facultynews

Prudente speaks on breast milk contaminants

Science Education Chairperson Dr. Maricar Prudente gave a talk about her study on toxic contaminants in human breast milk. She spoke before The Fetus as a Patient Institute of the Philippines during their 10th Annual Convention at the Manila Midtown Hotel on November 11.

Prudente said that there were comparatively lower residue levels in milk samples for the Philippines. However, residues of dioxins, furans, and toxic coplanar PCBs were found in human milk samples from Payatas, Quezon City.

Stressing that there could be widespread contamination of these chemicals in dumpsites, Prudente also suggested that continued and enhanced efforts be directed towards identifying and controlling environmental sources of these substances.

3 profs join ASEAN Symposium on Chemical Engineering

Three professors for the Chemical Engineering Department presented technical papers at the Regional Symposium on Chemical Engineering in Holiday Inn, Bandung, Indonesia on October 29-31.

The Regional Symposium on Chemical Engineering (RSCE) is held annually in an ASEAN country where chemical engineers from Japan and the ASEAN region meet to share their knowledge, research output and advances in the various fields of chemical engineering. RSCE 2001 was hosted by Indonesia and was organized by the Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Industrial Technology of the Institut Teknologi Bandung and also by the Indonesian Institute of Chemical Engineers.

Dr. Leonila Abella, Chair of the Chemical Engineering Department, Dr. Susan Roces, and Joseph Auresenia of the Ch.E. Department attended the Regional Symposium. Dr. Abella presented a paper on Catalysis in the Natural Gas Industry in the Philippines: CH4 – CO2. Reforming a paper co-authored by Dr. Susan Gallardo of the Ch.E. Department.

Dr. Susan Roces’ paper presentation was on Charcoal Briquettes from Biomass while that of Joseph Auresenia was on the Use of Taguchi Design of Experiments to Optimize the Parameters of Cleaning Machine for Sensitive Plastic Products.

Dr. Abella served as Chair of the technical session on Process Development. The ASEAN Jouranl of Chemical Engineering was launched during the symposium. Dr. Roces, editor-in-chief of the said journal, addressed the body during the launching ceremonies.