A total of 119 undergraduate Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (ABE) students from the Ilocos Sur Polytechnic State College (ISPSC) paid a visit to the Agricultural Machinery Testing and Evaluation Center (AMTEC) testing facilities as part of an educational tour in UPLB last November 8, 2024.

The tour aims to expose the students to technologies and the practice of machinery testing and evaluation as an ABE profession. Specifically, they were provided with technical knowledge that may complement their agricultural and biosystems (AB) power, energy, and machinery engineering courses. 

During the tour, the students and their teachers were given a brief orientation about the mandates and operations of AMTEC that are vital in the country’s mechanization program. They were also introduced, with the assistance of the resident test engineers, to the various testing setups in the Agricultural Machinery Testing and Studies Laboratory and the Sample Analysis Laboratory.

Moreover, the activity also intends to allow students to learn more about AMTEC’s modern technologies in establishing standard specifications, test procedures, and performance indices for agricultural machinery, as well as conducting tests and evaluations of agricultural machinery

AMTEC as the premiere testing center for agricultural and fisheries machinery is also a public service unit of the University whose functions extend beyond testing and evaluation. This year alone, more than ten universities visited the facilities to learn about the vital functions of the Center.

Since its foundation in 1977, the Center has been actively involved in the country’s ABE community from both the academe and practitioners in the field of agricultural machinery through its valuable data and technical expertise. AMTEC pledged to sustain its quality services through its operations and public service initiatives in the coming years.