LOW-COST, ecology-friendly technology is what the Ateneo Innovation Center (AIC) prides itself in producing, with the aim of changing the lives of Filipinos.
Built in June 2009, the AIC works under the Dean of School of Science and Engineering (SOSE) and guides the thesis of SOSE students into more important and more hard-hitting projects. It is headed by Director Gregory Tangonan, Ph.D, Operations Director Paul Cabacungan, and Junior Operations Manager Matthew Cua.
AIC encourages the culture of innovation in Ateneo and aims to bridge the gap between academics and industry in the Philippines.
Blue Innovating Green
One of AIC’s projects, in partnership with the University of Arizona, is hastening the growth of algae using light-emitting diodes (LED). The AIC realized that algae grows 300% faster when exposed to more red and blue lights.
The produced algae are used to capture carbon dioxide from power plants or to develop biodiesel. According to Cua, Ateneo is the leader in developing photo bioreactors in the world.
Meanwhile, the Ateneo Clean Water System, invented by Cabacungan, uses solar panels and involves collecting and converting rain water into clean water. It is deployed in El Nido and Batangas and is done in partnership with Tao Corporation.
The project Waste Water Management System is a thesis by Jun Granada (MS ECE). It involves collecting the water from the septic tank of Xavier, Berchmans, Kostka, and Gonzaga halls and treating it through a reef bed system, made up of papyrus plants, gravel and ultraviolet lights—powered by solar panels.
The cleaned water is used to maintain the Marian Garden. A similar system is located in the Mateo Ricci study hall.
A future National Disaster Center
AIC also aims to use technology to lessen the impact caused by calamities.
Tropical rain sensing is done in partnership with the Manila Observatory, using acoustic sensors and microwave links between cell towers. AIC’s goal is to improve this into a real time rain-sensing infrastructure.
According to Cua, “With this technology, we can actually predict localized rain in a better way.”
Aquaculture Monitoring, currently deployed in Laguna, focuses on fish kill—the death of a fish population due to environmental factors. Super senior Gerrald Carlo Mateo explained that they are testing an oxygen level monitoring system that pumps oxygen to the water if its oxygen level is low to prevent fish from dying.
Wave Monitoring, on the other hand, involves a low cost alarm system which determines the safeness of waves for seafarers. AIC, in partnership with the University of San Carlos, aims to create a nationwide wave alarm system.
Other projects include Aerial Mapping which uses Skyeye, an unmanned aerial vehicle, to create aerial maps of the Philippines that could be used to monitor flood point areas, and a device being developed which raises an alarm if water levels rise due to flood.
AIC hopes that Ateneo will be the National Disaster Coordination Center of the Philippines in the near future. AIC also wants the Philippines to be the specialist in disaster mitigation of the world.
‘Team Philippines’
AIC is the only university-based innovation center in the country.
“We would like to innovate by example,” Cua said. “We’re one big Ateneo family but we don’t find the need to market ourselves because we want to lead by example.”
AIC also welcomes the idea of other schools creating their own innovation centers. As Cua explained,
He also said, “We’re team Philippines, not team Ateneo. We are doing this for the betterment of the country, not for the betterment of Ateneo [alone].”
