FUTURE CHEMISTS and a physicist from the Ateneo were recognized in the 2011 Bank of the Philippine Islands – Department of Science and Technology (BPI-DOST) Science Awards.
Philipp Gotico (V BS Ch-MSE), Leo Albert Sala (BS Ch-MSE ‘11) and Miguel Antonio Sulañgi (V BS Ps) were among this year’s 30 awardees, chosen for the potential of their research projects to contribute in industry and nation-building.
Sala’s project was also one of the six finalists for the BPI-DOST’s “Best Project of the Year” award.
The three science majors presented their projects and received their trophies in a ceremony held on March 2 at the Escaler Hall.
Health, environment, nanotechnology
Sala’s project brought about a mosquito repellent with nanoparticles incorporated into an active ingredient. Because of this, the active ingredient is released at a much slower rate, making the repellent’s protective qualities linger more on the skin.
According to Sala, the process used in his research could also be applied to medicine. “These nanoparticles can be applied not only to the development of mosquito repellents but also to the development of more efficient [medicines] which only utilize a small amount of [the] usually expensive active ingredient and yet provide the same or even higher level of effectiveness with diminished side-effects,” he said.
Gotico’s project, on the other hand, is about recycling plastic wastes. “Actually, my research is just a simple mixing of plastic and Styrofoam wastes in oil, just like cooking,” he said. The research explored which ratio of plastic and Styrofoam wastes with fiber would yield a mechanically strong material.
Gotico’s project can help deal with the problem of plastic and Styrofoam waste, such as the one experienced in the Payatas dumpsite. “The research can help improve the recycling technology of the villagers near Payatas… In addition, the use of fiber as a reinforcement of the waste material can also promote the growing coconut fiber industry of the country,” he said.
Sulañgi’s project deals with how the behavior of charged particles on curved nanostructures, catenoid and helicoid, changes once an external magnetic field is introduced. “My research finds that we are able to control where the particle is most likely to be found by adjusting the strength of the magnetic field,” he said.
Despite the research being theoretical, Sulañgi said that it has possible applications in nanotechnology and microelectronics, particularly in small-scale devices.
Problems with materials, facilities, cases
While Sala and Gotico were doing their research, they had problems with materials and facilities. “We do not have the facility here in the Ateneo to [accurately observe] the features of these particles, and to be able to understand more about their properties. We [had] to utilize the microscope in La Salle for a certain fee, which really cut a significant portion of our budget,” Sala said.
He added, “Some of the facilities we have here in school suddenly malfunction and so we have to wait for repairs, or look for [facilities] elsewhere.”
Gotico also shared, “I did research outside the school, taking long hours and rides.” For his research, he had to go to the DOST, San Mateo Rubber Corporation, and the University of the Philippines Diliman.
Publishable, innovative researches
All three awardees were surprised by their awards. Regarding his research, Sulañgi said, “This was a theoretical work and the BPI-DOST [Science] Awards has a history of awarding applied work. So I was very happy and very surprised to find that my work—a theoretical work, mainly mathematical—was selected.”
Sala also didn’t expect to be included in the Top Six. “The announcement came [during] the first day of classes in January so I was like ‘Happy new year to myself!’”
“My mentor and I were so surprised,” he said. “When the deadline came near, we were short of what we had envisioned our paper to contain [but] we simply let it go and submitted to meet the deadline.”
Jose Mario Diaz, Ph.D., Gotico’s mentor, said that the innovativeness and impact of the latter’s research helped him win. “For one, the concept is relatively simple but very innovative… Another reason would be the impact of the study in various aspects.”
“Environmentally, it could help alleviate the problem of solid waste disposal in our dumpsites. Socially and economically, it would be easy to scale up and provide additional sources of livelihood to communities situated near dumpsites,” Diaz said.
Meanwhile, Quirino Sugon, Jr. Ph.D., Sulañgi’s adviser, attributes the win to publishability. “We always aim for international publication at the undergraduate level, because Ateneo demands excellence and we want our work to have a wider audience,” Sugon said.
