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DOST urges students, teachers to pursue S&T career

MANILA -- The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) is intensifying its awareness campaign efforts among students and teachers, an executive told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) on Wednesday.

Luningning Domingo, Director IV, National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) said it was the directive of DOST Secretary Fortunato Dela Peña to make the public appreciate science, and also to bring benefits of science to them. "This is also why the DOST carries the tagline, 'Science for the People'," she said.

As a DOST-attached agency, NAST brings scientists to schools in the regions. The goal is to encourage students to pursue a career in science and technology.

Domingo said the DOST also sends speakers from the Science Education Institute (SEI) to different schools to talk about scholarships that they can avail of.

"Because oftentimes, students may be interested, but they do not know how they could pursue a career in science due to financial constraints, for instance," Domingo explained.

NAST also brings scientists to the regions to guide teachers how to prepare research proposals, especially for international publications.

"Normally, the teachers have case studies and they need to partner with universities to do the research. Our scientists are here to guide them how to prepare proposals," Domingo said.

Bringing the scientists to the regions is beneficial for both the students and teachers, as they would not need to spend for their fare to go to Manila, she noted.

Domingo cited the DOST's plans to develop the Philippine Science Heritage Center as a "world-class science center".

Domingo shared that NAST had also set two international meetings this year.

She said an international meeting is slated next month, and this would be attended by select medical practitioners.

The other meeting will be in October, and this will be organized by the UK Academy of Science. (PNA)

Onestore hub has 10.9 million hits

Onestore hub has 10.9 million hits

_{Rainier Allan Ronda (The Philippine Star) - April 19, 2018 - 12:00am}

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) said its online store that showcases products of local micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) recorded almost 11 million hits in 2017, or an 80 percent increase from the previous year’s 6.1 million hits.

Engineer Sancho Mabborang, DOST Region 2 director and onestore.ph program manager, said the huge increase in views of the DOST-developed e-commerce showed that Filipino MSME products are getting global exposure through the internet.

Data analytics done by the DOST onestore.ph project management office on the e-commerce platform showed that the views or hits reached 10,912,584 for the whole of 2017.

Mabborang noted there was again a large percentage of hits coming from abroad, with more than 5.8 million, while local views were at 5,068,375.

It will be recalled that the foreign hits on the website for 2016 were around 90 percent.

“This could mean that there is also a huge increase in the awareness of the onestore.ph online store among our fellow Filipinos as a result of our persistent efforts to promote the e-commerce portal,” Mabborang told The STAR.

Online transactions done on the onestore.ph website had reached P1.3 million in 2017, a significant increase from the previous year’s P1,015,900.

While the amount seemed small, Mabborang said that they believe this was because repeat transactions are done outside the portal once buyers and sellers conclude their first online transactions.

Onestore.ph has a total 10,902 products showcased and for sale on the portal.

Science Secretary Fortunato dela Peña said that the success of onestore.ph has been noticed by the Department of Trade Industry (DTI), which has forged a partnership with the DOST for the inclusion of their assisted MSMEs into the program.

“We want to help more MSMEs as possible. So we are happy that we have forged this partnership with the DTI,” Dela Peña said.

Read more at https://www.philstar.com/business/science-and-environment/2018/04/19/1807185/onestore-hub-has-109-million-hits#cPB3RckmrTqhFdoX.99

Outstanding R&D Award finalists bared

ByPTV NEWS - AB

MANILA — The National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) on Wednesday bared the finalists for the 2018 Department of Science and Technology (DOST) National Science and Technology Week (NSTW) Outstanding Research and Development (R&D) Award.

NAST Director Luningning Domingo told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) the judges had requested to hear the finalists’ presentation on Wednesday.

“They will be judged today, but the announcement of winners will be during the NSTW, which will be in July,” Domingo said.

She said the DOST awards outstanding researches (basic and applied) every year, and also recognizes outstanding science administrator and technology commercialization.

Nominations for the awards were open for institutions. Domingo said only the head of institutions were allowed to nominate.

Four researches were declared as finalists for the R&D awards.

For the Outstanding R&D Award for Basic Research, the finalists are “The Second Phase of the Philippines-Taiwan Integrated Geodynamics Project” by Carla Dimalanta of the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman; and “Extraction, Characterization, and Bio-Assay for Larvicidal of Some Philippine Medicinal Plants” by Rosalinda Torres of DOST-Industrial Technology Development Institute.

For the Applied Research, the finalists are “A Hybrid Fuzzy Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Approach for Mitigating Airport Congestion” by Miriam Bongo of the University of San Carlos; and “Development of Multifunctional Kapok Nanocomposite for Environmental Purification” by Mary Donabelle Balela of UP Diliman.

The winner for each category will receive PHP200,000 and a plaque during the awarding ceremony on July 11. (Ma. Cristina Arayata/PNA)