A photograph collage of the improvements displayed on the exhibit of DOST-7 RSTW from April 23–25 in a mall in Cebu Metropolis. | By Niña Mae Oliverio
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The progressive minds of Filipinos lately took heart stage on the Regional Science and Know-how Week (RSTW) held in Cebu.
Native innovators showcased their breakthroughs in science and expertise, selling sustainable options.
As a part of the three-day celebration organized by the Division of Science and Know-how-Central Visayas (DOST-7), varied improvements had been featured in an exhibit held at a mall in Cebu Metropolis from April 23 to 25.
Exhibitors included fisherfolk from Area 7, college students from the Philippine Science Excessive College – Central Visayas Campus (PSHS-CVisC) in Argao, southern Cebu, and the Philippine Textile Analysis Institute of DOST (DOST-PTRI).
Photograph by Niña Mae C. Oliverio
This 12 months’s theme centered on the “Blue Financial system,” which emphasizes the sustainable improvement of marine assets, fisheries, maritime transportation, and coastal industries in Central Visayas.
Sea merchandise
For Jear Hemodo and Evelyn Malicay, fisherfolk from Negros Oriental and Siquijor, RSTW gave them the prospect not solely to showcase but in addition promote their merchandise to exhibit-goers at reasonably priced costs.
They displayed gadgets equivalent to dried and bottled squid, bottled bangus, seaweed-based crackers and toasted bread, and even polvoron comprised of dried fish.
Each are members of neighborhood organizations and beneficiaries of the Fish Visayas venture by the AFOS Basis, a German charitable group.
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Innovation is extra than simply expertise
Hemodo stated their merchandise are outcomes of the Fish Visayas venture in partnership with the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Sources (BFAR), which educated them in sea product processing.
Photograph by Niña Mae C. Oliverio
“Generally, bumababa ang presyo pag maraming huli kaya we processed [them]…pag maraming provide tapos mababa yung demand, ang presyo ng aming produkto, ng aming hinuhuli ay bumababa, kaya we’re very grateful for this chance sa RSTW na nandito kami nag exhibit kami ng aming mga affiliation merchandise,” Hemodo stated.
Malicay added that the Division of Commerce and Business (DTI) additionally assisted them in product labeling, design, and pricing.
MRI, chlorine detection kits
Senior Excessive College college students from PSHS-CVisC introduced varied improvements, together with the MRI Package — a YOLOv7-based picture processing gadget for diagnosing and classifying mind tumors in MRI scans — developed by Sebastian Luis De Guzman, Mark Russell Lagunsad, and Devonne Klaud Quimada.
Utilizing a Raspberry Pi digicam to seize MRI movies, the gadget processes photographs via a deep studying mannequin (YOLOv7) to determine and classify mind tumor sorts in real-time.
De Guzman stated the venture got here to life after their classmate, Lagunsad, shared that his grandfather had a mind tumor.
The scholars additionally exhibited a chlorine detection package referred to as “Kahel” (which means orange in Filipino). It’s a paper strip that makes use of chemical reactions to detect and measure bleach focus.
Photograph by Niña Mae C. Oliverio
Tristan Joshuel Villegas, one among Kahel’s three creators, stated they had been impressed by “unprofessional chlorine administration” in a neighborhood in Taloot, Argao.
In response to PSHS-CVisC trainer Vanessa Destura, these improvements are additionally launched to stakeholders with the hope of bringing them to market.
Destura stated the goal beneficiaries are marginalized communities with restricted or no entry to high-end expertise.
Sustainable textiles
Other than seafood merchandise and diagnostic kits, textile breakthroughs additionally shared the highlight on the exhibit by DOST-PTRI.
One of many featured improvements was a pineapple-blended material that’s already out there available in the market via an area model, stated Cornelio Loyola Jr., a science analysis specialist at DOST-PTRI.
Different showcased gadgets included textiles comprised of banana, abaca, bamboo, and Philippine silk, in addition to footwear utilizing pure fibers being bought in varied areas of the nation.
“The importance of this occasion is selling and mainstreaming our improvements. We’re not simply restricted inside our laboratories, however we’re additionally attempting to indicate the folks,” Loyola stated.
He added that their improvements are “100% Filipino-made,” which Filipinos ought to take delight in.
Throughout the opening ceremony on April 23, DOST Undersecretary for Regional Operations Sanco Mabborang underscored the significance of collaboration in advancing science, expertise, and innovation.
“Our purpose will not be solely to innovate, however to make sure that innovation reaches folks and communities the place it issues most,” Mabborang stated. /clorenciana