference though reduced in scale, was a success with students, staff and audience joining in from various agencies in Bhutan. At its initial registration the conference had 50 registered presentations but in virtual mode, the presentations reduced to 26. The conference saw a maximum of 99 participants at one point. The presenters were from Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Australia in domains of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Computer Science and Information technology, Civil Engineering, Architecture and Environment.
The conference organizing committee thanks the Royal University of Bhutan, College of Science and Technology, Presenters, Audience and Sponsors.
The conference was jointly sponsored by Thimphu Techpark, Bank of Bhutan, Penden Cement Authority Limited, Bhutan Automation and MS Tshongkhang.
The College of Science and Technology had a three-day, (1st March-3rd March 2021), a training programme on using Arduino Uno, A microcontroller board used for various applications. The programme was coordinated by the Electronics and Communication Engineering Department, ECED, resourced by Dr. Kazuhiro Muramatsu, a faculty in ECED.
technological aspiring entrepreneurs in the College. The ideology was centered on action, innovation, and education, and community building.