Thirty-four research projects took center stage in Saliksikhay, a two-day conference that aimed to disseminate information on UP Diliman (UPD) research as well as to inspire collaboration among UP units and partnerships between and among industry, government, and the academe. It was held from January 16 to 17 at the UPD College of Architecture Benito Sy Pow Auditorium.
Saliksikhay, the word being a combination of “saliksik” (research) and “sikhay” (zeal), clustered the projects into eight categories: education and culture; transport solutions and energy; housing and infrastructure; environmental protection; food and agriculture; disaster risk reduction and resiliency; health and wellness;, and advanced science and technology.
In his message, UPD Chancellor Michael Tan said the conference aimed to “build bridges”—to get people to talk to each other, sparking ideas and leading to new explorations.
UPD Vice Chancellor for Research and Development and now incoming Chancellor Fidel Nemenzo, whose office organized Saliksikhay, said the event expanded on Agham Bayan, a 2018 gathering that focused on scientific research. This was to show the “range of idea production” in UPD and prove that the work done in and by the University is “worthy of public support”.
Saliksikhay featured the following projects:
Education and culture
- “Versatile Instrumentation System for Science Education and Research (VISSER)” of the College of Science presented by its dean, Dr. Giovanni Tapang;
- “Using Mathematics to Understand Perceptual Qualities of Philippine Bamboo Instruments” of the College of Engineering presented by Dr. Franz de Leon;
- “Gitara ni Juan” of the College of Engineering and College of Music presented by Engr. Crisron Rudolf Lucas;
- “Learning English Application for Pinoys (LEAP)” of the College of Engineering presented by Prof. Mario Carreon;
- “Exploring Philippine Alternative Modernity in Music” of the College of Music presented by Dr. Jose Buenconsejo; and,
- “PAGLULUAL International Ceramic Arts Project” of the College of Fine Arts, presented by Prof. Rita Gudiño.
Transport solutions and energy
- “LocalSim: Local Traffic Simulator” of the College of Engineering presented by Dr. Hilario Sean Palmiano;
- “Charging in Minutes (CharM)” of the College of Engineering presented by Engr. Leo Allen Tayo;
- “UP Bike Share” of the College of Engineering presented by Dr. Nestor Michael Tiglao;
- “Powering Off-Grid Islands in the Philippines” of the College of Engineering presented by Dr. Joey Ocon; and,
- “Tidal Resource Investigation, Device, and Energy Tool (TRIDEnT)” of the College of Engineering presented by Dr. Michael Abundo.
Housing and infrastructure
- “TAKBUHAN: Design of a Resilient Evacuation Center” of the College of Architecture presented by Arch. Mary Ann Espina;
- “DREAM/Phil-LiDAR Program” of the College of Engineering presented by Dr. Louie Balicanta;
- “Building Resilience: Philippine Building Act as Major Update of National Building Code” of the College of Engineering presented by Dr. Benito Pacheco; and,
- “BAYANIHANETS: Building Robust and Sustainable Cooperative Community Networks” of the College of Engineering presented by Dr. Isabel Austria.
Environmental protection
- “Fish-i: A Semi-Automated Method for Measuring Reef Fish Species Population Density and Biomass” of the College of Engineering and College of Science presented by Dr. Prospero Naval;
- “Solid Waste Management Program” of the UPD Environmental Management Office presented by Engr. Kristian July Yap;
- “UP Marine Science Institute Bolinao Marine Laboratory Training and Extension Program” of the College of Science presented by Dr. Cecilia Conaco;
- “A Tale of Two Tools: From Underwater Assessment to Virtual Larvae” of the College of Science presented by Dr. Aletta Yñiguez; and,
- “Community-Led Integrated Non-mercury Non-cyanide Gold Extraction Method (CLINN-GEM)” of the College of Engineering presented by Dr. Herman Mendoza.
Food and agriculture
- “Development of Retrogradation-Resistant Thermally-Processed Local Rice Cake Products for Use as Disaster Food” of the College of Home Economics presented by Prof. Benjamin Gonzales;
- “Towards Integrating Inclusivity in Current Business Relationship in the Coffee Industry” of the Institute for Small Scale Industries presented by Reynold Ferdinand Manegdeg;
- “UNIQUE-corn: Ready-to-Eat Corn Grit Meals” of the College of Home Economics presented by Dr. Alonzo Gabriel;
- “Optimization of Ready-to-Drink Sweet Potato Leaf Extract Beverages through the UP-DOST Food Innovation Facility” of the College of Home Economics presented by Dr. Casiana Blanca Villarino; and,
- “Different Food Processing Technologies using Philippine Mangoes” of the College of Home Economics presented by Prof. Abigail Rustia.
Disaster risk reduction and resiliency
- “Honing Agents for National Disaster Awareness (HANDA) Program” of the Institute for Small Scale Industries presented by Joanna Rose Laddaran; and,
- “A Lookup-Based Decision Support System for Classification and Prioritization of Disaster-Related Tweets for Disaster Response” of the College of Engineering presented by Prof. Raymond Freth Lagria.
Health and wellness
- “Lunop Han Dughan (Voice of Yolanda)” of the College of Music presented by Prof. Alegria Ferrer;
- “Masaklaw na Panukat (MAPA) ng Loob” of the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy presented by Dr. Gregorio E.H. del Pilar;
- “Harnessing the Power of Sport for Resilience” of the College of Human Kinetics presented by Dr. Maria Luisa Guinto;
- “Discovery and Development of Health Products (DDHP)” of the College of Science presented by Dr. Irene Villaseñor; and,
- “UPD Psycserv: Bringing Ginhawa to the UP Diliman Campus” of the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy presented by Dr. Violeta Bautista.
Advanced science and technology
- “STAMINA4Space Program” of the College of Engineering presented by Engr. Ariston Gonzalez; and,
- “A Generalized Multidirectional Paraxial Optical Cloak” of the College of Science presented by Dr. Nathaniel Hermosa.
The Saliksikhay Book of Abstracts may be viewed here: https://view.joomag.com/saliksikhay-saliksikhay-abstracts-pdfv5/0969879001579050181?short.
