Archives for July 2018

S-Turbine project augments farmers’ water supply

The S-Turbine installed at Brgy. Cabacanan, Alimodian, Iloilo.

After passing a series of tests and evaluation, the S-Turbine research project was inaugurated and turned-over to the Cabacanan Farmer Cooperative, Alimodian, Iloilo on March 28, 2018. It  now helps supply water for the irrigation and household needs of the cooperative members.

Combining the principles of hydraulics, physics and engineering, the device controls and magnifies the speed and power of rapids or streams. It has the potential to supply water for irrigation canals for improved food production and for micro-hydropower system to energize homes without smoke emissions.

The main purpose of the project is to reduce the dependence on fossil fuel to pump potable water supply for household and irrigation projects or to generate micro hydro-power plants. The mechanical hydraulic machine was designed by Engr. Salvador Senorio.

The S-Turbine is  among the three completed out of the four projects funded by USAID. The other two are the Multi-Powered Drying System for Food Processing which was turned-over to the Magagmay nga Kristyanong Katilingban organization at Brgy. Tiabas, San Dionisio, Iloilo and the Bioactive Hyaluronic Acid from Heads of Silver-Banded Whiting for Nutraceutical Use: Characterization and Biocompatibility Assessment of the Extracted Hyaluronic Acid which is under negotiation for technology transfer to a private nutraceutical company.

Enrolment hits 11 thousand

Considering the inflow of the students who completed the K-12 Program, the enrolment for  all ISAT U campuses for tertiary education for the First Semester, Academic Year 2018-2019 reached 11, 776.

Iloilo City Campus has recorded 6,916 enrollees while the external campuses has 4,860 (Miagao Campus- 2,828; Leon Campus-1,006; Barotac Nuevo Campus-532; and Dumangas Campus- 494).

At Iloilo City Campus, the College of Industrial Technology has the highest number of enrollees at 1,938, followed by the College of Arts and Sciences with 1,278; College of Engineering and Architecture 1, 226 and the College of Education, 1,070.

When clustered as to discipline,   Engineering and Technology courses has the most number of enrollees (4,544).  It is followed by Education Science and Teacher Training (2,141), Information Technology and Related Discipline (1,840), Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (1,006), Business Management (548), Architecture and Town Planning (363), Social and Behavioral Sciences (326), Trade Craft and Industrial (273), Mathematics (140) and Maritime Education (138). The Junior and Senior High School accounted for 898 students.

It was also noted that the full implementation of Republic Act 10931 or The Universal Access to Free Higher Education has attracted students to enroll at ISAT U. The data showed that total applicants for AY 2018-2019 were 6,848 which is the highest in the last five years. However, due to the university’s strict admission policy, only 2,401 freshmen were admitted which is the lowest in percentage over the same period.

 

Saudi Skills Standards invites RSD Director for institution review

Dr. De Leon (left) with other evaluators and school officials of Makkah International Technical School.

Upon the endorsement of the Asia-Pacific Accreditation and Certification Commission (APACC), the Saudi Skills Standards invited Dr. Richard C. De Leon to serve as institutional reviewer of the technical colleges of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on April 1-19, 2018.

Along with his European and Australian counterparts, he was tasked to evaluate the leadership and management, teaching and learning, trainee outcomes and trainee support of the identified schools.

Among the institutions he evaluated were the Makkah International Technical College, Jeddah International and Technical College, Riyadh International Aviation College, Riyadh Tourism and Hospitality International Technical College and Al-Quway’iyah International Technical College.

Dr. De Leon, Research Services Division Director, was one of the first two Asians to be selected as evaluator of Saudi technical colleges. “I am happy to be one of the first two Asians to serve as institutional reviewer. It was also a learning experience for me” he said.

In his visit, the skills and capacity of the Filipinos to cope with the high education standards of the Saudi government caught his attention.  “Instructors are asked to undergo re-training or to leave if there are problems with their performance. However, I found out that there are still a number of Filipinos employed as instructors at the schools I visited,” De Leon noted.

 

Students join campaign against plastic pollution

On-the-Spot Painting and Miss Q & A.

Different student organizations  joined the nation in the campaign to eliminate plastic pollution through a series of activities attuned to the National Environment Month 2018 celebration theme, “Beat Plastic Pollution: If you can’t reuse it, refuse it.”

A campus clean-up drive was organized by the Environmental Club in cooperation with Architecture Department and Science Department on June 27-28. The two-day activity also featured an on-the-spot painting and a song writing competition which highlighted the impact of plastic pollution.

Adding color to the celebration, the Science Department opened a Mini-Eco Exhibit showcasing students’ outputs on the reuse and recycling of plastic wastes and organized a mini concert dubbed Tinig at Himig ng Kabataan Para sa Kalikasan.

One of the highlights was the lecture forum by Dr. Daniel Agan, President, Youth Proyekto Phils., Inc. His talked was pinned on environmental advocacy and environmental degradation and its impact to the lives of men, women and children and the impact of plastic pollution.

Capping the event was the Search for Miss Q & A Kalikasan 2018. The pageant tested the wit of the participants to answer questions on environmental concerns as well as their ingenuity in creating costumes out of recycled materials, mostly plastic.

Earlier, faculty members and students under the NSTP, members of the SAVERS and ROTC officers organized another off-campus clean-up activity at the Iloilo River Esplanade on June 23, 2018.

Students and faculty members gather bags of garbage at the Iloilo River Esplanade .