Short link: https://wp.me/paaccn-FjP
- EDD K. USMAN | Twitter: @edd1819 | Instagram: @bluestar0910 | Facebook: SDN — SciTech and Digital News
TACURONG CITY, Sultan Kudarat (SDN) — Higher education institutions (HEIs) and state universities and colleges (SUCs) have a “BFF” in the Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (PCIEERD).
Headed by Executive Director Dr. Enrico “Eric” C. Paringit, PCIEERD is the Innovation Council of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). In case you have been living under a rock for the longest time, “BFF” in today’s lingo is “Best Friend Forever”.
It is safe to assume that PCIEERD is a strong and reliable friend of the country’s educational institutions because, among others, it has the Institutional Development Program (IDP) geared towards helping HEIs and SUCs level up their adoption of technology, which today moves the world in so many ways.
For if you don’t ride the digital era wagon, you’ll be left behind eating digital dust!
Proof of PCIEERD being friends to HEIs/SUCs is an announcement that Paringit voiced in February 2024.
That was when he called for research project proposals for the IDP, RRI (Regional Research Institution), GODDESS (Good Governance through Data Science and Decision Support Systems), and Balik Saliksik program. For the IDP, Paringit said then that for 2024 PCIEERD has a budget of Php25 million to fund five new research centers, maximum of Php5 million for each approved proposal.
In fact, information from Ivan Roblas of PCIEERD Media Unit, told SDN there already 54 IDP laboratories, or research centers, put up at HEIs and SUCS in 17 different areas of the country.
PCIEERD, then and now, has never been found wanting of project proposals, a testament, perhaps, of educational institutions’ desire to adopt technology and ride the digital wagon.
On July 1, DOST-PCIEERD and the Sultan Kudarat State University (SKSU) ACCESS, its Main Campus in Tacurong City, Sultan Kudarat, SOCCSKSARGEN (Region XII), inaugurated two state-of-the-art laboratories, or research centers.
These are the projects on the Forensic Molecular Biology Center (FMBC) and the Technology Business Incubator (TBI) Sustainable Ecosystem for the Promotion and Advancement of Promising Products (STEPAPP). Two forward-looking SKSU professors, Dr. Louie Vincent D. Cabelin and Dr. Sheila M. Bayquin will steer as project leaders the FMBC and STEPAPP, respectively.
Roblas said the two laboratories at SKSU are the first to be established in 2024.
PCIEERD noted that the establishment of the SKSU FMBC provides the university’s Research and Development & Extension (RD&E) Department headed by SKSU Vice President for RD&E Dr. Mary Lynn G. Magbanua “the opportunity to investigate genome-based research topics, including forensic science, data analytics, value-adding, and adulterant detection in the food processing industry,” among many others.
In times of epidemics, pandemics, tragedies, and disasters the society will be able to respond and be resilient as the FMBC’s efforts on these are essential to meeting such challenges.
STEP APP TBI is under SKSU’s Higher Education Institution Readiness for Innovation and Technopreneurship. PCIEERD funded FMBC for around Php5 million; the STEPAPP TBI is worth Php40 million because it has four stages of implementation.
DOST-PCIEERD and SKSU officials attended the twin events, the inauguration of the two research centers here at the SKSU ACCESS Campus, which has around 4,000 students. SKSU has seven campuses in all with a total of 14,000 students.
The seven campuses are:
- ACCESS Campus (Main)
- Isulan Campus
- Tacurong Campus
- Kalamansig Campus
- Bagumbayan Campus
- Palimbang Campus
- Lutayan Campus
Among those in the DOST-SKSU twin inaugurations included, among others, University Officer-in-Charge (OIC) President Dr. Jesusa D. Ortuoste; Dr. Ruby Raterta, chief science research specialist, Human Resources and Institution Development Division (HRIDD), PCIEERD, representing Paringit; DOST-Region XII Regional Director Sammy P. Malawan; Tacurong City Administrator Ramon B. Losanes who came for Mayor Dr. Joseph George L. Lechonsito; SKSU Vice President for RD&E Dr. Mary Lynn G. Magbanua; Senior Science Research Specialist Edward Paul Apigo, PCIEERD-Technology Transfer Division; SKSU Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Ernie Cerado; SKSU FMBC’s Cabelin; and SKSU STEP APP’s Bayquin, and others.
Ortuoste cited the challenges and triumphs that showed SKSU’s resilience.
“The past year has been characterized by both challenges and triumphs, serving as a testament to our resilience as a team. We have encountered obstacles that demanded creativity, determination, and collaboration to overcome,” Ortuoste points out.
“By confronting these challenges head-on, we have not only showcased our collective strength but also gleaned valuable insights that will undoubtedly shape our future endeavors.”
On the other hand, Raterta congratulated and commended the two project leads of the two R&D laboratories, saying Cabelin and Bayquin responded to PCIEERD’s “request to fortify and expand the nation’s research and development sector’s regional presence.”
The PCIEERD official described the launch of the FMBC and STEPAPP research centers as proof the university’s persistent efforts to make a difference in Mindanao, Region XII (or SOCCSKSARGEN) in particular.
She recalled that on June 28, PCIEERD celebrated its 14th anniversary during which they displayed the impact on the Innovation Council’s target beneficiaries in the business, academic, and community sectors.
“Just in 2023, we gave about Php745 million from PCIEERD and around Php1.8 billion from DOST for the Grand-in-Aid (GIA) projects. These figures do not diminish our current position as the nation’s leaders in (R&D).
“Serving as the center of innovation, we evaluated 1,009 proposals, finished 256 R&D projects, and kept an eye on 413 ongoing projects,” Raterta notes.
She added that, moreover, PCIEERD had collaborated with 559 project leaders and struck alliances with 104 HEIs and SUCs, with 29 private institutions, seven research institutes, and 12 international cooperations.
These developments on the R&D sphere, Raterta said, demonstrates PCIEERD’s goal to establish a regional presence, adding the two centers “serve as evidence of our belief in the potential of rural researchers and innovators to develop into a thriving industry in Mindanao focused on molecular science and business innovation.”
The PCIEERD official noted the figures on the agency’s achievements on the establishments of R&D and innovation laboratories are a reminder that the agency continues to support initiatives of this nature through the IDP and HEIRIT.
Bayquin said STEPAPP’s project life span started on February 28, 2023, and was projected to conclude on February 27, 2025, for a period of 24 months.
“STEPAPP TBI project aims to assist value chain stakeholders in improving efficiency, productivity, and expanding halal market share as well as integration of ICT (information and communications technology) and other emerging technologies in agriculture and aquaculture through the startup ecosystem,” she said.
Bayquin explained why STEPAPP will gave on startups, solutions, that emphasize on halal, identifying three reasons, to wit:
- SKSU has already an established facilities and R&D in halal (namely, Halal Goat project);
- There are 76 percent of the total Muslim population in Region XII and BARMM (Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao), and that’s still not including non-Muslim consumers of halal goods;
- The global Halal food industry is expected to hit almost US$4 trillion by 2028 as it expands at an 11.25 percent compounded annual growth rate over the next eight years.
“There is a massive opportunity for Halal food manufacturers to capitalize on this growing interest by developing new products marketed in grassroots-style and Western-style supermarkets. including grocery stores and hypermarkets,” she pointed out.
Citing Islamic Services of America (ISA), the STEPAPP project lead noted that in 2019 alone Halal consumers spent what she described as “a staggering US$1.17 trillion on Halal food.”
Meanwhile, in his presentation of FMBC, Cabelin, the project lead, cited research center as “a capacity-building initiative” which will be “instrumental in greatly expanding the RD&E capabilities of SKSU.”
While before the university’s faculty researchers were outsourcing and or collaborating with other HEIs for the molecular analyses, with FMBC they need not go far.
“The Center (FMBC) will engage first in animal and plant forensics and will strategically develop its capabilities to conduct forensic science on humans,” he added.
Cabelin said forensic science on humans will include DNA analysis that according to him it will be an asset for the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in solving crimes through DNA analysis.
He also said the FMBC also plans to delve into the halal industry, such as the determining the presence of porcine substances or elements (as well as alcohol) on products up for halal certification.
“The Center will train the underserved researchers to foster inclusive R&D growth in the region. Before that, however, partnerships and collaborations through MOUs/MOAs with well-regarded institutions like PGC (Philippine Genome Center) Mindanao and Philippine Public Safety College – National Forensic Science Training Institute (PPSC-NFSTI) will be sought,” he said.
One of the reasons the FMBC lead cited is acquiring practical knowledge and skills in operating a state-of-the-art facility. Cabelin sees the coming three years for the SKSU-FMBC as positioning itself as being recognized as the Forensic Molecular Biology Research Hub in Sultan Kudarat and its neighboring provinces in Region XII.
PCIEERD’s Raterta lauded the SKSU for its achievements in coming up with the FMBC and STEPAPP lab centers, saying the former enhances “Mindanao’s standing as a leader in the field of forensic molecular biology” and the latter expected to improve “the technopreneurship culture among its internal and external partners.” (/)