Advancing engineering innovations for sustainable development
‘Investment in the education of the youth in science and technology [s&t] courses is a priority of the Department of science and technology [Dost].” science secretary Fortunato t. de la Peña made the statement during the World engineering Day for sustainable Development event organized by the manila Water Foundation on march 4.
De la Peña, himself an engineer, added:“we encourage them to pursue s&t careers in the future through our scholarship programs that are offered beginning from secondary education through our Philippine science High school system to undergraduate and graduate levels.”
He said that the Dost undergraduate scholarship program has produced a total of 17,777 engineering graduates from the FY 2000 to FY 2020.
topping the list are those who took up electronics and communications engineering with 5,478 graduates (31 percent); mechanical engineering, 2,879 (16 percent); chemical engineering, 2,726 (15.3 percent); and electrical engineering, 2,519 (14.2 percent).
At the graduate levels under the engineering Research and Development for technology scholarship program, 1,383 graduated with master’s degree and 182 with PHD from 2008 to 2020.
At the master’s degree level, the highest number of graduates was in agricultural engineering (165), followed by chemical engineering (140), civil (138) and environmental engineering (132).
Graduates in environmental engineering topped the list in the PHD level with 35 graduates followed by agricultural (32) and chemical engineering (24).
De la Peña also disclosed that in the Dost system itself, among the 4,846 plantilla positions, 951 (19.5 percent) are occupied by engineering graduates: 808 are bachelor of science degree holders, 127 and 16 are master in science and PHD holders, respectively.
Dost’s projects and plans
the Dost, as the government institution mandated to steer science and technology development in the country, de la Peña said, is making concrete steps to develop the country’s capabilities and harness these technologies to benefit the economy and our society.
De la Peña said the “science for the People” strategic plan outlines the strategies, programs and projects to harness science, technology and innovation in addressing the country’s problems—such as reducing poverty incidence, increasing the productivity of various sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing and services industries.
“Our goal is to make the products, services and opportunities in science and technology contribute to making development more inclusive; by ensuring greater access by the regions, including the marginalized sectors, ”he said.
the Dost’s R&D programs, he said, are guided by the Harmonized national R&D Agenda (HNRDA), which articulate the national priorities and guide public investments in R&D.
the HNRDA priorities, which would require engineering interventions, are classified in five sectors: 1) agriculture, aquatic and natural resources; 2) industry, energy and emerging technology; 3) health; 4) disaster risks reduction and climate change; and 5) basic research.
He said agriculture, research on farm mechanization involves design and performance efficiency machineries which would call for expertise in mechanical, electrical and industrial engineering.
Industry, energy and emerging technologies include space technology applications, advanced transport system, materials and minerals processing, and security and defense.
In sustainable mass transport system, he noted the development of the hybrid electric train, hybrid electric road train, and the hybrid trimaran.
He said the promising technologies produced from the different R&D engagements that benefitted from engineering interventions include the Charm, a charging station for electric vehicles (evs) that can recharge within 30 minutes.
there is also the Chemical sensors for mine site monitoring which reduces risk for our miners in the field, and the 81 Automated Weather station and the 100 Automated Rain Gauges that provide timely data in key areas of the country.
the space technology and applications promotion, expansion and capability development, he said, are being implemented by the following programs which are also established and run by many engineers:
1. Philippine earth Data Resource and Observation Center, a facility that securely receives, processes and distributes space-borne imagery from supported remote sensing satellites for various applications, such as disaster mitigation, natural resource management, environmental monitoring, pollution control, energy exploration, emergency response management, among many others.
2. Phl-microsat that developed and launched the first Philippine microsatellite, Diwata-1, and
3. stamina4space, the continuing program to establish a space industry in the country by increasing the capacity of the universities to produce experts in space technology applications.
Dost contribution to the attainment of the sdgs
Dost’s contribution to the attainment of the sustainable development goals are through the generation of knowledge and information as well as development of various technologies from its R&D programs, de la Peña said.
For Goal 2 on zero hunger, the malnutrition Reduction Program of the Dost-food and nutrition Research Institute addresses the undernutrition problem among young children.
It involves a package of intervention, including the direct feeding of rice-mongo based complementary foods for children below 3 years old children, and nutrition education among mothers and caregivers.
various technologies are also being deployed to increase agricultural productivity, such as the carrageenan plant growth promoter to increase rice production, protocols for aquaculture, raising indigenous vegetables,
For Goal 3 on good health and well-being, one of the Dost’s major program, the tuklas Lunas Program, promotes the discovery and development of health products from natural resources.
the program pursues a parallel track of drug development, such as the development of standardized herbal drugs and the identification and characterization of high-value purified active compounds from marine and terrestrial resources for specific therapeutic indications.
De la Peña pointed out the development of various biomedical devices and diagnostic kits for the detection of dengue and Covid-19 viruses.
For Goal 4 on quality education, showed the Dost’s role in providing scholarships from the secondary to graduate studies. It is also developing supplementary materials for teaching science and mathematics and implementing special scholarship programs for important fields such as data science.
For Goal 8 on decent work and economic growth and to make a dent on the innovation of the industry, the Dost is enhancing the productivity and efficiency of communities and the production sector.
“One avenue is through upgrading the technology used by msmes [micro, small and medium enterprises] which comprise 99 percent of industry in the Philippines,”de la Peña said.
the small enterprise technology Upgrading Program (setup) aids in upgrading the technological capabilities and improve the productivity and efficiency of msmes, he said.
From 2018 to June 2019, a total of 1,135 msmes received innovation-enabling fund support to upgrade their technological capability and improve productivity in their operations.
taking one notch higher, setup 2.0 is intended to fully harness science, technology and innovation in order to enhance the competitiveness of msmes both in local and global markets.
For Goal 9 on industry, innovation and infrastructure, the HNRDA’S major initiative is the science for Change (s4c) Program. It involves the adoption of science, technology and innovation by implementing capacity-building initiatives in partnership with academic institutions and industry stakeholders.
the s4c has four component programs namely: the niche Centers in the Regions for R&D; R&D Leadership Program; Collaborative R&D to Leverage Philippine economy; and Business Innovation through s&t.
For Goal 10 on sustainable cities and communities, the Dost’s programs on smart cities, sustainable mass transport and disaster-risk reduction are contributing to the achievement of this goal.
For Goal 12 on climate action, there is a risk resiliency and climate change program of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical services Administration, and the Philippine Institute on volcanology and seismology and that contribute to attainment of this goal.
De la Peña said: “the Dost gives premium to research and the generation of new knowledge. At the same time, we give equal importance to delivering these results and seeing them used to promote more inclusive socio-economic development.”
“We believe that the value of science, technology and innovation can only be measured by the solutions and opportunities they provide and the positive impact they create to society,”he added.
In this regard, he urged the «private sector to use science-based information and adopt technologies, especially locally developed by our universities, research institutions and inventors, in expanding your businesses and creating new ones.»
He said: “We call on your entrepreneurial spirit to invest on these technologies, in new businesses and startups or support our budding entrepreneurs as they hone their skills, engage more customers and perfect business processes to enable their ventures to grow and mature.”