"days past lives present" photo exhibit
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UP Mindanao Instructor Samuelle Marionne “Sam” Sanchez holds a weeklong photo exhibit titled "days past lives present" at the UP Mindanao College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Mintal, Davao City. The exhibit mounts photographs taken during the faculty member’s own time as a student of Communication Arts. The materials depict UP Mindanao’s campus life at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic didn’t exist. Sanchez aims to use the exhibition as a catalyst to reminisce about college life within the UP Mindanao community. The photographer finished his Master of Arts in Integrated Design at the Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, Germany. He is currently the Faculty head of the BACMA Sibya Media Production Unit and an adviser for the Communicator’s Guild. The said exhibit will be at the CHSS from September 5 until 9, 2022. After that, the exhibit will be on display at the College of Science and Mathematics (CSM) on September 12-16, 2022.
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Research in food and health in 35th SMAARRDEC anniversary
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| The UPMin team at SMAARRDEC 35th anniversary |
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| Prof. Calumba explains her beer research poster | Angela Urquiola explains the mango research |
Researchers from the University of the Philippines (UP) Mindanao presented industrial and practical solutions to food and related sectors at the 35th-anniversary celebration of the Southern Mindanao Agriculture and Aquatic Resources Research and Development Consortium (SMAARRDEC) on August 17, 2022.
Dr. Melvin Pasaporte’s pitch in the Technology and Industry Forum focused on convincing investors to invest in the UP Mindanao lactic acid technology, which promised a more cost-efficient process of producing lactic acid locally. Lactic acid, he said, has applications in the food, chemical, pharmaceutical, and polymer industries, and the technology presented an opportunity for investors to invest in potentially the first commercial lactic acid production plant in the country.
In fisheries, Mr. Remie Aurelio’s pitch in the same forum focused on minimizing the deterioration of coral reef ecosystems that would affect fishing and livelihoods in the Davao region. He said that wastewater discharge from industrial and agricultural activities causes this deterioration. Therefore, he advised local government units to minimize such discharges or to propagate helophyte plants and reeds which can filter wastewater before they reach the sea.
In the research category for the oral presentation, Assistant Professor Kriza Faye Calumba described a recent study on the production of a probiotic beverage from marang, an abundant but underutilized fruit. Mixing a Lactobacillus strain previously isolated from nipa into the raw marang juice produced a non-dairy probiotic drink that has potential health benefits, she said.
Davao Startup Week: Davao-Israel Night
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Mr. Balzam, Israel Embassy's deputy chief of mission, speaks at the Davao Israel Night |
IDEAS Davao’s Davao Startup Week was celebrated in August, with the Davao-Israel Innovation Night held on August 12, 2022, as the highlight event. IDEAS Davao lead and UP Mindanao assistant professor Miguel Carlo Guillermo welcomed the participants and guests.
That evening, a number of entrepreneurs pitched their startup ideas for agriculture and construction efficiency, coffee and food for social benefit, education in rural areas, and employment for disabled persons. UP Mindanao alumnus Adrian Bernardino pitched “Hayahay,” an app for unifying business needs and processes into “one screen, one platform, one tool.”
Mr. Nir Balzam, deputy chief of mission of the Embassy of Israel in Manila, Mr. Itamar Gero of the Israeli Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines, and Dr. Enrico Paringit, executive director of DOST-Philippine Council for Industry, Energy, and Emerging Technology Research and Development (PCIEERD) listened to the pitches.
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Participants, guests, and organizers of Davao-Israel Night |
“Israel and the Philippines share common issues," said Mr. Gero in his keynote talk. "A pressing problem and chutzpa or courage to overcome the fear of failure are what startups need to make things happen.”
“We want to share Israel’s experience as a startup nation," said Mr. Balzam. "We look forward to those joint proposals that will build bridges of innovation between our two countries.”
Dir. Paringit, in his closing remarks, said, "We really need an ecosystem to support our startups delivering support, encouragement, guidance, direction, inspiration, motivation, to make this all possible."
Davao Startup Week: Mindanao TBI Summit
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| Participants on Day 1 of the Mindanao TBI Summit |
The Philippines has moved up one step to rank 52nd in the 2021 Global Startup Ecosystem Index, with Davao coming in at #4 nationwide and #786 globally as a new entry. Ms. Russell Pili, research commercialization chief of the Department of Science and Technology, disclosed this at the Mindanao Technology Business Incubation (TBI) Summit, held on August 12-13, 2022.
Ms. Brenda Valerio, a consultant to the Dept. of Information and Communications Technology, added that the Davao City startup community maturity is at level 3 or an “Accelerating Ecosystem,” based on density, culture, and capital, talent, and the regulatory environment. She summarized the results of the Davao City Ecosystem Mapping held on August 8, which identified 45 startups at the idea stage, 34 in the launch stage, 36 in the growth stage, and 67 supporters, composed of government, universities, and private firms.
For her part, Davao City Councilor Pilar Braga showed the 2021 city ordinance establishing the Davao City Inventions and Innovations Center. “We need you [the startups] to tell us what you need and what you want us to do,” she said.
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Participants in Day 2 of the Mindanao TBI Summit
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Priya Thatchadi of Villgro Philippines, French Llorilla of CDO Bites, and Constantino Brasileno of IDEYA also shared their business experiences on Day 2 of the Summit. In addition, DOST-XI regional director Anthony Sales and Albert Gabriel of the Department of Information and Communication Technology reported on their agencies’ TBI programs.
The University of Mindanao hosted the two-day Summit as its offering to the first Davao Startup Week organized by IDEAS-Davao, a consortium of private and public universities, agencies, and firms convened by the University of the Philippines (UP) Mindanao.
UP Mindanao chancellor Lyre Anni Murao and UM vice-president for research Maria Linda Arquiza sent messages of support to the Summit.
In closing, Mr. Miguel Carlo Guillermo, IDEAS convenor and UP Mindanao assistant professor, said, “The Davao startup ecosystem is fast-growing; from its infancy just four years earlier, it is now poised to solve problems from the region to the nation.”