University of the Philippines
Diliman

University of the Philippines
Diliman

Academe

UPD and DOST-ASTI sign MOU

Anna Regidor - Diliman Information Office
January 31, 2024 | UPDate Online > Academe
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UP Diliman (UPD) and the Department of Science and Technology Advanced Science and Technology Institute (DOST-ASTI) recently signed a three-year memorandum of understanding (MOU).

The MOU aims for both parties to collaboratively develop activities that would see “exchange of academic information and materials, collaborative research activities, adjunct professorships, lectures and symposia, and student internships.”

(Standing, from left) Serrano, De Guzman, De Leon, Co, Tria, Cayaban, Syjuco, and Castañeda; (seated, from left) Tanchuling, Vistan, De Leon, and Retamar. Photo from the EEEI Facebook page

In a letter to UPD Chancellor Edgardo Carlo L. Vistan II, UPD Electrical and Electronics Engineering Institute (EEEI) Director Lew Andrew Tria said the MOU would formalize the long-standing relationship between the University and the DOST-ASTI.

Tria added the agency has been the University’s partner “through the EEEI since the former’s establishment in 1987.”

Such collaborations include the PHL-Microsat Program and the Space Technology and Applications Mastery, Innovation, and Advancement (more commonly known as STAMINA4SPACE) Project that has sent several Filipino-made cube satellites into orbit.

Meanwhile, DOST-ASTI Director Franz de Leon, in an article posted on the DOST-ASTI website (accessed on Jan. 29), said “We in DOST-ASTI, are very much excited to further expand our domain with UP so that we can extend our arms to welcome the bright minds of the future through student internships—providing a platform for experiential learning and hands-on exposure to cutting-edge technologies, not only in the field of ICT and electronics but with other emerging technologies as well.”

The MOU signing was held on Jan. 23 at the Board of Regents Room at Quezon Hall.

Signatories representing UPD were Vistan and UPD College of Engineering Dean Maria Antonia Tanchuling. De Leon and DOST-ASTI Solutions and Services Engineering Division Chief Science Research Specialist (CSRS) Alvin Retamar signed for DOST-ASTI.

Also present at the MOU signing were Tria, EEEI Deputy Director for Academic Programs Maria Theresa De Leon, EEEI Deputy Director for Planning and Finance Paul Jason Co, and EEEI Deputy Director for Students and Alumni Jaybie De Guzman. They were joined by DOST-ASTI Chief Administrative Officer May C. Cayaban, Computer Software Division CSRS Joanna Syjuco, Knowledge Management Division CSRS Paul John Serrano, and DOST-ASTI Office of the Director Planning Officer Narcisa Juvilyn Castañeda.—With a report from the EEEI