On an easy day, it is relaxed and calm in the School of Science and Engineering Dean's Office until a landline phone rings or an email notification's ping fills the room. Once the sounds cut through the serenity, the work begins. The person calling might be a SOSE student, faculty, or other staff member clarifying institutional processes or requesting papers, data, or endorsements to start a project, stage an event, and finish their tasks. Sometimes, it is Arianne Ferrer, the SOSE Dean Office's Administrative Assistant, who assists them, and other times Grace Berganio,the SOSE Dean'sAssistant. They function in tandem: Ferrer assists Berganio by arranging her schedule and helping her oversee SOSE events, and Berganio, as the point person, handles everyone's requests for whatever papers or information they need. It is a dynamic dependent on communication,which,in SOSE,begins as an obligation and evolves into close friendships.
The department held its team building on the third week of April 2023,and Berganio looks back on it fondly. "We see each other as family... after about two or three years, we could only interact like that again now," she explains in a mixture of Tagalog and English.
The shift back to onsite allowed Berganio and Ferrer to reunite with their colleagues while making their work more manageable. "[Onsite] you are personally talking to people or [sic] it's easier for you to talk to other offices about concerns, or walk over or call on the phone when you have a request," Ferrer elaborates. After all, online, where most contact is via emails,messages,or calls,it is normal for responses to be slow.
Furthermore, it was hard to create boundaries between their personal lives and occupational lives online. Berganio and Ferrer experienced people emailing, messaging, or calling on holidays and late at night when they worked online.
Yes, the return onsite restored some sense of normalcy for the two, but their jobs are still jobs, so they remain quite busy.Ferrer says that the second semester of every school year is the most tiring as most SOSE events occur here. They juggle plans for campus tours, the Director's List Scholars Reception, SOSE week, and the SOSE open house, with write-ups and requests from students and faculty.
Of course, they take breaks to talk to each other and eat together so that the work does not become overwhelming. To get further motivation, Berganio thinks of her family and the warmth of the SOSE community. Ferrer focuses on the positive changes her job can have on the systems of SOSE and student and staff experiences. However, the most encouraging and rewarding thing to them is a simple "Thank you" from the people they help daily. It is a small gesture that tells them they are seen and remembered as helpful,kind,and important. ■
TOP: Grace Berganio (left) poses with Arianne Ferrer (right). MIDDLE: A day in the life at the SOSE Dean’s Office BOTTOM: They (center) are joined by the SOSE Dean’s Office team: Charisse Cenas on the left and Carissa Kay Daquigan and Miguel Antonio Brion on the right.
Through Canvases and Calculations: The Exhibited Legacy of Mari-Jo Ruiz
Article By: Ryan Suarez | Photo By: Christiane Oriana
Often seen as opposite ends, mathematics and art are two disciplines that have constantly been perceived as fields that barely intersect and connect. While one is often associated with rigidity and cold calculation, the other is popularly characterized by freedom and creativity. Nevertheless,the life and artwork of the late Mari-Jo Ruiz proves that such dichotomies are mere social constructs—math and art can indeed complement one another.
In celebration of the International Women’s Month,theAteneo Library of Women’s Writing (ALiWW) organized Multiplying Grace: the Math and Art of Mari-Jo Ruiz, which showcased the late educator’s innovative works in the field of mathematics and art. To make the exhibit possible, ALiWW collaborated with the University Gender and Development Office (UGDO) and the Coastal Cities At Risk in the Philippines (CCAR-PH) of the Office of the President.The exhibit was located at the ALiWW Reading Room, with an extension along the halls of the John Gokongwei School of Management (JGSOM) Building, beside SOM 111 or the Ching Tan Room.
The exhibit formally opened last March 20, 2023 with a program at the Rizal Library Special Collections Building. Hosted by the Director of University Gender and Develop-
ment Office Melissa Lao, the program consisted of multiple key guests sharing their experiences with Ruiz, emphasizing the event’s efforts in remembering and memorializing her wonderful life. Among many notable others, these guests include Vice President for the Loyola Schools (VPLS) Maria Luz Vilches, PhD, JGSOM Dean Roberto Martin Galang, PhD, Sociology and Anthropology Professor Emma Porio, and Joanna Ruiz—the daughter of Mari-Jo Ruiz.
The speakers recognized her legacy in the Ateneo through her service as the Chair of the Mathematics Department, the Chair of the Management Engineering Program—which she played a key role in forming, and the Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences.
The event also recognized Ruiz’s work in forwarding the value of gender and development within the Ateneo,having been credited as one of the proponents of the ALiWW. “She is forever present as we honor her today, especially during Women’s Month,” Vilches said in her speech.
Emphasizing the connections between math and art, the exhibit embodies Ruiz’s ideals of how math and art “are sustained by the same ‘unitary source,’” referencing Arthur Koestler’s words in its exhi-
bition statement. Among the artwork showcased in the exhibit are interactive tessellations and masterfully crafted paintings of flowers, all of which display Ruiz’s precision in everything she does. Alongside these pieces are explanations of Ruiz’s legacies in mathematics, such as her research on the Combinatorial Techniques for Loop Switching in Telecommunication Networks.
Isa Nazareno, the exhibit curator, shared that the planning process was both “a challenge and a pleasure,” as she did not know Ruiz as personally as the other guests. However,with great persistence and consultation, Nazareno—together with ALiWW—managed to justly arrange a collection that embodies Ruiz’s intellect and creativity.
“[My mom] was truly an artist,” Joanna, Ruiz’s oldest daughter, said in her message. “She was an artist just as much as she was other things. [...] Her artistic nature was visible in everything she did.”
Although the exhibit ended on April 29, 2023, Ruiz’s multidisciplinary legacies will undeniably be celebrated. More than just her intellect and creativity, Ruiz continues and will continue to be remembered by her exponential grace and tireless service. ■
Celebrating Ma’am Mari-Jo Ruiz
By: Mark Anthony Tolentino
The following is an edited transcript of a talk given last January 17, 2023 at the Math Majors Kumustahan of the ADMU Department of Mathematics. The theme of the event was celebrating excellence; majority of the math majors and many math department faculty members were in the audience.
ttI met Ma’am Mari-Jo Ruiz, or simply Ma’am, as many of us in the Math Department would fondly call her, when I was a junior back in 2008. I joined the department right after graduation and have since worked with Ma’am on many collaborations: taught courses, advised students, presented in, and even organized international conferences, published papers, and did graph theory research together. We had even traveled to Japan a few times. The last time we met was on December 8, 2022, making plans to teamteach a class and planning to go back to Japan for the first time since the pandemic.
This is a celebration of the excellence of Mari-jo Ruiz, and I will begin with something she holds very dear to her heart.
An Excellent Mathematician
Ma’am was an excellent mathematician. She handled many of the OR courses in the ME program over several decades, making her in touch
with the practicality of mathematics. Surely, that was one reason why she loved the subject. However, her love for math went beyond its utility. She appreciated math in and of itself. She was happy to do math for math’s sake, something I have witnessed working with her in the graph coloring research group. Her passion for math, even if not loud, was always on full display.
Ma’am also had a remarkable gift of intuition. At times, she would see the answer immediately.She was always fascinated with beautiful mathematics, which she said shouldn’t be too complicated. I will always remember being gifted a book that she co-authored “A Day’s Adventure in Math Wonderland.”As a dedication, she wrote “Mathematics is what we think, what we imagine, what we dream.”
An Excellent Leader, Servant
Ma’am joined the Ateneo in 1965, at 21, as a young faculty member. She had served the school in various ca-
pacities: as chair of both the Management Engineering (ME) and the Mathematics Departments at different periods in time, as Dean of the then School of Arts and Sciences from 1994 to 2000, and as a member of the Board of Trustees from 2005 to 2014.
Ma’am was instrumental in raising funds for scholarships, and for the construction of the SEC and SOM buildings. In November 2022, a FAME Scholarship Endowment was launched in honor of Ma’am Ruiz. Ma’am Ruiz has also been sponsoring the scholarship of a student every year, through the Office of Admission and Aid.
For all her achievements and contributions in and beyond Ateneo, Ma’am has been given the Lux-inDomino Award in 2014. This is the highest recognition bestowed upon an Ateneo alumni who embody the ideals of the Ateneo through their work and service.In a talk last October 2019, Ma’am recalled “At 21, I had no real dreams for my life.God’s grace brought me to the Ateneo. Like the Jesuits, I am here to love and to serve”.
An Excellent Colleague, Friend, Family
More than just being an excellent colleague, Ma’am was also a dear friend and family to many. She was always diligent, responsible, and reliable. She was generous with her time,guiding,listening,and helping us with our different predicaments. She was generous, literally: there was always a pasalubong from her trips. More recently, she made her artworks into calendars and presented to us as Christmas gifts. She also made sure to celebrate her birthdays with us at the department, and she was also present for many personal occasions.
An Excellent Teacher
Ma’am was an excellent teacher, recognized as Outstanding Teacher by the Metrobank Foundation in 1992. Even though Ma’am taught difficult subjects, Ma’am was known for being extremely prepared with her lectures – delivered with clarity and with careful attention to her students. She would spend hours preparing for a one-hour class because she had to anticipate any questions students might ask. Her trademark approach was the use of the overhead projector and her acetates, most of which painstakingly prepared by hand. The pandemic did not deter her –Ma’am soldiered through, learnt and continued to teach online using a document projector connected to her Zoom screen.
I first met Ma’am as a teacher of our OR class back in 2008. At that time, a blockmate likened Ma’am to Meryl Streep; elegant but intimidating and strict. Despite this, she worked her magic on us, and we loved her and her class. She was straightforward, no-nonsense, but effortlessly connected with us.After that first semester of OR, we requested that she teach us OR2 the following semester. The following year, we continued to request for more electives from her. We realized that we really didn’t care what subject she taught as long as she was the one teaching it.
She continued caring for her students after they graduated, keeping in touch with them through social media or through emails, even greeting them during milestones of their lives.
Celebrating Ma’am Ruiz
Ma’am’s book, “A Day’s Adventure in Math Wonderland,”tells the story of fictional students who visit Math Wonderland, an exhibit of interactive math models in Japan founded by her colleague and friend, Prof. Akiyama. Here, the students witness the beauty, applicability, and inevitability of mathematics. When I was in
college, there was a satellite exhibit of Wonderland at the Ateneo High School that I got to visit. When I was in Tokyo, I got to visit a similar exhibit of Prof. Akiyama in his university. I can confirm that the description was correct – one can really find genuine appreciation for math through the book and the exhibits.
But you see, for me, I had my own version of Math Wonderland even before the book and the exhibits. It was that small classroom on the first floor of SOM where we spent four semesters learning under Ma’am Ruiz. Despite my shortcomings as a student, somehow, she believed that I could do mathematics,enjoy it,and find fulfillment in it. She opened my eyes and heart to math, and that has led me on this path I’m currently on.
So thank you, Ma’am, for your life of service and love for all of us. I hope you continue to guide us, the Math Department,to strive to help our students find their own versions of wonderland, mathematics or otherwise. ■
Dr. Queena Lee-Chua:
On Motherhood, Resilience, Mathematics, and many more
By: Bea Javate | Photo Courtesy: Queena Lee-Chua
When one looks up “Dr. Queena Lee-Chua” online, there would be thousands of search results detailing a stellar career. What’s interesting about this is that they are not all under one field. There are results talking about Queena Lee-Chua as a mathematics educator, as a columnist, as an author, and as a renowned family business consultant.
Among all these accomplishments,what stands out the most?
For Queena, there are personal and academic answers. On a personal note, it’s about being a mother; on the other hand,it’s the SOSE resilience study.These two go hand in hand as Dr. Queena was able to raise her son with the same level of resilience as that in her study.
On Motherhood
“It’s not even my academic career that I am most proud of. I’m just very happy that we were able to raise him to be sensible… the core values are there,” said Queena in reference to how she was able to raise her son, who was the commencement speaker in his graduation at the Yale-NUS back in 2020.
Raising him to just be himself and to not be grade conscious, Dr. Queena beams with pride at how her son has grown and how he has heeded the call to serve the country through Data Science.
Something else that they have in common? Their love for learning and mathematics. “He was an Economics major, but he took a lot of Math courses which I was happy about.”
More often than not, students would choose to avoid anything that involves Math—especially when they have the choice to do so. But what Queena instilled in her son was the value of going through things in spite of its diffi-
culty. This attitude of not backing down and not going through a relatively easier route in achieving things, which would be a recurring theme throughout the interview with Queena.
The Road Towards The SOSE Resilience Study
Given her long list of achievements, it would be hard to narrow down towards what she feels most proud of. Who could blame her?
Growing up with a well-rounded background: president of her high school math club, school paper, member of the swim team, and not to mention a champion pacman gamer, it’s safe to say that Queena had a very active childhood.
As the daughter of Filipino-Chinese parents who were top students of their time,expectations were there; but Queena loved the experience of learning. She loved the feeling of being in school, being around her batchmates, them helping each other, and learning from her teachers.
This desire to know more and to continuously develop in various fields has led her to where she is today. It has also led her to leading a study on achieving and resilience that have helped thousands of children and parents across the nation.
In 2005, the Ateneo High School Parents Council approached her to ask why their students were underachieving. As an advocate of positive psychology, she wanted to put the study’s focus on the achievers and see what allows them to do such. Ten significant factors came about as a result after surveying both the students and their parents. These findings have since been published by Anvil in two books called “Helping Our Children Do Well In School”—which won the National Book Awards— and Queena has been asked
to be a speaker on the topic in several schools.
Ayear later,she was approached by the Department of Education to conduct the same study; this time on public school students. Eight public schools in Marikina and Bulacan were the scope, and the result was five practices. Discipline in terms of applying parenting rules, and encouraging the children to showcase effort were some of the answers—the former being the top-most response. Another book was published: “Magaling Ang Pinoy”, and Queena did talks (even on television) regarding the study which have resonated with a lot of people. Why? Because it showed the reality and correlation between poverty and education that Western research did not.This made it more relatable to its intended audience, and it won an award for Most Outstanding Scholarly Work.Local Government Units distributed the book to parents in their communities, and parenting training was made available.
Fast forward to the pandemic, a problem seemed to arise among members of the Ateneo Loyola Schools faculty; particularly that of the School of Science and Engineering Department. They were disheartened at the behavior that students were displaying in the online class setup which included mass cheating as well as a lack of enthusiasm and participation during synchronous sessions.
The SOSE Resilience Study was then started to figure out what they could do about the situation. The outcome of this would be a manual for the students and the goal was to help the entire Ateneo community. FGDs were conducted among ninety-two students and from this, strategies on resilience and how they overcame the academic challenges brought about by the pandemic were given. The study was so relevant that its findings spread even towards other institutions and went beyond just the SOSE department. Even companies who struggled with employee resilience were moved by the study. It has also inspired
The beauty of the subject is that [Mathematics] teaches you to be patient and to not be afraid to make mistakes.
have an impact towards all of her other endeavors. Math trained her to be rational and straightforward. There is a direct answer to everything; 1+1 would always be 2 and not 10 no matter how eloquent you are with explaining. This then trains you to go into the heart of the matter, and to prove what you say.
The beauty of the subject is that it teaches you to be patient and to not be afraid to make mistakes. It implores humility as one solves problems,and goes against the Filipino culture of instant gratification which, along with the aforementioned, are facets that many Filipinos lack.
others to follow suit,including the Far Eastern University who conduct their own related study with the consultation of Queena. What makes her so proud of this feat was the fact that none of thiswould have been possible if the earlier studies on student achievers were not conducted. These studies have helped prepare her on how she would tackle the study of resilience and what research strategies were effective. There were also findings that were unique to this study, such as faith surfacing as a factor to resilience, which were a positive surprise for her.
Mathematics As The Backbone
With the impact that she has made, she humbly admits that it has never crossed her mind nor had it been part of her dreams. She only dreamt of being in the world of Mathematics; but being the dynamic, all-around person she is—along with the genuine love for learning—several opportunities came her way and these have led to both her personal and professional growth. She credits all of this as being part of God’s plan, and acknowledges that if she had just stuck with math then she wouldn’t have been able to do the other things that she has accomplished. However, she notes that math did
She hopes that more Filipinos will have that “mathematics mentality” because math, as the foundation of all sciences, helps you to make sense of the world through patterns. It’s never easy, but it challenges you and helps you get used to toughness.
Similar to how in life wherein there are things that we do not want to do but we have to, the same could be said for math. Math helps you grow because you keep learning from all the difficulty of the classes.If you just choose to do the things that you’re good at, you will never learn and grow.
This circles back to resilience and how one can emerge from challenging situations.
All of the difficulties that Queena encountered while studying math has since prepared her for other things that she was faced with in life including the many other hats that she wears. Beyond being an educator, a researcher, an author, a business consultant, and a mental health advocate, she is also a parent—and she continues to grow through all these experiences.
Looking back at what she has achieved through all this, it’s safe to say that Queena’s service has gone beyond the academe. It has served Filipinos from all walks of life, and the results of both her work and her studies would most likely expand to future generations. ■
QUENCHING THE THIRST FOR KNOWLEDGE: THE STORY OF RICKY GUERRERO
By: Ana Bettina A. Morales | Photos by: Trisha Tarnate & Jamielyn Kaw
on the world surrounding it.There are infinite possibilities of what ideas can reach,and all we need is a driver to stand in the forefront of transforming thoughts into plans, and plans to the people. Meet the mind that pushes the boundaries of where science can reach man– Ricardo Jose S Guerrero, PhD.
Driven by his curiosity about how life functioned,Ricky already found fascination in the realm of science in his early days of high school. As an alumnus of the Philippine Science System, he had found himself more fueled to bridge the gap between concept and practice, leading him to his journey as a Scientist-Engineer. His degrees in nanotechnology and sensors and systems integration cultivated his interest in biotechnology, and is exhibited in his graduate thesis on a photoluminescent sensor for cancer tumor hypoxia at the University of Edinburgh. However,despite pursuing his bachelor’s and graduate studies abroad,the Philippines was where Ricky found his niche of growth in 2020. The challenge of science is finding how to bridge results to where it is most needed, thus, he found himself in the country where there are opportunities to extend his work beyond academia. It is the possibility for his re-
for the benefit of communities that stimulates his eagerness for learning. He, then, continued his pursuit in health, and primarily involved himself in research addressing COVID-19 issues in the country, as supported by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
Now in his third year working in the country, Ricky is working under the DOST’s Balik Scientist Program and is currently leading a team of visionaries planning to advance the country’s health industry.The Philippines sees a struggle in the lack of local manufacturing of equipment, and it poses a challenge for researchers in funding and immediate progress. Recognizing this need, Ricky and his team dedicate themselves to revolutionizing the innovation of health devices in the country. Further, Unsilo Labs currently ventures to explore an environmental testing method, the droplet digital Technologies for Environmental COVID testing (ddTECT). By 2024, the team’s hope is to achieve this robust and sensitive system for diagnostic testing which enables the investigation of the impacts of viral load.
But, to Ricky, the vision of Unsilo Labs is only half the battle. Research thrives amidst a holistic landscape and the social sciences permit the delivery of these breakthroughs to people.From government officials to regular citizens, the understanding of research is crucial to fully patronize and reinforce scientific findings into tangible solutions. Science communication enables those in power to employ rightful guidelines, guided prioritization, and local advancement.
For the Filipino masses, effective science communication may spark passion in budding advocates. In the country, the research scene sees the possibility of a more sustainable future. Ricky stands firm on his hopes for Synthetic Biology to expand into local innovation. From monoclonal antibody production to the manufacturing of consumer products,studying the capabilities of living organisms can introduce greener industries and sustainable development.
To the aspiring scientist, our featured scientist-engineer bids a message of inspiration: remain curious. In traversing scientific exploration,the backbone of intelligence relies not on textbooks alone, but on selfdriven learning. A person’s continuous pursuit of the unknown will unveil a landscape of possibilities on how science can spark breakthroughs in mankind. Research is a continuous exploration; so, set forth, discover uncharted territories, and push the boundaries of knowledge. ■
SmartGEMS: Revolutionizing Groundwater Monitoring for a Sustainable Future
By: Francessca Abalos | Photo Courtesy: EnviSense
The Smart Groundwater Electronic Monitoring System, or SmartGEMS, was originally a collaborative research project under the Ateneo de Manila University's Department of Electronics, Computer, and Communications Engineering (ECCE) and the Department of Environmental Science. Today, it is one of the two primary products of EnviSense Scientific, Inc.—a spinoff company from the original project and now a startup under the Ateneo Intellectual Property Office’s incubation program. Engr. Jose Claro Monje, a professor of ADMU's ECCE department, who helped lead the project, is the company's Chief Executive Officer.
It is an integrated system of sensors, each containing different reactants to analyze and detect four or five specific groundwater quality parameters—usually, pH and static water level, temperature, electrical conductivity, and total dissolved solids—collecting data and uploading it to the Cloud where it is graphically displayed. It sends out data every minute using WiFi or cellular data.
The device is modular, meaning that its cluster of sensors, power source, and control box are separated from each other, making it less bulky given its heavy-duty tasks. A cylindrical acrylic holder groups the sensors, which are lowered into the mouth, a pipe going down a certain depth, of a groundwater monitoring well. It remains connected to its control box, a weatherproof box attached to the cage-like structure protecting the well that sends out the data it collects. Solar panels on the cage's roofing power all of these devices.
Before the SmartGEMS deployment to places like Benguet,Aklan,Pampanga,Bukidnon,Cagayan de Oro, and many others, the National Water Resources Board
could only gather data from groundwater monitoring wells semi-annually or quarterly. Engr. Carlos Oppus, another professor of ADMU's ECCE Department who served as a point-person and technical team member of the Smart Groundwater Monitoring System, notes that this data is useless because of the Philippines' different seasons and the variation of environmental conditions. It is unfortunate because understanding groundwater quality and quantity fluctuation is essential to good local and national policies on infrastructural development and environmental conservation. After all, groundwater is a vital resource for the Filipino people, serving as the primary water source for many local communities.
Now,with the SmartGEMS,accessing updated information about groundwater is faster and more efficient, paving the way for sustainable and holistic environmental and infrastructural development.
The SmartGEMS embodies Monje's vision of EnviSense Scientific as a champion for the environment.However, despite its optimistic vision and product future, the young company struggles to find financial footing. Lack of funds affects their payroll and ability to develop new products, but Monje stays and fights for his company. The days are long and hard, but out of a sense of duty,he remains steadfast to EnviSense Scientific. He knows he is not alone in his struggles, with fellow ECCE faculty helping the company whenever they can and AIPO continuously supporting it. Altogether, regardless of its hurdles, EnviSense Scientific and the SmartGEMS highlight a bright future for Philippine technology that helps and uplifts the nation it inhabits. ■
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Understanding groundwater quality and quantity fluctuation is essential to good local and national policies on infrastructural development and environmental conservation
IPRDC for low-cost yet high-quality protein production
By: Anna Pineda, Danielle Lapinig, and Christiane Oriana |
The Integrated Protein Research & Development Center (IPRDC) program was established to contribute to a sustainable national biotechnological scene. The Center is housed in the Ateneo Research Institute of Science and Engineering (ARISE) and supported by the Department of Science and Technology - Science for Change Program (DOST-S4CP).
Through genetic engineering, the IPRDC and its four Filipino-made projects aim to manipulate the cellular genetics of bacteria to produce recombinant proteins, analyze cell growth patterns, devise necessary machinery for their processing, and create nanomaterials to purify these proteins.
The IPRDC is funded by DOST’s Niche Center in the Regions for R&D (NICER) Program and is monitored by the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (DOST-PCHRD).This program is helmed by Dr. rer. nat. Crisanto M. Lopez of the Department of Biology.
Power beneath small-scale proteins
Proteins are large molecules composed of one or more long chains of amino acids–compounds made up of elements like carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen or sulfur. Proteins within all living organisms have a multitude of diverse functions. Modern biomedical
Photo Courtesy: IPRDC
healthcare works through our understanding of these large molecules. In fact, proteins in their many forms are the targes of almost all therapeutic drugs and are used in diganostics.
To be able to create proteins,researchers use host cells like a tiny factory by training them to produce proteins that they need.This is called recombinant protein production.Cells like animal cells,yeasts,and bacteria are employed to grow these. For IPRDC, their micro factory of choice is Escherichia coli (more commonly called E. coli) and the proteins they are making are enzymes for diagnostic purposes.
The first IPRDC Project’s goal is to expand the smallscale production life of proteins that are considered vital in point-of-care diagnostics,such as enzymes and antibodies.“Enzyme Production: Cloning, Fermentation, Expression, and Characterization at Small-Scale” is a continued project design from a recombinant protein pilot project that Dr. Keith Moore of the Biology department led. IPRDC: Synthetic Biology is led by Dr. Lopez and Dr. Edjohn Aaron Macauyag. The project aims to demonstrate small-scale production and quality assurance for the five most critical proteins required for SARS-CoV2 molecular diagnostics. These enzymes make up the bulk of raw material costs for COVID-19 test kits.
Protein production, to what extent?
The IPRDC is designed to break away from research that just stays in the laboratory. It aims to become commercially viable manufacturers of proteins for the growth of the Philippine biotechnology sector. To do this, the IPRDC employs an interdisciplinary approach, with research projects that are interconnected to support one another’s objectives. Following the first project’s efforts in recombinant protein production, the second project leads the program in developing scale-up solutions.
The team working on the second project of the IPRDC, “Scaling Up and Optimization of Protein Production”,led by Dr. Rhea Abisado-Duque, will characterize the microenvironment that prompts the recombinant microbes to produce target proteins. Cultures of E. coli are used as agents to produce IPRDC’s target proteins, akin to farming animals for their meat. This project specifically determines the operational conditions (i.e. pH,dissolved oxygen,temperature,aeration and agitation rates, and the concentrations of growth media components) for maximum protein yields in various container sizes ranging from small fermentors to large bioreactors.
In identifying optimal cultivation conditions, IPRDC: Scaling Up employs Quality by Design methods, such as the Design of Experiments (DOE), which can maximize yield and minimize costs.
Advancing equipment for the next generation
One of the most expensive aspects of developing a center such as the IPRDC is instrumentation. To support the program’s efforts on sustainable protein production, the third project “Building Open-Source Instrumentation for Fermentation and Protein Purifica-
tion,” led by Dr. Armando Guidote and Ms. Danielle B. Lapinig, focuses on designing and building opensource versions of bioreactors and a fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC) system. Notably, these two types of equipment are relevant in increasing protein quantity among bacterial systems and the subsequent collection and purification of target products.
IPRDC: Instrumentation builds instruments that are more cost-efficient without sacrificing scientific output. Furthermore, the project envisions accessible hardware through its open-source designs, the education of more instrument specialists, and the establishment of stable revenue for the center through lowering operational expenses.
At present, the project has a laboratory equipped with tools for designing and prototyping work and have technical staff and interns trained in biotechnology and 3D printing. Furthermore, as the Program’s Science Communication arm, the project team has been actively seeking partners, collaborators, and potential clients and outside the University.
Bringing protein purification to different heights
Aside from reagents and instruments, purification consumables cost a lot. To further support IPRDC’s goals of sustainability and profitability,IPRDC’s fourth component project named “Development of Chemical Tools and Materials for Protein Purification” seeks to utilize nanoparticles in protein purification.
Spearheaded by Dr. Jose Mario Diaz with Balik Scientist Consultant Dr. Ricardo Jose Guerrero, magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles are being produced for more efficient binding capabilities of resins to proteins— which will be tested through size exclusion and affinity chromatography.In essence, IPRDC: Materials seeks to develop new methods and techniques with mentioned materials for batch emulsion and microfluidics for onchip generation. From these developed methods and techniques, the products will also be used by other IPRDC projects in their conducted studies and experiments.
For instance, the usage of the products alongside the open-source FPLC from the Center’s Instrumentation arm will allow the IPRDC to conduct protein purification using in-house resins. This eventually allows further research without the need for high costs and long waiting times from other distributors and foreign suppliers.
Filipino-made breakthroughs for the Filipinos
Ultimately, the project seeks to scale up the local production of affordable and accessible recombinant proteins. These will be beneficial to research laboratories, biotechnology companies, and educational institutions that need to be equipped with advanced levels of biotechnology.
IPRDC is empowering local biotechnology by addressing supply chain and logistics issues. In turn, iit is also in service of training the next generation of scientists through accessible reagents,equipment,and materials. ■
NEWS & EVENTS
SOSE professors lead charge in the implementation of new Icam-inspired Engineering programs
By: Derreck De Leon | Photo Courtesy: Patricia Abu
IN PREPARATION of the rollout of new Engineering programs to be offered in the Ateneo de Manila University, the Department of Information Systems and Computer Science (DISCS), as well as the Department of Electronics, Computer and Communications Engineering (ECCE) have been working on creating new courses that take inspiration from professors’ experiences in the Institut Catholique d’Arts et Métiers or Icam, a Jesuit uni-
versity in France that is notable for its Graduate Engineering programs.
Part of this collaboration is the implementation of a teacher exchange program which happens almost annually. Rosula Reyes, PhD, a retired professor from ECCE, as well as Mr. Alberto Medalla, a lecturer from DISCS, recently finished their teaching immersion in Icam. During their stay, they were
tasked to deliver and discuss modules on various Engineering topics to students enrolled in the institution.
Overseas
Ateneo professors
Dr. Reyes, a retiring professor, taught in Icam until December 2019; months before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr. Medalla arrived shortly after Dr. Reyes, around February 2020. He was scheduled to stay for four weeks in France, but it was cut short due to the worsening COVID-19 situation.
In an interview with Dimensions, Mr. Medalla revealed that during his stay in France, he had to juggle between being a Masters student and teaching his students back at the Ateneo on top of handling classes in Icam.
In order to cater to his students back in Manila,Mr. Medalla prepared and sent pre-recorded lectures on various topics in his coding classes. Similar to the online learning setup, he utilized web-based learning systems such as Moodle and simulated recorded lectures even before the shift to online classes.
“[In Icam]... it's a method of teaching methods in which most of the work is mostly student-centered. Most of the work is actually done by the students themselves”, Mr. Medalla observed, when asked about their main observations on the French institution’s curriculum and teaching style.
“They had student meetings, student-led discussions, and very little lectures coming from the professors. Most of the time, it would just be the professor going around the teams just in case they may have any questions,” Dr. Reyes said.
Drawing inspiration from Icam’s methodology
Icam’s engineering curriculum is centered around skill-based learning and assessments. Their curriculum revolves around an “interdisciplinary approach to problem solving thanks to the core engineering and technical courses” that make up their programs.
Mr. Medalla detailed that students were given “problem-based learning” or PBL modules every week – which he was tasked to teach and implement. Each module had a main problem that they are supposed to discuss and work on. At the end of each module, students will present and share their findings and solutions with their fellow students across different Icam campuses.Dr.Reyes observed that although students had various approaches to the given problem, they achieved the same answers.
Teaching in Icam was also a learning experience for both Dr. Reyes and Mr. Medalla. Dr. Reyes shared that to her, it felt like starting over again. “[...] I’ve
grown a lot in terms of preparing myself for that international position,” she said. She added that it also helped her in her new position as the regional director for the International Association of Jesuit Engineering Schools.
For Mr.Medalla,it made him feel more confident in the system that the Ateneo has for its engineering programs. He said that it made him realize that Ateneo has a lot to offer as well. Both instructors expressed their interest in implementing the problem-based learning that Icam offers.
Dr. Reyes felt that a student-centered learning approach similar to Icam’s would be essential not only for a more enriched education, but also for fostering a team aspect among engineering students. Mr. Medalla, in relation to the upcoming rollout of new engineering programs in theAteneo, said that these new offerings would follow the Icam curriculum. He further explained that its learning modules would be patterned to the problem-based learning method that is implemented in the French institution.
Future of Ateneo engineering courses
Mr. Medalla further elaborated that the upcoming engineering programs will consist of modulebased, self-study problem-based modules. When a student reaches their junior or senior year in Ateneo,they will be given the opportunity to spend one year in a counterpart university. During this time, students will already be working on their capstone project which involves implementing a design that they have made before. However, he stated that usually, students will end up implementing another group’s design.“It’s an important aspect in what they want the students to learn, [which is] being able to create your design in such a way that you can hand it off to another team for implementation,” he said.
These new programs, which will be implemented with the help of an international cohort, are expected to be launched two to three years from now, according to Mr. Medalla. Currently, preparations are being done for its implementation such as training, dry-runs, and the selection of faculty members that would be involved in delivering the program’s modules.
As she hangs up her gloves as a professor,Dr.Reyes is filled with optimism for the new programs, as well as the future of her department.
“The programs are going to be a very good opportunity for the ECCE program and Ateneo as a whole to be able to partner with France to pursue further the faculty research initiatives, as well as an improved core curriculum for engineering,” she expressed.
SOSE Week 2023: Showcasing Student Excellence in Science & Engineering
On May 2-5, 2023, the School of Science and Engineering (SOSE) held its annual SOSE Week, a grand celebration of the remarkable achievements and advancements within the School of Science and Engineering.
During the event's four-day duration, a series of activities took place,captivating participants and showcasing the cutting-edge research and innovation taking place within SOSE. The agenda included a diverse range of events, such as the Student Research Symposiums, Graduate Student Fellowship Session, Thesis Poster Presentation, Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE) Info Session Workshop, Environmental Leadership Forum sponsored by SC Johnson, and the SVBB Awards for the Research with Highest IP Potential Presentation. One noteworthy highlight of the event was the com-
pelling showcase by the SOSE Librarians. Throughout the entire month of May, an extensive collection of books and journal publications authored and recommended by the esteemed faculty and affiliated researchers of SOSE were displayed in the New RizalLibrary. The displayed journal articles were meticulously handpicked from renowned sources like Scopus and the American Chemical Society. For those interested in accessing these valuable resources, all articles can be found at go.ateneo.edu/RLOffCampusAccess.
To culminate the event, the SOSE Week 2023 Awarding Ceremony recognized outstanding student research. Certificates were also awarded to the participants of the Student Research Symposium for both undergraduate and graduate level.
POSTER PRESENTATION
People’s Choice Awards
• Radyn Matthew H. Punla and Jerome Daniel P. Navarro
BS Electronics Engineering
"Implementation of MATA: Modular Automobile Tracking Application in the Ateneo de Manila University"
• Sarah Patricia L. Castro, Erianthe Renee G. Co, Bianca Isabel Z. Gomez, Sophia Janina D. Perfecto, Terence Gerard A. Teves, and Lyle Andrei Y. Uy
BS Health Sciences
"A Mixed-Methods Analysis of Patient Satisfaction with Prenatal Care Offered in Brgy. Putatan, Muntinlupa Cuty During the COVID-19 Pandemic"
Dean’s Choice Awards
• Hilary Anne M. Capistrano, Stephanie R. Jabar, and Gabrielle B. Palaypayon
BS Environmental Science
"Assessment and Characterization of Microplastics in Fish, Sediments, and Water from Selected Aquatic Habitats and Common Consumer Food Items"
• Reniel Gabriel R. Manaog, Gio Gabriel C. Reyes, and Roswold Jemuel C. Sanchez
BS CS-DGDD
"An Audio Action Adventure Game for the Blind using Echolocation"
SOSE OUTSTANDING UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH AWARD
Outstanding Undergraduate Student Research Award
• Clint Eldrick R. Petilla
4 BS APS-MSE
“Numerical simulations of the impact of SST magnitude on the simulated track and intensity of Tropical Storm Washi (2011)”
Special Citation: Outstanding Research in Emerging Fields and Technologies
• Ana Margarita P. San Juan
5 BS CH-MSE
“Free-standing Polyaniline-Reduced Graphene Oxide Thermoelectric Films via Electrochemical Synthesis”
Special Citation: Outstanding Research in Environmental Sustainability
• Lance Joseph W. Kosca
5 BS APS-MSE
“Fabrication of Small-Scale Vertical-Axis Wind Turbine Blades using a Bamboo/Epoxy Composite”
SOSE OUTSTANDING GRADUATE RESEARCH AWARD
SOSE Outstanding Graduate Student Research Award
• Zomesh A. Maini
PhD in Biology
“Transitions in Bacterial Communities Involved in the Fermentation-based Production of Virgin Coconut Oil”
• Efren G. Gumayan
PhD in Physics
“Bioplastic Diffraction Gratings Based on Chitosan Extracted from Crab Shell Waste”
Special Citation
• Floyd Rey P. Plando
PhD in Physics
“Durability and morphological assessment of selfcompacting concrete incorporating rice husk ash”
Two SOSE Teams Finalists in TECH PLANTER 2023; EnviSense wins double
EnviSense and Stage Biotech, two interdisciplinary teams from the Ateneo's School of Science and Engineering (SOSE), emerged as finalists in the Leave a Nests’s Tech Planter Philippines 2023, with EnviSense bagging two awards from the competition.
EnviSense, a startup from A collaborative research work between the Department of Electronics, Computer, and Communications Engineering and the Department of Environmental Science, claimed the spotlight by securing not one, but two awards during the event. EnviSense's innovative product, the Smart Groundwater Electronic Monitoring System (SmartGEMS), garnered The Leave a Nest Award and The Focus Systems Award. These awards secured the team an invitation to participate in the Tech Planter Asia Final, as well as a cash prize of Php 30, 000.00. Judges and investors saw potential for development in EnviSense’s smart customizable groundwater monitoring system as it can be used to address problems faced by other countries as well.
Stage Biotech, hailing from the Ateneo Research Institute of Science and Engineering (ARISE), is the other SOSE-grown finalist. Their team of chemists, physicists, and engineers offers scale-out biomanufacturing out-
sourcing services to help the biotechnology industry in the Philippines to take off.
Tech Planter is a pitching competition that serves as a dynamic platform to celebrate the groundbreaking solutions of researchers and tech developers. Out of a record 46 applications, 9 finalists and 6 lightning talk teams were given the opportunity to pitch their ideas to investors during the Demo Day on May 13, 2023 at Escaler Hall,Ateneo de Manila University.The program also fosters collaboration between ventures and major corporations, creating new avenues for business development. Leave a Nest,the organization behind this initiative,envisions a future where deep technology ecosystems become more cohesive and robust, effectively addressing urgent global issues.
Read more by scanning the QR Codes!
Nest sighting in Ateneo: TECH PLANTER in the Philippines 2023
Trailblazers Take Center Stage: TECH PLAN Demo Day Winners Announced
(L-R) Dr. Yevgeny Aster Dula of Leave a Nest Philippines and Mr. Ryo Inori of Focus Systems Corporations awards the Leave a Nest Award and Focus Systems Award to the EnviSense team represented by Jose Carlo Monje, Mark Glenn Retirado, and Carlos Oppus
The Stage Biotech team, one of the nine finalists that pitched their companies during TechPlanter Philippines 2023’s Demo Day.
(L-R: Danielle Lapinig, Miguel Francisco Jose Ordoñez, Ricardo Jose Guerrero, Christiane Oriana, Ray Noel Delda)
Po Shen Loh Visits the Ateneo
By: Richard Eden
His blurb describes him as a social entrepreneur and inventor - both true - but math olympiad enthusiasts in the country know him more as the Leader of the US Team to the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO). Po-Shen Loh steered the US to top place in the IMO team rankings in 2015, a feat that their country's teams last accomplished in 1994. This is what math contest circles know about him. Their supporters fortunately didn't have to wait as long, as Po's team replicated this feat 3 more times in the span of just a few years.
Where people expected a spartan training regimen engineered to propel the US Team to the top, they found instead a collaborative philosophy that emphasizes appreciating math for its sake. I remember being surprised a few years back when I received an invitation for the Philippine Team to join their training camp. They've started inviting other countries for the purpose of learning from each other, the very same competitors they'll face in the IMO.We sent our regrets, explaining that visa application schedules just didn't allow it.
Po-Shen Loh's announcement in October 2022 that he was visiting Manila in January generated a lot of buzz among his followers here. His summer tours in the US have been noteworthy events which targeted the general public, as he talked in public parks about such things as math in games and inventions. He's probably the only Carnegie Mellon professor who does that. So when the Ateneo Mathematics Society (AMS) was approached to see if they could organize the logistics for a talk in Metro Manila, and they in turn asked the Department of Mathematics for help, we realized this was an opportunity we had to grab. With help from the
AMS, we organized with other local organizations a day-long series of talks at Leong Hall on January 6, 2023.
The first session, "Math in Our Daily Lives", talked precisely about that, through the lens of his team's development of an app for digital contact tracing, drawing from their experiences in math, game theory, and computer science.
The next session,"Thoughts on Learning and Teaching Mathematics", was moderated by the Philippine Council of Mathematics Teachers Educators (MATHTED). He talked about the need for students to go beyond just knowing procedures and should instead be able to observe patterns.
The last session, "Experiences from Mathematical Olympiads", was moderated by the Mathematical Society of the Philippines. He talked about not making it his goal to maximize scores, but instead maximizing the chance he was going to read about some of them in the future. He dispensed advice on the contestant experience,and was asked his thoughts on not winning, and on why there are more boys than girls in the IMO.
While preparing for the talks, Po mentioned wanting to meet as many people as he could who wanted to talk to him.While this event was not the only one he had in his short stay in the Philippines, this was apparently the largest which was open to the general public. His talks are available at the YouTube channel of the Department of Mathematics which is accessible through the QR code.
Social Justice Conference in Mathematics Education
Article and Photo By: Maria Theresa Fernando
On December 2-3, 2022, a special two-day conference on “Integrating Social Justice Issues in Mathematics Education: Sharing Teachers’ Learnings” was hosted jointly by the Ateneo Mathematics Department Didactics of Mathematics Research Group (DiMRG), and the Philippine Council of Mathematics Teacher Educators (MATHTED), Inc. The hybrid conference was held in Escaler Hall, drawing 65 onsite and 122 online participants. It sought to provide math educators with a new perspective: that of widening the purpose of math education to include responsible citizenship, and give educators channels to connect to one another, with the greater aim of supporting each other in this work.
The conference was the culmination of a year-long interdisciplinary project on "Teachers Exploring the use of Social Justice Investigations in Mathematics Teaching in the Philippines", funded by a University Research Council grant that began in January 2022. The Project involved a group composed of researchers from the DiMRG, the Department of Philosophy, external consultants from the Philippine Department of Education, and visiting professor Bill Atweh, who has done extensive work in the field.
The conference began with a thought-provoking keynote address by Eric “Rico” Gutstein, professor of curriculum and instruction at the University of Illinois, known for his work on integrating social justice in the mathematics classroom and his book,“Reading and Writing the World with Mathematics: Toward a Pedagogy for Social Justice”. Gutstein narrated his personal experience with using mathematics to help his students think critically about social issues they faced in their community. Gutstein then challenged the audience to use mathematics to help their own students analyze and understand social reality, to investigate what is going on in their lives, or in the world around them, and through the process, have a deeper understanding of mathematics, while “preparing to create, with others, a new and better world”.
Different ways to take on such a challenge were presented by high school mathematics teachers who had journeyed with the research team for almost 10 months. Each teacher talked about their own efforts to integrate their chosen social justice issues with their mathematics lessons: Diane Aniban (Access to Quality Health Care with Mathematical Modeling); Rolando Embudo (Unemployment with Amortization); Amabelle Hipolito (Access to Quality Education with Exponential Functions); Dale Pradel (Social Sensitivity with Sampling Tech-
niques); and James Saludares (Poverty with Fractions, Decimals and Percentage). Queena Lee-Chua, professor of Mathematics at the Ateneo, also shared how she had incorporated service-learning into her college-level mathematics classes, and the effect this had on her students and the community they were working with.As the teachers shared about their struggles and reflected upon what they had learned from the experience, they showed that while the work to incorporate social justice issues in math education is no easy task, it is doable.
Such teachers’ agency in implementing a new, previously untried strategy to utilize math as a powerful tool to develop responsible citizenship was a theme in Bill Atweh’s plenary address. Atweh tackled the question, “Why worry about social justice in math education?” by arguing that if educators believe that math is powerful and important, and believe that social justice is also important,then math has a role in dealing with these social problems.Atweh challenged the notion that the learning of competencies was the main goal of mathematics education and advocated for the use of such mathematical knowledge to understand the world better and change it for the better.
Faculty members Ray Yap and Mia Fernando shared possible ideas on how to design and implement social justice activities. Participants were then given the opportunity to interact with one another in small groups as they brainstormed on possible social justice issues they could integrate with mathematics topics they were teaching. Lively conversations ensued as participants also discussed their anticipated challenges, and proposed steps they could take to integrate social justice upon their return to the classroom.
The conference ended with a panel discussion between Debbie Verzosa, MATHTED president, Bernadeth Daran
and Rowena Azada-Palacios, led by Eden Delight Provido-Miro, chair of the Ateneo Mathematics Department. Daran pointed out that integrating social justice is not a deviation from the DepEd curriculum, as the list of 21st century skills it seeks to develop include social and cross-cultural skills; ethical, moral and spiritual values; as well as leadership and responsibility, which are oftentimes left untouched in math lessons.Like Gutstein, the panel pointed out that confidence and competence in learning how to teach critical math does not come immediately, nor easily: it entails much preparation, and work. Part of the process means going out of a teacher’s comfort zone and asking questions whose answers are unknown, or finding many answers to one question. Nevertheless, the time and effort spent on this iterative process of creation and refinement produces results that are well worth the effort, as students respond to the opportunity to use math to think about their world.
NEWS & EVENTS
For many of the participants,the conference was an eyeopener: it was their first time to hear and talk about integrating social justice in the mathematics classroom. On the other hand, some participants realized that they had already begun to explore ideas related to responsible citizenship even before the conference, but just needed to deepen these ideas and make deliberate connections between the math content and the social justice issue they wanted to explore. Some participants expressed their fear of stepping into unchartered territory and the lack of time to prepare a social justice lesson, but were reassured that if they take small, well-planned steps, and find people to do it with, the work gets easier.
Overall, the conference provided for the beginning of an ongoing conversation between mathematics educators that will hopefully be a source of inspiration and support to all interested in helping their students critically explore issues that really matter.
Celebrating Pi Day!
Article and Photo by: Mark Loyola
For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Mathematics celebrated the International Day of Mathematics,also known as Pi Day, from March 14 – 15, 2023. The event was attended by enthusiastic math students and teachers alike from the Ateneo grade school and college. One of the highlights of this two-day event was a mini geometry exhibit featuring some of mathematical arts and toys designed and created by the Ateneo Mathematics, Arts, Culture, and Creativity (MACC) Laboratory under the Areté Sandbox Residency Grant. The exhibit featured interesting geometry objects such as polytopes, origamis, tessellations, dot patterns, and string arts. Most of the pieces were produced in Areté’s Makerspace Lab by using the laser cutting machine or the 3D printer.
To cap the celebration, the attendees were treated to a viewing of the documentary film"Secrets of the Surface: The Mathematical Vision of Maryam Mirzakhani". The film is about the first woman and Iranian mathematician to be awarded the Fields Medal, considered to be the highest prize in mathematics. After the screening, faculty members, staff, and students of the Department of Mathematics shared some light refreshments and several slices of pie, a perfect way to end Pi Day!
A polyhedron is geometrically modeled as a three-dimensional solid of finite volume bounded by flat regions called its facets. The solid white models in the above with triangles, squares, or pentagons as facets are produced using a 3D printer. The colored ball-and-stick models, on the other hand, were assembled using Zometool.
Sponsored by:
ateneo.edu/sose dean.sose@ateneo.edu
ADMU School of Science and Engineering
sose-arise.ph
arise.sose@ateneo.edu
Ateneo Research Institute of Science and Engineering- ARISE
