Three new laboratories will be built and five research projects will be funded in various regions in the country through the Institution Development Program (IDP) of the Philippine Council for Industry, Energy, and Emerging Technology Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCIEERD).
Among the three new research laboratories is the AI Research Laboratory in Camarines Sur State Polytechnic Colleges.
The setting up of the laboratory aims to strengthen the research capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI) enthusiasts, faculty and students, such as deep learning, computer vision, among others.
The establishment of the AI Research Laboratory will be a basic step in the country’s continuous development to be on a par with the current trends of AI in other countries.
On the other hand, the microbiology testing laboratory in Camarines Sur aims to complement and help in the existing research activities of Partido State University-Goa Campus.
The acquisition of the requested equipment will increase the integrity of the university research outputs, improve the research skills of the faculty and students, and will increase scientific publications.
The third laboratory, the Mindanao Natural Language Processing Laboratory at the University of the Immaculate Conception in Davao City, aims to collect language resources needed in the development of the Multilingual Machine Translation System and Conversational Agent and develop a web-based Multilingual MT System and CA among others.
The projects that will be funded under the Regional Research Institution (RRI) program include the following:
Development of Halal Compliant Restructured Goat Meat Products: To be implemented by the Sultan Kudarat State University, the project aims to transform goat meat and milk into value-added and halal compliant products with an increased market value to suit customer needs.
Design, Development, Testing and Implementation of Fuzzy-Proportional Plus Integral Power Factor Correction Controller for 10 kW Load: This project of the Iloilo Science and Technology University (ISAT-U), seeks to design, develop, test and implement the Fuzzy-PI PFCC for 10 kW Load to help lower power loss and increase productivity.
Application of Blockchain Technology to the Guimaras Mango Supply Chain: Also to be implemented by ISAT-U, the project aims to ensure the authenticity of the mango products exported. The proposed study will use the blockchain technology to trace the product origin until it reaches the consumers.
Development of Optimized Pineapple Fiber Scraping Machine: This research study by Capiz State University aims to develop an optimized capacity of the mechanical pineapple fiber extractor.
Utilization of Banana Peel, Canistel Fruit and Brown Rice in the Development of Composite Flour: Also to be implemented by ISAT-U, the project seeks to utilize banana peel, canistel fruit and brown rice in developing composite flour. This flour is targeted to be an ingredient in functional food.
DOST-PCIEERD Executive Director Enrico Paringit commended the project leaders in their zeal to uplift the R&D capabilities in these priority sectors in their respective regions in pursuit of improving S&T research through their projects.
“These capacity building programs under the Human Resource Development Program [HRDP] continues to advance and strengthen Filipino R&D in keeping up with the times,” Paringit said.
Under the HRDP, the IDP provides support for upgrading of research laboratories and facilities of academic and research institutions where there is an inadequacy of research expertise and/or facilities. It prioritizes new institutions in the regions which have limited capacities to conduct R&D.
The support includes the upgrading and/or setting up of research laboratories, purchases laboratory equipment (including highly specialized software)/facilities and small research grants aimed at developing research capabilities.
On the other hand, the RRI is designed for new researchers and new institutions in doing R&D in the regions.
Its goal is to develop research capabilities and increase the available researchers, scientists, and engineers in the DOST-PCIEERD priority sectors through the regional consortia program. S&T Media Services
