facultynews

ChE faculty attends ASEAN symposium

Chair of the Chemical Engineering Department Dr. Leonila Abella, Dr. Susan Roces, and Joseph Auresenia attended the Regional Symposium on Chemical Engineering (RSCE) held in Bandung, Indonesia on October 29-31.

All three faculty members presented technical papers during this symposium. Abella presented a paper titled “Catalysis in the Natural Gas Industry in the Philippines: CH4-CO2,” reforming a paper co-authored by Dr. Susan Gallardo, also of the same Department. Roces’ paper presentation was on charcoal briquettes from biomass. Auresenia’s paper, on the other hand, concerns the use of Taguchi Design of experiments to optimize the parameters of cleaning machine for sensitive plastic products. Abella served as chair of the technical session on process development.

Meanwhile, the launching of the ASEAN Journal of Chemical Engineering was held during the symposium. Roces, as chief editor of the said journal, addressed the body during the launching ceremonies.

With Indonesia as the host country, the organizers for this year are the Department of Chemical Engineering of DLSU-M, faculty of Industrial Technology of the Institut Teknologi Bandung, and the Indonesian Institute of Chemical Engineers.

Civil Engineering faculty presents research papers in international conference

The Civil Engineering faculty of De La Salle University presented papers in the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies (EASTS) Conference in Hanoi, Vietnam held on October 23-27.

Attended by over 400 participants and observers from governments, private industry, and various universities in Asia and the Pacific Region, the Hanoi EASTS Conference 2001 focused on the theme “Transport for Equity, Economy, Mobility and Sustainability”.

Alexis Fillone, assistant professor of civil engineering, presented two papers titled, “Immediate Effect of MRT 3 Operation on Bus Service Along Epifanio De Los Santos Avenue (EDSA)” and “Delineating Metropolitan Iloilo, Philippines Using Traffic Volume Analysis.” The latter was co-authored by Ma. Olivia Caday-Fillone of the University of the Philippines.

Edgar Doña, assistant professor of civil engineering and concurrently CERTC Director, presented a paper titled, “Strategic Issues in Providing Urban Infrastructure for Megalopolitan Areas in Developing Asian Countries.“ It was published in the prestigious Journal of EASTS.

The papers presented in the conference are offshoots of the research activities of the Fillone and Doña under the auspices of the University Research Coordination Office.

Prudente delivers paper on environmental pollution

Science Education Department chair Dr. Maricar Prudente participated in the 3rd International Workshop for Marine Environment on October 21-26 in Otsuchi Marine Research Center, Iwate, Japan. The United Nations University and the Ocean Research Institute of the University of Tokyo jointly sponsored the workshop.

The event was supported by the UNESCO project, Asia-Pacific Cooperation for the Sustainable Use of Renewable Natural Resources in Biosphere Reserves and Similar Managed Areas (ASPACO), and by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) project, Pollution of Hazardous Chemicals in the Coastal Marine Environment and their Ecological Effect (POME).

Prudente presented her studies on toxic contaminants in coastal and urban areas in the Philippines during Session 3 on environmental pollution in coastal ecosystems. The workshop discussion was focused on understanding the coastal ecology with particular emphasis on Asian and Asia-Pacific region, nutrient cycles in the coastal areas and its impact on living resources.