ChE faculty give lectures to UST, University of Perpetual Help students

Dr. Pag-asa Gaspillo of the Chemical Engineering Department delivered a lecture on waste management technology for environmental protection at the University of Perpetual Help in Las Piñas City on February 13. Students from the departments of medical technology, physics, computer science, biology, and chemistry attended the said lectur

Last February 1, Gaspillo was also a speaker during the Biological Wastewater Treatment Technology Seminar held at the Manila Galleria Suites, Ortigas, Pasig City. Her lecture was on attached growth biological treatment.

The seminar was jointly sponsored by the Water Environment Association of the Philippines (WEAP) and the United States-Asia Environmental Partnership (US-AEP) for wastewater treatment plant operators, pollution control officers, environmental consultants, contractors, and government regulatory people. Gaspillo is the auditor of WEAP for the fiscal year 2001.

In related news, Marylou Uy of the Chemical Engineering Department delivered a lecture titled, “Biotechnology: Its Application in Air Pollution Control” during a seminar on biotechnology held at the Beato Angelico Building, University of Santo Tomas on February 5. The seminar was sponsored by the Chemical Engineering Society of the UST College of Engineering.

Her lecture focused on the biological treatment of odorous gases. She also presented the results of her preliminary study on the biotreatment of hydrogen sulfide gas by the microorganism Pseudomonas Aeruginosa isolated from raw sludge obtained from the Claro M. Recto area in Manila.

Uy trained on biotechnology at the Research Laboratory of Resource Utilization of the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Nagatsuta, Japan, under the guidance of Professor Makoto Shoda.

ASHRAE visits ME Department

Offering their professional services for free to design and develop a state-of-the-art air-conditioning instrumentation laboratory, two officers of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Philippines Chapter visited the Mechanical Engineering Department on February 12.

Engineer Emmanuel Tan, ASHRAE president, and Engineer Cezar Punsalan, ASHRAE director, toured the different mechanical engineering laboratories particularly the refrigeration and air-conditioning laboratory.

ASHRAE is the world’s foremost technical society in the fields of heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, and refrigeration. The Philippines Chapter belongs to Region XIII, the international region. Through the chapter, the Mechanical Engineering Society formed its ASHRAE Student Section—the first in the Philippines. Dr. Manuel Belino, chair of the Department, serves as the chapter’s chairperson for student activities.