CHRISTIAN JOHN S. CAPINIG of Ateneo de Davao won the Best Project of the Year Award in the 2015 Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI)-Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Science Awards, held recently at The Mind Museum in Taguig City.
His project, entitled “In Vitro Evaluation of Selected Bacteria Against Fusarium Oxysporum f. sp. Cubense Tropical Race 4,” was chosen unanimously as the winner for its potential to protect the country’s vital banana industry from getting wiped out by this fungal disease.
He bested seven other finalists from the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman, De La Salle University (DLSU) and University of Santo Tomas (UST). Capirig, who plans to study medicine after graduation, said he developed the project in response to the disease that hit the banana industry in Davao.
“Being a native of Davao, I wanted to help our province’s banana industry to recover,” he said in an interview at the sidelines of the event.
Raiza Elmira S. Imperial of the UP-Diliman won second place for her project “One-Step Fabrication of Superhydrophobic/Superolephilic Electrodeposited Polythiophene for Oil and Water Separation” for its possible use in mitigating the effects of oil spills on the marine environment.
She plans to pursue her PhD studies to be able to work on the project.
“If this project becomes fully developed, this can be marketed commercially to control oil spills at manageable levels,” she said.
Alron Jan F. Lam of DLSU placed third for his project “Breadcrumb: An Indoor Simultaneous Localization and Mapping System for Mobile Devices,” which could enable users to have access to indoor positioning systems, much like the global positioning system (GPS) yet for commercial spaces. He said he plans to take up a master’s degree in computer science in DLSU.
“I want to pursue my Breadcrumb project in the graduate school program,” he said. Capirig received P50,000 and a scholarship grant from the DOST, while Imperial received P30,000, and Lam got P10,000. All of the 29 science awardees, including the Best Project of the Year winners, will receive P25,000 and a plaque of recognition.
In her remarks Science Education Institute Director Dr. Josette T. Biyo urged students to pursue masters and PhD studies as scholars of the DOST to boost the country’s research and development capabilities. “We need to meet the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization [Unesco] ratio of 385 scientists per 1,000 to have a solid science foundation,” Biyo pointed out. BPI President and CEO Cezar Conzing said science would be the main engine of inclusive growth in the country.
“Science is the great equalizer that will scale up economic inclusiveness,” he said.
The BPI-DOST Science Awards encourages promising young students to reach higher levels of excellence in the specialized fields of mathematics, physics, chemistry, engineering, computer science and biology.
The science competition enables a new generation of leaders and innovators to address competitive issues in science research and technology development and challenges them to create lasting impacts in society.
Now on its 26th year, the BPI-DOST Science Awards has recognized over 700 outstanding science awardees from its partner universities nationwide: Ateneo de Manila University, Ateneo de Davao University, DLSU, Saint Louis University, Silliman University, UP Diliman, UP Los Baños, University of San Carlos, UST and Xavier University.
“BPI Foundation supports this program to encourage and recognize promising university students on the pursuit of their scientific research.
Throughout its history of 164 years, BPI sees its role in the economic development of our nation.
“Through advocacies and programs like the BPI-DOST Science Awards, we commit to the development of scientific research as a means to forward economic development for a better and more prosperous Philippines,” BPI Foundation Executive Director Fidelina A. Corcuera expressed at the Panel Presentation of the finalists last
Three exceptional students are selected per partner institution every year. An awardee is selected on the basis of his academic performance and must be nominated by the school.
BPI Foundation will be holding awarding ceremonies at the campuses of its partner universities in the months of March and April 2015 for the awardees to be recognized for their achievements and contributions to nation-building.
1 comment
Increasing the value of the reward money ten fold will provide better motivation and incentive for bright students to participate in the competition. P50,000 is just about enough tuition for one semester.