RESEARCH RANGING from the nanotechnology roadmap of the Philippines to the hazards of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant were the highlight of this year’s Philippine American Academy of Science and Engineering (PAASE).
The 29th Annual PAASE Meeting and Symposium themed “Linking Science and Engineering to Development” aims to promote greater collaboration among scientists and researchers here and abroad. The symposium was held at the Ateneo de Manila University from July 13 to 15.
Scientists, researchers, and students from schools and agencies in the Philippines and abroad presented research papers, critiques, plenary discussions, tours, and posters.
PAASE is an organization of scientists, researchers and engineers mainly from the Philippines and the United States. It aims to “promote the advancement of science and technology” and encourage interaction and collaboration between scientists from the Philippines and from other countries.
School of Science and Engineering Dean Fabian Dayrit, Ph.D was the chair of the 29th PAASE National Organizing Committee.
From S&T to building the nation
“The PAASE vision resonates well to the Ateneo sesquicentennial theme of building the nation by using our competencies, our creativity and our collaboration…with Filipino scientists and engineers overseas,” said Vice President Ma. Assunta Cuyegkeng.
Cuyegkeng also said that the topics in the conference speak of the many ways in which science and technology can be linked to Philippine development.
“I think… these researches are very important for the benefit of our country,” said physicist Josefino Comiso, Ph.D., one of the panelists during the conference. Comiso is from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
Other research work featured in the conference were about climate change, marine biomedical research and human genetics in a Philippine scenario, and regenerative medicine in the Philippines.
Catalino Blanche, National Program Leader of the US Department of Agriculture, spoke of his research on the liquidation of wood into gasoline. It was centered on how gasoline, as a non-renewable resource can be produced through other means.
More collaboration
One of the key points suggested in the conference was to promote collaboration among scientists worldwide. “We need better and more focused efforts at collaboration and partnership if we want to make a statement about our role in Philippine development,” Cuyegkeng said.”
Another panelist, Alvin Tulapa, Ph.D., agreed, “I think we have to engage with other universities to engage in competitive grants even with DOST to get involved in collaborative work.”
In line with this, the participants of PAASE decided to add more members into their organization of scientists.
“I think we rely so much on the strength of our PAASE members not only on the US but elsewhere,” Tulapa said.
Jose Cruz, Ph.D. from Ohio State University recalled that during the first years of PAASE, there were very few members from the Philippines until they reexamined their constitution and started nominating Filipino members.
“What are the consequences of that? It’s that we now have very active members who are familiar to the local scene. After all, one of the missions of PAASE is to assist in the development of science and technology in the Philippines,” he said.
Other goals were to give more recognition to scientists’ accomplishments, to improve the research paper production process, and to increase the organization’s support for the publication of research outputs.
