Joey Ocon: Powering the future for Filipino energy scientists

written by Nikka Joy Macasa, Pauline Alyanna Lontok, Kyla Carmea Javier

graphics by Hanz Salvacion

Most of the youth today are unaware of their own potential but it does not mean that it will not manifest in time. Despite difficulties, anything is possible when one is equipped with a dedicated mind and a determined heart. Just like Dr. Joey Ocon, fueled by his passion in science, who persisted through his mission in advancing energy science research in the Philippines and lighting up the path for young aspiring scientists to follow in his footsteps.

Medals, trophies, and plaques—as much as these are objects meant to display and boast about, such awards primarily serve as a pat on the back, a motivation to do better. Such is the case for Dr. Joey Ocon, the 2019 recipient of the National Academy of Science and Technology and The World Academy of Sciences (NAST-TWAS) Prize and formerly one of the 2015 NAST Outstanding Young Scientist (OYS) awardees. Considered as among the most prestigious grants for scientific work in developing countries, the TWAS Prize is given to recognize and support outstanding young scientists in developing countries.

Only one TWAS Prize is awarded to a young outstanding scientist in each developing country, annually. This year, the awarding took place online during the NAST 42nd Annual Scientific Meeting. For Dr. Ocon, to receive such recognition validates his contributions and work in the university for the past five years. “I think ang message lang for me is that I’m on the right path in terms of my career, as a professor and a scientist,” he affirms.

Ocon’s passion for science stems from his childhood. Growing up in Davao where there are little to no opportunities to pursue science as a career, he did not have a role model to look up to. He attributes his interest in the sciences to the books that he read as a child. “As young as early grade school, I was doing a lot of experiments [on] plant extracts and then gumagawa [ako] ng mga ointments from a certain plant na nabasa ko sa isang science book,” he said. He was also interested in mathematics, which led him to decide on pursuing a science-related career. Eventually, he took up a Chemical Engineering course in UP Diliman for his undergraduate studies.

Admittedly, he was not exempted from the difficult rollercoaster ride that every Isko faces in their undergraduate years. “First exam ko sa Math 17 . . . I failed. I think 59 point something percent lang ‘yong score ko and [I’m] coming from . . . three straight regional championships in Math in Davao region, so medyo . . . shocking,” he shared. Since then, he exerted more effort in studying for his classes, transforming a general weighted average of 2.00 in his first semester to graduating from the BS Chemical Engineering program cum laude.

Ocon was already employed in a private company when he realized that he wanted to pursue graduate studies. He then went on to complete his masters degree in Chemical Engineering at UP Diliman in 2011 and his PhD in Environmental Science and Engineering at Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) in South Korea in 2015.

During his last year in South Korea, he thought of starting his own lab in the Philippines. “Iniisip ko na kailangan ko mag-build ng future researchers do’n sa field,” he said. Inspired by his adviser Dr. Jaeyoung Lee—who put up his own lab named after his professor, German Physicist and Nobel laureate Gerhard Ertl—Ocon felt that he should honor his professor in the same manner. As soon as he went back to the Philippines, he co-founded LEE, the Laboratory of Electrochemical Engineering, in the Department of Chemical Engineering at his alma mater. This decision was not something he would regret. For the past seven years, the lab has heavily contributed in electrochemistry and catalysis research. “I think we’ve been the most active laboratory in the department in terms of publications with around . . . 50-60 publications in the past seven years. And then in terms of research funding, we’ve been very active in getting funding from CHED, DOST, and from private companies,” he remarked.

As a scientist and an engineer whose mentality is wired for constant development, Ocon always had something to work on. Despite bustling with his administrative work as the chair of the Department

of Chemical Engineering, he still manages to balance his research endeavors all while mentoring both undergraduate and graduate students. “Since 2015, I was also able to mentor two PhD students and graduates, 16 masters and graduates, pursued more than 10 research projects and more than 50 publications,” he recounted.

But the nimble scientist that he is, his brisk pace is far from dwindling. At the time being, he supervises multiple on-going projects of his research group as the LEE founding laboratory head. Ranging from molecular scale research to complex system-scale research, the group studies a broad set of fields anchored on the concepts of electrochemistry, energy storage, and renewable energy. The devicelevel projects such as Leadium, Jolt, and AeroZinc are battery prototypes developed with funding from PHINMA Energy, DOST, and UP, respectively.

Ocon’s expertise in energy storage and renewable energy systems also paved the way for projects that not only provided innovative technologies but also policies that aided techno-economic studies especially in off-grid islands. ElectriPHI, for example, is an on-going seven-million-peso project, funded by the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs (OVPAA), that can help improve rural electrification planning in off-grid islands in the country. “‘Yong goal dito is to build a web-based database of off-grid islands . . . Then afterwards, ico-combine namin ‘yan sa na-develop namin na energy systems simulation and optimization tool para mayroon kang web interface na pwede mong gawin ‘yong simulations on electrification planning,” he explained. This could be utilized by stakeholders such as electric cooperatives in provinces and electrification agencies like the National Power Corporation and the National Electrification Administration.

He leads ChlorGen, one of the initiatives of the College of Engineering (CoE) to aid in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Working with him are faculty members from the Department of Chemical Engineering and Dr. Allan Yago from the Institute of Chemistry. Funds were outsourced from CoE through donations from alumni and other private individuals. ChlorGen’s aim is to build a portable prototype of a disinfectant system that produces a mild bleach solution that can be used by establishments requiring

constant disinfection. They were able to build a successful prototype, however, according to Ocon, there has been a delay in developing additional units for deployment due to stricter policies and delay in the release of funding.

Aside from these, Ocon also contributes to a multi-disciplinary team from UP Diliman and UC Berkeley developing technologies for the removal of arsenic in groundwater. The technology is based on electrochemical coagulation and arised from the need for safer drinking water in certain towns in Pampanga.

On top of all that, the young scientist persistently works on his future research publications and is in the process of making a new personal record. “This year, . . . on track ako na makapag-publish between 15-20 papers . . . I think pinakamarami ko siya since 2016 or 2017,” he said. But, just like anyone else during the quarantine, he also takes some time off for recreation and his personal health to cope with the on-going crisis. “It took me some time din to adjust sa schedule. Of course, nagne-Netflix, nagbi-binge watch, naglalaro ng StarCraft, or recently chess.”

There is a need for more scientists, especially in Ocon’s field. Researchers working on electrochemistry for energy storage are limited, which, led him to establish the LEE. However, this proves to be a difficult undertaking because of the existing problems in bureaucracy and procurement. “Very challenging ang pagre-research sa Philippines. Sa lab namin [in Korea], may credit card ‘yong project. [Kapag] mag-o-order kami, credit card na lang. After a few days, dadating na ‘yong chemicals and other consumables ng project, mabilis yung procurement,” he compares to UP that, as a government institution, suffers from the red tapes involved in procurement. He believes that the edge of Filipino scientists lies in their research ideas as it seems nearly impossible to be globally competitive in terms of funding and equipment. This hope for global competitiveness also diminishes as slow procurement processes and limited resources stretch out the research timeframe.

Because of these challenges, Filipino scientists are attracted and even encouraged to pursue graduate studies abroad. In the case of Ocon’s research group, he encourages his students to pursue their PhD overseas since the country’s infrastructure is yet to be established. “‘Di ko sila pinipigilan [mag-PhD abroad] kasi alam ko na mas matututo sila abroad, given the difficulties ng pagre-research sa Philippines. Otherwise, mafru-frustrate lang sila or kaya ‘di matatapos ‘yong PhD,” he shared, with hopes that when his students find it favorable to return to the country, they will thrive in their expertise and give back. However, in most cases, scientists who pursue graduate studies out of the country are exposed to a better working environment for research that entices them to continue working abroad.

Despite these present challenges in research and development, Ocon believes that there is significant growth in research and development (R&D) of the country for the past ten years in terms of funding hikes. To further this, he believes that our country should focus on sending scientists abroad for graduate studies so they can, in turn, train local scientists in their field.

The young scientist maintains a positive outlook on the state of R&D in the country saying, “Marami pa ang improvements na nakikita ko . . . If you’re a scientist na nag-iisip kung magwo-work ka ba sa Philippines, or magpu-pursue ka ng career abroad, for my case, I think optimal pa rin yung pag-stay sa Philippines . . . Maraming benefits pa rin [sa] pagwork sa Philippines,” he shared.

His advice to aspiring scientists and professors is to study hard, to have fun, and to find a mentor who can set an example of having a productive and fulfilling career in the university. From his own experience, he shared that “isa sa mga joys of working at UP is ‘yong pagme-mentor din ng students . . . 'Yong nagbibigay naman ng motivation sa mga professor ay ‘yong success stories ng students na eventually ay nakikita nila . . . doing sciences, not just for the love of science but because they see a career in doing that.”

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