“A silver, a new personal best and a new Philippine record. Back home, we call it 3-in-1. Thank you!” said Obiena in a public Facebook post. To recall, his previous personal best was 5.81 meters at the Olympic qualifying tournament in Chiara, Italy in 2019.

Days ago, Obiena leaped 5.80 meters to win gold at the PSD Bank Indoor Meeting in Dortmund, Germany on February 8, 2021. With the same height, he also won another gold at the Internationales Stadionfest Indoor athletics meet at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin on February 5, 2021.

In these two jumps, he simultaneously broke twice the previous Philippine record that he himself set just a week prior. Previously, Obiena set a new Philippine indoor mark after clearing 5.62 meters, finishing fifth at the Karlsruhe World Indoor Tour Meeting on January 29, 2021.

Obiena was the first Filipino athlete to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. Presently based in Italy, the 25-year old athlete trains under coach Vitaly Petrov.  A UST Engineering student, he is currently on leave to focus on his sports and represent the Philippines.

The post Obiena bags 2 golds, 1 silver, sets new Philippine record appeared first on University of Santo Tomas.

With the theme “Forward: Human-centered Design,” the design competition called for a socially driven space to serve the community’s needs. Project proposals were required to have a clear positive impact, especially for the booming population in Asian cities.

For his competition entry, Mui, who is in his fourth year, under the mentorship of Ar. Maria Lourdes Rigunay, proposed a humanistic design solution for the community of Estero de la Reina in Manila, whose problems include waste disposal and water pollution. The community-scale recycling center encourages a sustainable recycling system from the local garbage, which would then be a source of livelihood for the locals. Titled “Estero Recycling Hub,” the project utilizes community participation, innovation, and architecture design to positively impact the locals.

Participants of the national competition were from the University of Baguio, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, De La Salle – College of Saint Benilde, and Batangas State University. In the AYDA 2020, the Gold Award in Architecture was won by Paul John Jandoc of the University of Baguio, while the Gold Award in Interior Design went to Maita S. Hagad of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde. Lauren Ghenrich L. Khoo of De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde won Silver for the Interior Design category.

The members of the Panel of Judges for the Architecture category include Ar. Maria Benita Regala of the National Housing Authority, National President Ar. Renato Heray of the United Architects of the Philippines, and Executive Director Ar. Richard Garcia of the Commission on Professional Practice.

The post UST Architecture student wins silver award in AYDA PH for estero recycling hub appeared first on University of Santo Tomas.

The entry entered as a design by Navarro’s company “louta et al.,” was awarded for his creative and tranquil approach to designing the 25sqm “T studio” located in Makati City where the bed, dining table, and kitchen sink and counter can all be hidden to create a clean space with ‘an unhampered line of vision.’

Navarro, who teaches Interior Design at the CFAD, is himself a graduate of UST’s Interior Design program. He is currently taking up his doctoral degree in Design at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

                According to its website, the IDA annually “recognizes, celebrates, and promotes exceptional design visionaries and discover emerging talent in Architecture, Interior, Product, Graphic and Fashion Design worldwide.” As one of the leading design awards globally, the Jury evaluated hundreds of submissions from more than 80 countries.

The post Navarro of CFAD bags bronze at 2020 International Design Awards appeared first on University of Santo Tomas.

Lintao, also serving asProgram Lead of the Graduate School English Language Studies Cluster, highlighted the importance of using plain language in various domains and how it is already adopted in different countries worldwide. She explained the need to take small steps, do research, and promote the benefits of plain language so the lawmakers and business owners can help institutionalize its use. She also mentioned the Department’s current research project to simplify UST’s enrollment conformé.

Almost 700 registrants from 19 different countries attended the webinar. Lawyer and English Department faculty member Selenne Anne S. Leynes acted as Moderator of the Open Forum.  

The post UST Dept. of English chair advocates for plain language use appeared first on University of Santo Tomas.

The world is now slowly moving toward the post-COVID period and is anticipating what the ‘next normal’ would be like for the business sector. Organizations are now beginning to visualize how certain sectors of the economy would carry on with their functions post-COVID.

These premises were used as take-off point in the discussion of UST Graduate School student Tennesse Y. Soriano’s paper titled “Understanding CSR Consequences on Employees’ Awareness of Corporate Reputation and Organizational Commitment in Local Airlines in the Philippines.” It was presented at the 2nd International Research Conference: “Re-imagining the Next Normal Post-COVID-19” held virtually.

The study was a timely research paper that focused on the Philippine airline industry, an industry severely hit by the pandemic. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used to investigate the effect of Corporate Social Responsibility on Employees’ Awareness of Corporate Reputation and Organizational Commitment in Local Airlines in the Philippines.

“This pandemic paved the way for airline companies to take action and responsibility in fostering a better reputation by reconstructing and re-evaluating its current Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs and projects as well as changing its operations and policies especially during a global health crisis when these CSR initiatives timely and needed more than ever,” Soriano stated.

Organized by the MAGEZI Training Events and Educational Services, the virtual paper presentation provided shared learning and experiences from other scholars, researchers, and academicians with different experiences and backgrounds who would like to seek academic and professional excellence.

Other academicians also presented and shared their experiences and the strategies they are currently implementing to stay afloat in the new learning environment and survive this challenging time. 

The post USTGS student presents paper at conference on post-COVID ‘next normal’ appeared first on University of Santo Tomas.

This third academic gathering, held virtually, featured topics on tourism and hospitality education, talent development, and tourism recovery in post- COVID time, in the Greater Bay Area (GBA) and Southeast Asia, among others.

Timbang discussed the elements of an entrepreneurial internship for Filipino hospitality management students in the country as an alternative to traditional employment training. She emphasized the interesting opportunities from the emerging food businesses which continued to grow during the pandemic, such as cloud kitchens and food deliveries.

Paper presenters were from Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Singapore.

            The forum was organized by the School of Tourism of the Sun Yat-Sen University at Zhuhai, Guangdong, P.R. China, headed by its Dean, Prof. Xu Honggang, Ph.D.  It was co-organized by the Macau Institute of Tourism Studies and School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

The post Timbang of CTHM talks on entrepreneurial internship at Tourism Research and Education Forum appeared first on University of Santo Tomas.

While working on her copepod samples with the help of the Zooplankton Ecology, Systematics, and Limnology (ZESL) research group of College of Science Dean Dr. Rey Donne S. Papa, she found out about SIL and the TMF and was encouraged to apply.  This opportunity gave Vicera a chance to obtain additional funding and to share what post-graduate students like her have gained interest in while studying limnology in the country.

Vicera’s research, conducted under the tutelage and supervision of her adviser, Assoc. Prof. Mary Ann G. Santos, Ph.D., looked into the different bacteria found in copepods.

According to the report, bacteria (genus Aeromonas) found in freshwater copepods in Lake Taal “are capable of degrading chitin using both organic and inorganic carbon source and in a wide range of pH and temperature, suggesting that the different species of this group of bacteria easily adapt to the environmental changes in the lake, allowing them to produce chitin-degrading enzymes even under unfavorable conditions.”

The biodegradation of chitin, an insoluble marine waste product, is vital to the nutrient cycling in lakes. In ecosystems like Lake Taal, most chitin is derived from crustaceans such as copepods.

TMF provided the additional funding needed to finish the study, said Vicera in a grant experience video promoted by SIL in November 2020. She added that this was the first study to be conducted on zooplankton’s associated bacteria in Lake Taal, so she hopes that her initial study will lead to more limnological research in similar sites across the country.

Vicera, who obtained her Master of Science and Bachelor of Science in Microbiology degrees from UST, added that she is thankful for the Tonolli Fund because “It gave me the opportunity to reach out to a wider audience where I can share what I’ve done, especially to those researchers who are conducting similar studies.”

The Tonolli Memorial Fund of SIL was created in 1985 through a bequest from Vittorio and Livia Tonolli, well-known limnologists at the Istituto Italiano di Idrobiologia in Pallanza, Italy.

The purpose of the fund is to provide assistance to young limnologists in developing countries and to encourage them to join SIL. In recent years, the awards committee for the Tonolli Fund has used the fund primarily for supporting students who are working toward post-graduate degrees (M.Sc., Ph.D.) in the field of limnology. Awards from the Tonolli Fund are generally $1000 to $1,500 for one year.

Vicera is currently a part-time lecturer at the UST College of Science teaching various subjects in Microbiology. She was chosen by the American Society for Microbiology to be a Young Ambassador of Science for the Philippines until 2022.

SIL is the oldest and only international society entirely devoted to inland waters, with over 1250 members from 70 countries. It will celebrate its centennial anniversary in 2022.

The post SIL recognizes Science faculty member Vicera for research on bacteria in Lake Taal copepods appeared first on University of Santo Tomas.

GCARSIH, which recognizes the outstanding social innovations that address persistent societal and health systems challenges in the Philippines, highlighted Lipardo’s study “Falls prevention through physical and cognitive training (Falls PACT) in older adults with mild cognitive impairment.”

                Lipardo, who is a geriatric rehabilitation researcher, explained that the geriatric population, especially those with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), is susceptible to falling. Possible consequences of falling can include physical injuries, a minor bruise or a major bone fracture, or even death for older persons.

The aging process also involves changes in bodily and physical functions such as blurring of vision, decrease in muscle strength, a decline in reaction time, problems in standing balance, and slowness in walking. The likelihood of this unfortunate circumstance is why Falls PACT and other preventative measures to keep older adults safe are so necessary.

According to Lipardo, Falls PACT combines cognitive training elements into a series of exercises that address and target declines in physical and cognitive functions in the geriatric population.

It involves walking in various directions with executive training by sorting common daily objects; sit-to-stand exercises with orientation training by answering questions about dates, occasions, locations, and answering simple math questions; heel and toe raises with attention training by performing the exercise based on visual cues; stepping in different directions with memory training by stepping on a sequence of numbers written on the floor; step-up exercises with attention training; and graded reaching routines with executive training by transferring objects from one side of a long table to another side, and forming patterns, explained Lipardo in an email interview.

The said study was the final phase of his Ph.D. research project, which he completed in 2019 for his Doctor of Philosophy in Rehabilitation Medicine degree from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Lipardo emphasized that “Aside from the increased blood flow to the muscles and to our brain when we exercise, incorporating Cognitive Training in Physical Therapy leads to better neural efficiency. This means that tasks are completed/accomplished with less resources from our nerve cells after undergoing combined physical and cognitive training. That is the main reason why bodily functions are improved with PACT.”

Proposing PACT to all older adults in general, Lipardo said that it is recommended even to those who have no cognitive impairment.

“It could proactively engage our dear senior citizens in the fun and challenging activities of the program that would maintain and/or improve their current physical and mental abilities,” he added.

The GCARSIH finalists, aside from receiving a monetary prize, will be invited to attend a training package for research and innovation designed to improve further and scale the chosen innovations.

As Lipardo explained, “This was actually the main reason why I applied for the award. The training that will be provided will help me and my team to implement the program in other areas of the country. I hope that more seniors in our country will be able to receive the program’s positive effects. But of course, we need to look for agencies who would fund this project and possible collaborators in the regions.”

After the training package, the new GCARSIH finalist hopes to continue developing exercise programs for the geriatric population.

“I am currently working on designing an exercise program based on Arnis, the Philippines’ national martial arts, focusing on improving the balance control of older adults. I hope that it could become a popular exercise routine among our senior citizens similar to Tai Chi in other Asian countries,” said Lipardo.

A licensed Physical Therapist for 21 years, Lipardo is  known for advancing the care for the geriatric population. He was named the Outstanding Professional in Physical Therapy by the Professional Regulation Commission in 2015. His Bachelor of Science in Physical Therapy and Master of Science in Physical Therapy degrees were both obtained from the University of Santo Tomas.

The post Lipardo of CRS qualifies for Gelia Castillo Award for Research on Social Innovations in Health appeared first on University of Santo Tomas.

This is the snapshot of our new normal as a consequence of the pandemic that has changed our lives. It has been a year, and yet, the world is still battling COVID-19.

Since COVID-19 is a new virus that has been classified as a pandemic, the human population has no immunity against it, and vaccination is apparently, the only hope to decrease its deadly effect.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control implemented the Non-Pharmaceutical Intervention (NPI) against COVID-19. NPI is a public measure that aims to mitigate the transmission of COVID-19 or SARS-CoV-2. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), NPIs are among the best public health interventions against the pandemic consisting of three main categories: (1) individual, (2) environmental, (3) population related with widespread, timely testing and contact tracing. 

Contact Tracing is one of the Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions used to battle against the COVID-19. One form of this requires all establishments to ask people to fill out several contact tracing forms or scan QR codes before entering their establishment.

Now, are we not all tired of writing the same details all over again each time we enter a building or a business establishment? Are we not tired of using different applications for contact tracing whenever a certain establishment requires us to scan its contact tracing QR codes? Well, this is where Project B.E.A.T.R.I.C.E. comes in!

Project B.E.A.T.R.I.C.E. is an acronym for “Buildings and Establishments Automated Temperature Reading Integrated Contact Tracing Equipment.” Itis both a hardware and software system designed to increase the efficiency of contact tracing in buildings and establishments. This is a dedicated, full contactless contact tracing equipment wherein the user will have a one-time registration to acquire a QR code I.D, and all that he has to do is bring his I.D anywhere.

For as long as Project B.E.A.T.R.I.C.E. is there, one just taps the given I.D., scans temperature, disinfects, and the user is good to go! Being contactless will also provide more safety to establishment front-liners such as the guards and door attendants.

The project was developed by EEnovatics, a startup under the Department of Science and Technology TOMASInno Center (DOST-TOMASInno Center UST). EEnovatics, with its tagline “We create and integrate”, is composed of two Electrical Engineering graduates from the University of Santo Tomas, Engr. Souichi A. Takahama, who graduated in 2018 and Ms. Andrea Pauline D. De Guzman, who graduated in 2020. Their mission is “to provide technological innovation to issues faced by the world through research and development, with a vision of continuously innovating and creating solutions for a better world.”

EEnovatics developed project B.E.A.T.R.I.C.E. as a way to address particular issues that are encountered in the existing contact tracing efforts. Some of these issues include incomplete contact tracing forms, no centralized contact tracing solutions, a long queue in every entrance, and the unavailability of smartphones and/or access to the internet of some citizens. With project B.E.A.T.R.I.C.E. EEnovatics aims to provide a permanent solution as a preparation for any future pandemic.

The EEnovatics team conducted its pilot testing on December 18, 2020, at a Restaurant named D’Banquet in Tagaytay City. The team was able to deploy and test its prototype and continuously improve on the project’s system. The goal is to deploy Project B.E.A.T.R.I.C.E. in different establishments in Tagaytay City and eventually, in the whole country to centralize the contact tracing initiative, with the collective efforts and collaboration of business owners and citizens in our country

Currently, EEnovatics is looking for investors to help their startup business grow. Intending to make entrances safer, Project B.E.A.T.R.I.C.E is a ripple that will soon start a wave once everyone realizes the importance, convenience and benefits this project can offer.

The post PROJECT B.E.A.T.R.I.C.E: Contactless entry to make entrances safer appeared first on University of Santo Tomas.

For this year, the Junior High School joined in both English and Filipino categories. The Aquinian is written in the English language while Ang Beato is in the Filipino language.

The winners from The Aquinian included: Best Feature Story – Stephanie Mae Aquilino and Heart Catherine Sosa, Best Sports Story – Juriel Deign Labudahon and Seann Carlo Lalimarmo, Best Layout and Design – Sarah Alvarez, Luis Eivan Lanto, and Reese Angela Aquino. 1st runner-up in Best Column – Janssel Carylle Rigor, 1st runner-up in Best Editorial Story – Heart Catherine Sosa and Janssel Carylle Rigor, 2nd runner-up in Best Literary Piece – Athena Alessandra Cruz, and 2nd runner-up in Best Photography – Angelo Sy.

The winners from Ang Beato were: Best News Story – Julienne Allison Rengel and Cassie Jameelah Lecaroz, Best Feature Story – Danielle Noreen Lagdamen and Stephanie Mae Aquilino, Best Sports Story – Juriel Deign Labudahon and Seann Carlo Lalimarmo, 2nd runner-up in Best Editorial Story – Heart Catherine Sosa, Janssel Carylle Rigor, and Nathaniel James Estavillo, and 2nd runner-up in Best Column – Heart Catherine Sosa. 

The Aquinian’s Publication Adviser, Mr. Joram Kim Corcuera, and Assistant Publication Adviser Mr. Chris Gamoso, guided the team in its preparation for the competition that showcased the student journalists’ skills and talents in writing, copyreading, photography, graphics designing, layouting, and publishing. This event is organized annually by The Manila Times. 

A total of 404 entries were shortlisted, and 36 were recognized as national winners. The virtual awarding ceremony was broadcasted live on The Manila Times Facebook page, streamed on the publication’s YouTube channel and The Manila Times TV. 

The post JHS publication garners major awards at 2020 Campus Press Awards appeared first on University of Santo Tomas.