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by PAM
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| A dream and vision realized... by persistence and labor of love. |
It took a while... but the dream finally came true... and through!
The maiden issue of "Ignite", the Thomasian Chemical Engineering Product Innovation Magazine, is already out in limited circulation. The magazine is primarily the Department's yearly 'product portfolio' of sorts, which features products exhibited in the yearly "UST Chemical Engineering-Rebisco Product Innovation Challenge + Mini Expo". It also contains feature articles on the event and the winners of the Challenge. The maiden issue features products from the 2011 edition of the Mini Expo dubbed as "InnoVision", organized and participated in by the UST Chem. E. Batch 2012 - the Neo-Centennial Batch - under the very able leadership of Mr. Aaron Joseph J. Peñano, Miss Heidy V. Cruz, Mr. Emmanuel P. Jimenez and Mr. John Lester C. Lim.
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Dreaming is free... so, load up! Dream big!
The Innovation Challenge + Mini Expo is now on its fifth year. I introduced the event for teh first time in 2008 as an effort to 'resuscitate' a drab lab course to a fun, challenging and dynamic learning-by-doing platform that could also be used to strengthen our Industry-Academe Linkage through Industry sponsorship, direct industry participation in the course instruction, and possible collaboration through patent licensing and product
"InnoVision", the 2011 UST Chem. Eng'g-Rebisco
Product Innovation Challenge + Mini Expocommercialization. To make the event relevant to the Science and Technology advancement in the country, innovative products or processes would be developed by students in the one-semester course, using indigenous Filipino raw materials or to solve local problems, or both, as the challenge. Their outputs would be featured as entries in the Innovation Challenge + Mini Expo towards the end of the semester. Aside from good grades, additional incentive in the form of cash prizes would be given to the winners, who would be recognized in an awarding ceremony at the end of the event. The winners would be chosen by a panel of judges, composed of product critics, and scientists and inventors from the Academe, the industry and government research institutions. I thought the event would showcase the creativity and technical adeptness of our students while they had fun working in their respective innovation teams. Our students's experience, I thought, may spark the interest of students in other Science and Technology Departments in the campus as well. In the process, the culture of useful innovation and collaboration would be cultivated and flourish in the campus, sustained by fresh and highly relevant ideas of the students, under the guidance of the faculty. With such a dynamic atmosphere, it would then be easier to reach out to the Industry
"InnoVention", the 2012 UST Chem. Eng'g-Rebisco
Product Innovation Challenge + Mini Expoand government research institutions through mutually beneficial collaborations... all these, through a one-semester laboratory course.
The event started as a 15-product exhibit in 2008 with the Rebisco Group of Food Companies as a sponsor. We targeted home-grown, locally owned companies as sponsors so that our undertaking becomes relevant and significant in the sustained growth of our local industries. After forging a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with Rebisco, through our university's Rector, Rev. Fr. Rolando V. Dela, O. P., and Rebisco's President and CEO, Mr. Jonathan C. Ng, the even grew last year to a 42-product Mini Expo, where four products from the Department of Food Technology made the list of entries together with 38 from the Chem. E. Department. The 2012 edition, dubbed as "Innovention", was held last March and organized by the UST Chem. E. Batch 2013. In addition to the Chem. E. entries, five entries from two other Departments in the campus (Pharmacy and Mechanical Engineering) made it to the Expo list, expanding the event to a 50-product Expo - the biggest so far.
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Some dream, some vision... and tons of hardwork!
To chronicle the continuously growing Culture of Innovation in the Department, and in the campus, rather than printing a conventional "Souvenir Programme", I dreamt of a yearly publication in the form of a magazine. The magazine, in my dream, would be a "companion" of the Innovation Challenge + Mini Expo event, and would also serve as the Batch' in charge's 'product portfolio'. This dream was put into writing in our MOA with Rebisco. Our Batch 2012, driven, dynamic and highly motivated as always, took the dream as their own, with the vision of being the first Batch to publish the magazine.
After fun brainstorming with their chosen writing staff led by Miss Ma. Carmelin S. Gaerlan, Mr. Aaron Joseph J. Peñano and Miss Jennifer Cathryn L. Suarez, and supported by Mr. Geofrey G. De Leon, Mr. Jason S. Singson, Miss Eunice L. Saavadera, Mr. Allan S. Quinto, Jr., Miss Diana N. Bartolome, Mr. Bren D. T. Abanador and Miss Evangeline R. Cabal, Batch 2012's vision took the shape of a 50-page magazine, which later became "Ignite" - an apt name for a publication that was envisioned to start many productive things in a spark. The next months were all about hardwork... putting the magazine together, in addition to their heavy load as graduating students, and the heavy pressure... uhm, ahem... from me. :) But the writing staff fulfilled their task with positive attitude and teamwork. And, of course, they found success in the process. :)
This year, just before they graduated, Batch 2012 saw how "Ignite" finally came to life... and now, it is in a limited circulation as a 56-page, full-color, glossy magazine. Woohoo! Congratulations, guys! Great job! Woot-woot!
Whew! Yep... dream, vision, optimism, hardwork, persistence and teamwork... they work! Yes, they do! :)
Alright, Batch 2013 and Batch 2014, your move! Make it work! :)
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