The Department of Science and Technology – Philippine Council for Industry, Energy, and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DOST-PCIEERD) will be putting up three new laboratories and funding five research projects in various regions in the country.
Under the Institution Development Program (IDP), the three new research laboratories are:
1. Establishment of Al Research Center for Community Development (AIRCoDE) – This project will establish an AI Research Laboratory in Camarines Sur State Polytechnic Colleges to strengthen the research capabilities of AI enthusiasts, faculty, and students in the field of Artificial Intelligence, such as deep learning, computer vision, etc. The establishment of the AI Research Laboratory will be a primordial step in the Philippines' continuous development to be at par with the current trends of Artificial Intelligence in other countries.
2. Establishment of ParSU Microbiology Testing Laboratory (MTL) – The establishment of the microbiology testing laboratory will complement and help in the existing research activities of Partido State University – Goa Campus in Camarines Sur. The acquisition of the requested equipment will increase the integrity of the university research outputs, improve the research skills of the faculty and students and will increase scientific publications.
3. Establishment of Mindanao Natural (MinNa) Language Processing (LProc) Research and Development Laboratory – The project’s main objective is to establish the Mindanao Natural (MinNa) Language Processing (LProc) Laboratory at the University of the Immaculate Conception in Davao City, which specifically aims to collect language resources needed in the development of the Multilingual Machine Translation (MT) System and Conversational Agent (CA) and develop a Web-based Multilingual MT System and CA among others.
Under the Regional Research Institution (RRI) program, the projects are:
1. Development of Halal Compliant Restructured Goat Meat Products – The project, to be implemented by the Sultan Kudarat State University, aims transform goat meat and milk into value-added and halal compliant products with an increased market value to suit customer needs
2. Design, Development, Testing and Implementation of Fuzzy-Proportional Plus Integral (PI) Power Factor Correction Controller (PFCC) for 10 kW Load – This project, to be implemented by the Iloilo Science and Technology University (ISAT-U), seeks to design, develop, test, and implement the Fuzzy-PI PFCC for 10 kW Load that will lower power loss and increase productivity.
3. Application of Blockchain Technology to the Guimaras Mango Supply Chain- This project, to be implemented by ISAT-U, aims to ensure the authenticity of the mango products exported; the proposed study will use the blockchain technology to trace the product origin until it reaches the consumers.
4. Development of Optimized Pineapple Fiber Scraping Machine – The general objective of this research study, to be implemented by Capiz State University, is to develop an optimized mechanical pineapple fiber extractor in terms of the extraction capacity.
5. Utilization of Banana Peel, Canistel Fruit and Brown Rice in the Development of Composite Flour – To be implemented by ISAT-U, the project seeks to utilize banana peel, canistel fruit and brown rice in developing composite flour. This flour is targeted to be an ingredient in functional food.
DOST-PCIEERD Executive Director Enrico Paringit commended the project leaders in their zeal to uplift the R&D capabilities in these priority sectors in their respective regions in a pursuit to improve S&T research through their projects.
"These capacity building programs under the Human Resource Development Program (HRDP) continues to advance and strengthen Filipino R&D in keeping up with the times," Paringit said.
Under the HRDP, the IDP provides support for upgrading of research laboratories and facilities of academic and research institutions where there is an inadequacy of research expertise and/or facilities. It prioritizes new institutions in the regions which have limited capacities to conduct R&D.
As part of its support, it upgrades and/or sets up research laboratories, purchases laboratory equipment (including highly specialized software)/facilities and small research grants aimed at developing research capabilities.
On the other hand, the RRI is designed for new researchers and new institutions in doing R&D in the regions. Its goal is to develop research capabilities and increase the available researchers, scientists, and engineers in the PCIEERD priority sectors through regional consortia program.