The BPI-DOST awardees (from left) Aquilino, Ardoña and Sy
pose with their trophies and cash prize.
The BPI-DOST awardees (from left) Aquilino, Ardoña and Sy
pose with their trophies and cash prize.
March 21–Three students from UPD were among this year’s crop of winners of the annual Bank of the Philippine Islands-Department of Science and Technology Science Awards 2011.
The award selects three students from each of nine leading universities and colleges nationwide for their achievements in their respective fields.
This year’s winners for UPD were Sean Vincent L. Aquilino from the Institute of Biology (IB), Herdeline Ann M. Ardoña from the Institute of Chemistry (IC) and Luke Wicent F. Sy from the College of Engineering (CoE).
Sy, a student pursuing a BS Electronics and Communication Engineering at the CoE’s Electronics and Communications Engineering Institute (EEEI), won for study entitled “Rxbox 1.0 Beta: Live Data Telemetry, Restructuring and FSM Integration to the Rxbox.”
The RxBox is a telemedicine device that aims to support the National Telehealth Service Program of the National Telehealth Center at UP Manila. A virtual diagnostics clinic in a box, it measures and communicates a patient’s vital statistics, such as blood pressure and electro cardio gram (ECG) readings through the internet to doctors in Manila so they can give the proper diagnosis.
The project arose when Sy joined the Telemedicine team of the EEEI’s Instrumentation, Robotics and Control Laboratory some two years ago.
According to project head and thesis adviser Dr. Luis G. Sison, Sy’s entry “…has made our telemedicine appliance more expandable, more reliable and more accurate,” adding that working with him and teammate Mark Jan Banoy gave Sison the rare opportunity to learn from his students.
Aquilino, a BS Biology student, earned the prize for his study “Applying DNA Barcodes to the Icthyofauna of Taal Lake, Philippines.”
For his thesis, Aquilino collected and built a database of all the native and endemic freshwater fish of Taal Lake and Laguna de Bay using DNA barcoding, a process that uses organisms’ DNA coupled with barcoding technology to classify them at the species level. This technology is similar to the ones used by supermarkets to price tag goods.
Aquilino claims this method, aside from being much faster and more accurate, is cheaper and easier to apply in the field than conventional species identification.
A single species can be identified in one to two days costing only as much as P100-200, which would also strengthen existing animal conservation efforts and policies.
Aquilino presented his findings at the International Conference on Biodiversity and Climate Change, held at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) on February 1-3. He was its youngest participant and the only presenter without any degree. It was also accepted for publication in Molecular Ecology Resources, an ISI-indexed international journal.
Aquilino is also the current chair of the CS student council and is a recipient of the 2011 Gawad Chanselor for Natatanging Mag-aaral.
Ardoña won for her study entitled “Synthesis, Characterization and Application of Imidazolium Ionic Liquid-Capped Photocatalytic Quantum Dots in Recycled Polymer Fibers for Pollutant Degradation,” which focuses on using intense light to destroy pollutants in wastewater.
A photocatalytic process utilizes a light source, like sunlight or ultraviolet light to activate semiconductors working as catalysts to efficiently transform pollutants into less dangerous substances. Ardoña’s process hastens pollutant breakdown by making a solution of tiny dots dispersed in fibers.
Citing her grandmother (a chemical engineer) and National Scientist Dr. Lourdes Cruz as inspirations, Ardoña plans to continue her research work into other fields.
“I am also planning to delve more into the study of nanoparticles and its properties, specifically on its photocatalytic ability for pollutant degredation. I am looking forward to doing medical research as well,” she said.
Each awardee received P15,000 deposited to their own BPI account and an invitation to join the bank after their graduation. — AKR