INNOHUB: ONE-STOP SHOP FOR INNOVATIVE PRODUCTS
The Department of Science and technology has opened a new facility that can, for instance, make milktea from banaba or toothpaste from calamansi oil
In the Department of Science and Technology (DoST) complex in Bicutan, Taguig City is a new Bauhaus-style building.
Minimalist, modern and streamlined, this is DoST-ITDI’s (Industrial Technology Development Institute) Modular Multi-Industry Innovation Center (MMIC), nicknamed “InnoHub sa Pinas.”
It is the first of its kind in the country.
New machines
On 18 February, the InnoHub was inaugurated and opened to the public, promising a future of economic growth through science and technology.
Giant blenders and mixers, and all sorts of new machines, await the creation of new products from food wastes.
The InnoHub is a fantastic opportunity to reduce hunger and malnutrition in a developing country like the Philippines.
Let’s say you want to convert banaba leaves into milk tea, or a banana peel into moisturizing lotion, or calamansi oil into toothpaste, or a mango seed into flour, the InnoHub has the equipment for it.
The DoST-ITDI official Facebook is now encouraging innovators to visit the InnoHub, with an invite to the public:
“In need of food processing and industrial equipment for your products? Check out the Modular Multi-Industry Innovation Center (MMIC) for your industry needs!”
Processing lines
DoST secretary Fortunato de la Peña compares the InnoHub to an “incubation area, an R&D (Research and Development) area, an actual production area, all rolled into one.”
The InnoHub’s equipment is divided into three processing lines: The nut and seed oil line, the mix blend powder line, and the liquids and emulsion line.
The equipment in the nut and seed oil line consists of an oil expeller, a jacketed kettle, a ram press, vacuum dryer, and pressure filter.
Meanwhile, the mix blend powder line features a V-blender mixer, ribbon mixer, a cabinet dryer, agglomerator, hammer mill and a rotary tableting machine.
The liquids and emulsion line has a colloid mill, a homogenizer, a screw press, a liquid filling machine and a retort.
“Industries can avail of our facility at a minimum cost; consultation services from competent ITDI staff; can adapt development technologies; and contract research,” said Chemicals and Environment Division (CED) officer-in-charge Engr. Apollo Victor Bawagan.
What it could mean
The InnoHub is a fantastic opportunity to reduce hunger and malnutrition in a developing country like the Philippines. With the facility’s state-of-the-art equipment, food waste and byproducts can generate sustainable food additives and valuable raw materials and compounds.
This initiative by the ITDI can also contribute to the health and wellness of Filipinos, and boost the economy. It also supports proper waste management.
According to ITDI director Annabelle Briones, the InnoHub is “a devoted facility for advance scale-up research on food and nutraceutical using byproducts such as pills, tout, and leaves as starting materials.”
Research and development undersecretary Dr. Rowena Cristina Guevara, in her speech at the inauguration, expressed her gratitude to the ITDI for the InnoHub and described the facility as a problemsolver.
“We are confident that problems such as lack or absence of specialized equipment to do R&D, and inefficient processing and manufacturing, will soon be things of the past,” she said. “(The InnoHub) will be your one-stop-shop for product ideation and conceptualization, development, marketing and even networking.
“We are optimistic that the MMIC will serve as a gateway towards a more innovative and progressive climate for local entrepreneurs that will encourage the development of new products and/or improvement of existing ones to refuel the country’s economic activity,” Guevara said.
Ignite passion
DoST-ITDI’s InnoHub is funded by the Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DoST-PCIEERD).
“We envision that this facility will ignite the passion of our fellow countrymen to pursue more innovations and use it to promote the advancement of science and technology in the country,” PCIEERD executive director Dr. Enrico Paringit said.
With DoST-ITDI’s InnoHub, the Philippines has now become one of only four countries in the world to have a facility for the processing of byproducts. The other three are Canada, Malaysia and Mexico.
ACROSS
1 Microwave 5 Telly network 8 Help in wrongdoing 12 Easier said — done 13 NATO cousin 14 Embankment 15 Grasp 16 Passe
18 Paid attention to 20 Parroted
21 Total failure 22 Make a choice 23 Hot topic
26 Vital signs 29 Least-varying tide 30 Dog owner’s shout 31 Haul along 33 Drag race participant
34 Has a fever 35 Corduroy ridge 36 Birdseed 38 “— Schoen” 39 Facilitate 40 Rainy 41 Hop, skip or jump 43 Parthenon site 46 “Typee” author 48 Unusual
50 Leaning tower town 51 Route follower 52 Cruel 53 Great merriment 54 Collection 55 Ship’s floor
DOWN
1 Highest degree 2 “Oops!” (hyph.) 3 Cabbage 4 Resulted (2 wds.) 5 Made catcalls 6 Modem speed unit
7 Okla. time 8 Votes to accept 9 Linger
10 Was very thrifty 11 A Kennedy 17 Syrup source 19 Payable 22 What we have 23 Small business mag
24 Mine find
25 Kolkata attire 26 Leather-to-be 27 Verve
28 Pout 30 Scurried along 32 “I’m impressed!” 34 Defense ploy 35 Sprinkled 37 Butterflies-to-be 38 Fiddle-de- — 40 Seize forcibly
41 Obscure 42 Otherwise 43 Envelope sealer 44 Neanderthal’s home
45 Mr. Sevareid 46 EPA fuel concern 47 UPS units 49 Moose kin