I found the article below as I casually googled my name to see what type of links would appear after I did. The article was written sometime during the centennial celebrations of the College of Engineering (established in June 13, 1910) of UP Diliman and appeared on the mobile version of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. I was pleasantly surprised to see that I was quoted in the article, assuring my name's inclusion among those honored by the College and the University during the Engineering Centennial even if it was only a quotation for the College's commitment to honor, excellence and service.
Who says engineering is boring?
WITH 7,000 students, the University of the Philippines College of Engineering (UPCOE) has the biggest population among the state university’s units.
But while dean Rowena Cristina Guevarra is proud that the college has reached a new milestone, its centennial, she also wants to call attention to the work done by its research and extension arm, the National Engineering Center (NEC) founded in 1978.
NEC has been offering services in engineering education, research and development, technical consultancy, and publications and engineering information for the past 32 years.
It has specialized research centers that develop technologies for scaling up or bringing to the next level prototypes by government, industry and other partners. These are the Training Center for Applied Geodesy and Photogrammetry, the Building Research Service, the National Hydraulic Research Center and the National Center for Transportation Studies (NCTS).
Guevarra strongly believes that knowledge has to be shared.
She cites the Efficient Lighting Management Curricula for Asean. NEC academic sharing came in when the college and NEC worked with Chulalongkorn University in Thailand, Hanoi University of Technology in Vietnam, Helsinki University of Technology in Finland, and University Karishruhe in Germany – schools in the Asia Link Program of the European Commission – to help selected Southeast Asian countries promote efficient lighting.
The move was in response to the slow adoption by household of the more energy efficient compact fluorescent lamps (CFL).
“Architects and engineers light up houses and buildings. So we made [the lighting management] curricula which can be integrated into undergraduate curricula or offered as a specialization in graduate programs, or as continuing education courses,” Guevarra explains.
NEC has a UP Enterprise and Incubation program to develop technologies and incubate “technopreneurs.”
But Guevarra says engineering students also need “soft skills” in communication, project management and leadership and in marketing to help move innovations.
As a result of their more rounded training, engineers can really make a difference, she says, pointing out, “Engineers now make up most of Cabinet-level movers of Korea and China.”
Guevarra says the training students get at UP enables them to develop useful technologies even before they leave the school. She cites the software for on-line enrollment that the university has been using for 10 years. Software, she says, can take as few as six months to develop and, by the very nature of the Internet, can spread fast.
Developing equipment, like drilling instruments, takes longer, at least two years for “roll-out, improvements and tweaks here and there,” she says. Patenting and finding a partner for commercialization take at least 10 years.
At a recent forum, which was part of UPCOE’s centennial celebration, Diliman chancellor Sergio Cao said public service was now legally required of all units since UP had become the National University.
NCTS Director Jose Regin Regidor said, “The College of Engineering’s first 100 years is ... also the prelude to another 100 years of excellence and a pledge to continue serving the Filipino people.”
Doctor Allan Nerves, officer-in-charge of the Professional Engineering Training Division, said NEC hoped to continue working “to make engineering a tool for public service.”
Nerves said even concerns about energy and sustainable development had engineering solutions. The college, he said, welcomed collaboration in the solution of these problems as “our mandate of public service.”
As part of the centennial rites, the UP College of Engineering honored 100 outstanding graduates “who have defined the first 100 years of the College and will serve as the role models in the next 100 years.”
They were chosen by the college and the UP Alumni Engineers headed by Roger Victor Buendia. Guevarra (Electrical Engineering, 1985), the first woman dean of the college, was among the honorees.
Four other women were honored: Science and Technology Secretary Estrella Alabastro (Chemical Engineering, 1961); first UP Open University chancellor Ma. Cristina Padolina (ChE, 1966); Rizalina Mantaring (EE, 1982) and Aura Matias, Ph.D. (Industrial Engineering, 1982), project manager and specialist of NEC’s Public Assessment of Water Services (PAWS) program.
Among the other awardees were Juan Tiongson (Mechanical Engineering, 1921) and Joel Joseph Marciano Jr. (EE, 1994), the youngest.
Pre-war poet-novelist and notable bridge player Dominador Ilio (CE and Geological Engineering 1939) taught at the college and was permanent secretary of the UP Alumni Engineers for many years.
Another awardee, Dr. Leonardo Liongson (ChE, 1969), mentioned that among the college’s distinguished graduates was “Nicanor Jimenez, civil engineer, military officer, president of the Philippine National Railways, ambassador to Korea and dad of (Inquirer) editor Letty (Jimenez-Magsanoc).”
Other graduates who went into public service included Alejandro Melchor Sr. (CE, 1924), after whom the engineering building is named); Senators Gaudencio Antonino (CE, 1933) and Vicente Paterno (ME, 1948), UP President Emanuel Soriano (ME, 1959), and Prime Minister Cesar Virata (ME, 1962).
Other graduates became business magnates like Felipe F. Cruz (CE, 1941), David M. Consunji (CE, 1946), and Cesar Buenaventura (CE, 1959).
Gaston Ortigas (ME, 1962) has a peace institute at Ateneo de Manila University named after him, one of the original members of the Coalition for Peace (1987), a grassroots movement.
Given this wide diversity of paths taken by UPCOE graduates, Guevarra seems right in stressing that, “Engineering is NOT boring.”
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