Last May 6, 2024, the UP Engineering Research and Development Foundation, Inc. awarded grants to six student projects, three of which came from the Electrical and Electronics Engineering Institute (EEEI), and two start-ups, one of which also came from EEEI, through their call for Research-to-Market Project Proposals. These grants were awarded in the spirit of carrying out UPERDFI’s goal of promoting projects with societal impact and nurture future engineers.
According to UPERDFI, the projects were selected based on the relevance, novelty or innovativeness, and sustainability. The startup project entitled ‘AAClatan – a Tagalog-focused Augmentative and Alternative (AAC) app’ of Mr. Alfred Abanto, a BS Computer Engineering student, together with Ellyn Cassey Chua received the startup grant from UPERDFI. The following student projects from EEEI also received the student prototyping grants: Marissa Munar and Sheryl Diokno’s ‘Electrification of Boats for Small-Scale Rural Fishing,’ with adviser Dr. Lew Andrew Tria; Hazel Mae Gadiaza, Abdul Azis Agantal, Wynne Angelo Arcilla, and Francis Glenn Hernandez’ ‘Design and Implementation of a oneM2M-based Remote Monitoring System for Water Distribution Networks Using Wireless Sensor Nodes,’ with adviser Dr. Jaybie De Guzman; and Charlene Flores and Ron Louis Nierva’s ‘OpenBCI Signal Acquisition System,’ with advisers Dr. John Richard Hizon, Dr. Marc Rosales, Dr. Paul Jason Co, Dr. Carl Timothy Tolentino, and Luigi Teola.
The ceremony was held at the UP College of Engineering Melchor Hall Maynilad Room. It was attended by UPERDFI Trustees Glen Tabios and Fred Chua, Members Tito Aliga, Chicho Mantaring, Bobby Batungbacal, Nicky Villaseñor and Pepe Santiago, and DED Norika Ishikawa; UPSCALE Leaders Louie Sison and Meggy Caparas; and UPCOE Dean Tonette Tanchuling and AD for Student Affairs Kate Tungpalan.