Nur Helna Allisa Binte Norai
Senior Assistant Manager
Published 16/02/2023
With a burning passion for saving the environment, Associate Professor Cesar Jung-Harada doesnāt adopt the cookie-cutter approach to teaching.
When not at the SIT campus giving lectures to students from the Business, Communication and Design (BCD) cluster, A/Prof Cesar Jung-Harada can be found at sea designing, creating, and innovating. Above all, Cesar is an environmentalist ā equipped with decades of experience in sustainability projects. Most of these projects involve the ocean, where Cesar finds himself in his element.
A/Prof Cesar Jung-Haradaās teaching career goes beyond classroom settings. (Photo by Saxx)
Striving for a Greater Impact
āI am primarily an environmentalist. Iām in the education sector because I wish to influence young people to care about the environment. Thatās my motivation. If I can train students to become innovators for the environment, that will bring about a great impact,ā shared the French-Japanese.
Cesarās commitment to sustainability is inimitable; he attributes this passion to how he was brought up. Coming from a highly spiritual family, it was only natural for Cesar to feel a sense of closeness to nature. And with his half-Japanese heritage, he is influenced by animist practices ā the belief that natural objects, natural phenomena, and the universe possess souls. āItās a belief that everything should be treated equally, with respect and love, and able to be at peace in front of everything ā be it animals, humans, or nature. My love for the environment stems from this,ā explained Cesar.
Flying the SIT Flag High
Last October, shortly after joining SIT, Cesar participated in The FabFest Bali, the world's largest digital fabrication event started by MIT FabLab network. The event gathered local and global innovation communities to propose meaningful projects that empower Baliās emerging regenerative economy. Cesar and his teamĀ Balon Balo IjoĀ received the āSpecial Mentionā Award. Balon Balon Ijo is a floating hydrogen production equipment powered by solar panels that aims to mitigate the deteriorating effects of the global climate crisis. Made mainly from sustainable materials, the equipment separates hydrogen and oxygen from seawater. With electricity from solar panels, the hydrogen is produced at sea at low pressure, then brought to land where it can be used for household purposes, such as cooking, lighting, and powering electric bikes.
Balon Balon Ijo prototype in Jimbaran, Bali, Indonesia. (Photo by Cesar Jung-Harada)
Connecting Experience to Education
Selecting the right university to teach at was critical for Cesar; he hoped to find one that aligns with his teaching philosophy and supports his drive for innovation and entrepreneurship. He explained, āI eventually chose SIT because I discovered that a sizable number of its undergraduates are first in their family to enter university. I resonated with this as I could see the strengths of students from this background.ā
Cesar believes the most important part about being an educator today is having a strong purpose in education. āWe have to develop compassion within students. Itās more than just teaching a technical subject well; we must teach them to care. This will push them to work hard for what they love.ā
Echoing SITās applied learning pedagogy, Cesarās teaching philosophy is about āgetting your hands dirtyā. He believes that the best way to learn from challenges is not by studying them, but by experiencing them. āI want students to be responsive to problems. They should be challenged through difficult situations ā and my role as an educator is to provide them safe guidance and emotional support.ā
Many of Cesarās innovations are applied to the ocean, such as āProteiā the shape-shifting sailing robot. (Photo by Jessice Louie)
Participating in international innovation events allows Cesar to widen his perspectives and tap the knowledge of experts in various fields. However, he attests that students who wish to embark on passion projects donāt necessarily have to travel far. āTravelling doesnāt have to be expensive. If you visit anywhere with a strong purpose, youāll be able to make more out of the trip. Choose a mission, and youāll be able to carve an interesting journey out of it,ā he said.
In the same vein of learning outside of classroom settings, Cesar reminds that students tend to forget that they are working for themselves, not their lecturers or professors. He shared, āIn the grand scheme of things, what is going to be much more important is the type of work students engage in after graduating from university, and the kind of individual they become. That is a lot more meaningful to me as an educator.ā
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