Yogyakarta, October 28, 2025 — The era of Industry 4.0 and precision agriculture has generated massive amounts of data, ranging from sensor data and satellite imagery to spectroscopy results. The key challenge for modern agriculture lies not only in data collection but also in the ability to process and extract valuable insights from these complex datasets.
To address this challenge, the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (DTPB), Faculty of Agricultural Technology, Universitas Gadjah Mada (FTP UGM), organized an International Guest Lecture titled “Math for Understanding PCA” on Tuesday (October 28). This activity is part of the Joint Supervision Program, a continuing initiative by DTPB FTP UGM to expand academic collaboration and global knowledge exchange.
The session featured Prof. Toshio Kawano, Ph.D., a leading expert in chemometrics and agricultural data analysis from the Department of Agricultural and Marine Science, Kochi University, Japan, as the keynote speaker. Prof. Kawano elaborated on the fundamental principles and applications of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) for multidimensional data, particularly in sensor-based agricultural and food analysis.
Moderated by Dr. Rudiati Evi Masithoh from DTPB FTP UGM, the lecture was attended by undergraduate and graduate students, as well as researchers from various institutions. The interactive session provided valuable insights into mathematical approaches for improving data interpretation in precision agriculture.
This lecture reinforces DTPB FTP UGM’s commitment to enhancing students’ data literacy and quantitative analysis skills, forming a strong foundation for the development of innovative precision agriculture technologies.
The activity aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly:
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SDG 4: Quality Education, through strengthening academic capacity and data-based agricultural education, and
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SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure, through promoting research and technological innovation in modern agricultural systems.
By fostering analytical thinking and interdisciplinary collaboration, this guest lecture is expected to inspire students and researchers to apply data-driven approaches that support the transformation of Indonesian agriculture toward a sustainable digital future.
