Download Synthesized sign language avatar gets BPI-DOST top

IT PROJECTS THAT RECEIVED NATIONAL AWARDS & RECOGNITION
Awardee
IT Project
Award/Recognition
Ahmed C. Abdullah Khayef
"Translating Words through
synthesized Sign Language
Avatar"
Grand Prize
BPI DOST Best Project of
the Year Award
Sarah Jane M. Calpo
iSketch: A web-enabled Facial
composite Illustration System
employing the feature-based
Approach
iSketch: A Web-enabled
Facial Composite Illustration
System employing the
feature-based Approach.
AndroPet
Won the first place in
theGame Category of
the National Android
Challenge Competition

Team Members: Angelo Joseph
Viado
Android Game Application
wherein users will receive a
virtual pet that they will
have to take care. The goal
of the game is to raise your
pet allowing it to battle
with other people's pets.
Date & Venue
Jan 28, 2011
BPI Makati
Sept 20, 2010
DLSU 1st Android
Challenge.
Category: Android
Features: Time-based,
Location-based Maps,
Augmented Reality, Social
Networking capabilities,
Animation
2012
Grand Prize
-Sarah Jane M. Calpo, BS in Information Technology
Saint Louis University, Baguio City
"iSketch: A web-enabled Facial composite Illustration System
1st Runner Up
employing the feature-based Approach"
-Chiliast B. Juan, BS Electrical Engineering
University of the Philippines in Los Baños (UPLB)
"Analysis on the Effect of Various Factors to the Voltage Drop of a
Single-wire Earth Return (SWER) Distribution System in Lipa Soil
Series"
2nd Runner Up
-Maxine Andrea T. Garcia, BS Life Sciences
Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU)
"Identification and Assessment of Bacterial Bioaerosols present in
Light Rail Transit (LRT) and Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Stations using
Terminal Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (T- RFLP) of
16S rRNA Gene"
2011 BPI-DOST SCIENCE AWARDS. (L-R) Mr. Florendo G. Maranan, Executive Director of BPI Foundation; BPI senior executive vice
president Gil A. Buenaventura;2nd runner-up Kimberly B. Lucero, BS Biology student of the University of San Carlos, grand prize winner
Ahmed Abdullah Khayef of Saint Louis University in Baguio City and first runner-up Jomuel Velandres of UP-Los Banos, DOST
Underscretary Fortunato Dela Pena and Dr. Letecia V. Catris, OIC of DOST-Science Education Institute
2011
Grand Prize
1st Runner Up
-Ahmed C. Abdullah Khayef, BS Information Technology
Saint Louis University, Baguio City
"Translating Words through synthesized Sign Language Avatar"
-Jomuel A. Velandres, BS Chemical Engineering of the University of
the Philippines in Los Baños
"Selective Recovery of High-purity Silver from a Local Gold smelting
Wastewater"
2nd Runner Up
-Kimberly B. Lucero, BS Biology
University of San Carlos
"Effects of Two Entomopathogenic Fungi, Beauveria bassiana And
Metarhizium anisopliae, On Diamondback Moth (Plutella xylostella)
Larvae under Varying Temperatures"
NEWS CLIPS OF THE AWARDS
(aggregated from various sources)
Pinoy 'Avatar' tops 2011 BPI-DOST Science Awards
A potentially groundbreaking study that could help the hearing impaired using a Filipino sign language avatar bagged
the much-coveted “Best Project of the Year” title in the 2011 BPI-DOST Science Awards held on Jan. 28, 2011 in
Makati City.
The winning project was developed by Ahmed C. Abdullah Khayef, a BS Information Technology student, from Saint
Louis University of Baguio City. Khayef received a P50,000 cash incentive, a trophy and a scholarship for a
masteral/doctorate degree from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
The winning project was chosen for its relevance and impact to knowledge advancement, its viability for commercial
production and marketability, the originality and uniqueness of the study, and its adherence to scientific soundness.
First runner-up was a project that explored the recovery of high-purity silver from the gold effluents in the MarilaoMeycauayan-Obando River in Bulacan, developed by Jomuel A. Velandres, BS Chemical Engineering of the
University of the Philippines in Los Baños. Kimberly B. Lucero, BS Biology student of the University of San Carlos in
Cebu, won second runner-up for a study on organic pest control. They each received P30,000 and P10,000 in cash
prizes, respectively, and a trophy.
A joint undertaking of the BPI Foundation, Inc. and the DOST, the “Best Project of the Year” Awards aims to
recognize and provide incentives to graduating students in selected colleges/universities who excel in specialized
fields of science, namely: mathematics, physics, chemistry, engineering, computer science and biology.
Exceptional science and engineering students from BPI Foundation’s ten partner-universities nationwide vie for the
“Best Project of the Year” Awards.
This year’s six finalists were chosen from BPI Foundation’s ten partner colleges and universities, namely: Ateneo de
Manila University, Ateneo de Davao, De La Salle University, Silliman University (Dumaguete City), Saint Louis
University (Baguio), University of the Philippines Los Baños, University of the Philippines Diliman, University of San
Carlos (Cebu), University of Sto. Tomas, and Xavier University (Cagayan de Oro).
This year’s panel of judges were composed of: Mr. Eduardo D. Jose, Jr., former Executive Director, BPI Foundation
(chairman of the panel); Dr. Alvin Culaba, Professor, De La Salle University; Dr. Aura C. Matias, Dean, College of
Engineering, UP Diliman; Mr. Voltaire Mistades, Assistant Professor of the Physics Department, Dela Salle
University, and 1993 BPI-DOST Science Awardee (DLSU); Dr. Christopher Monterola, Associate Professor National
Institute of Physics of UP-Diliman; and Dr. Maria Corazon De Ungria, Head, DNA Analysis Laboratory of UP Diliman.
PIA Press Release
Tuesday, February 01, 2011
Synthesized sign language avatar gets BPI-DOST top
prize
by Alfred Kristoffer Guiang
MANILA, Feb.1 (PIA) - The Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) with the Department of Science and
Technology (DOST) gave recognition to innovative college projects during the annual BPI-DOST Best Project
of the Year Awards held last January 28.
The team from Saint Louis University (SLU) in Baguio City won this year’s top prize for their high-tech signlanguage computer program.
The team’s winning project entitled Translating Words through Synthesized Sign Language Avatar is a
computer program that teaches sign-language.
The program is like an electronic dictionary that can be used by people who want to learn or teach sign
language.
While there are already existing computer programs similar to the sign-language avatar, the winning project
is different because it is generic, meaning it can accommodate different languages around the world. Other
existing technologies are language-specific.
The project allows users to define the animation itself. The users can pick choices from the program and the
sign can be animated. The program uses an avatar to teach a user the standard sign language and also to
create his own sign code for any word.
“You input the word, pick the sign elements, then save it. When the user types that same word, he can now
view that the avatar is already doing the sign language,” Ahmed Abdullah Khayef, the team’s project leader
said.
“Eventually, you can create your own sign language, like jejemon,” Khayef added.
The team that bested other teams from 10 universities received P50,000, and Khayef earned a DOST postgraduate scholarship.
This year’s top six projects came from SLU, University of Los Banos (UPLB), University of San Carlos (two
entries), Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU), and University of Santo Tomas (UST).
Organized in 1989 by the BPI Foundation, Inc., the BPI-DOST Best Project of the Year Awards is an annual
competition that aims to recognize and provide incentives to graduating students in selected colleges and
universities who excel in specialized fields of science, such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, engineering,
computer science and biology. (PIA-NCR/Alfred Kristoffer Guiang)
New software breaks barrier in silent world, wins top prize
Tarra Quismundo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
January 30, 2011
An award-winning student project has found a way to translate any spoken language—whether Filipino or “jejemon”—into
the sign language of the hearing-impaired.
Aiming to better connect the hearing-impaired to the world, a team of information technology students from Baguio City’s
Saint Louis University (SLU) have designed a computer program that employs animation to teach sign language.
A thesis project of a group of eight graduating IT students, the program won the top prize in the Science Awards this year
of the Bank of the Philippine Islands and the Department of Science and Technology, the oldest competition of its kind for
science and technology majors.
Project leader Ahmed Abdullah Khayef, 20, described the program as being basically a dictionary for people wishing to
learn or teach sign language.
Generic
“There are already existing technologies like that, but they are language-specific. My project is different because it is
generic, it can accommodate all languages across nations,” he told reporters.
“You can have your ‘jejemon’ sign language,” said Khayef, referring jokingly to the text language used by teens that defy
standard spelling and grammar.
“You input the word, pick the sign elements, then save it. When the user types that same word, he can now view that the
avatar is already doing the sign language,” he said.
The program uses an avatar to teach a user the standard sign language and also to create his own sign code for any word.
“Users themselves can pick choices [the gestures] to animate the sign. So, eventually, you can create your own sign
language, like for ‘jejemon,’” said Khayef.
The SLU team beat five other finalists from the Ateneo de Manila University, University of the Philippines Los Baños, the
University of Santo Tomas and University of San Carlos (with two entries). Projects submitted included those on materials
engineering, chemistry and microbiology, among them organic pest control and the recovery of high-purity silver from gold
wastewater.
The team received P50,000 and Khayef earned a DOST post-graduate scholarship.
“The winning project was chosen for its relevance and impact on knowledge advancement, its viability for commercial
production and marketability, the originality and uniqueness of the study, and its adherence to scientific soundness,” the
BPI Foundation said.
Khayef’s team started their research in the middle of last year, visiting schools for the hearing-impaired to learn more about
their language. And through such exposure, the team members learned how poorly equipped hearing teachers are to teach
what to them is a borrowed language.
Lack of teachers
The team found that there is such a lack of teachers of sign language that volunteers who study the language for no more
than a week are already allowed to teach, said Khayef.
“Education is for everyone. What would be their future if their teachers are like that? That’s why we wanted to animate
Filipino sign language,” he said.
The team then decided to expand the project to cover other languages. Khayef and his group went from concept to design
in November and is now refining the program for its eventual launch online.
Khayef said they intend to make the program available as open source software that users around the world can access
online for free.
“For people to be using it, that is already something. That’s our plan: to deploy it on the Internet and let signers use it,” he
said.
©2011 www.inquirer.net all rights reserved
Innovative projects win science awards
Manila Bulletin – Sat, Jan 29, 2011

MANILA, Philippines - An ''avatar'' for the hearing impaired, an effective way to recover high-purity
silver from wasterwater and a breakthrough organic pest control -- these are the groundbreaking
projects highlighted during the 2010 Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI)-Department of Science and
Technology (DoST) Science Awards on Friday.
Created by exceptional science and engineering students from top universities, the projects were
chosen for their relevance and impact to knowledge advancement, their viability for commercial
production and marketability, the originality and uniqueness of the studies, and their adherence to
scientific soundness.
Among the three, a potentially groundbreaking study that could help the hearing impaired using a
Filipino sign language avatar developed by Ahmed Abdullah Khayef, a BS Information Technology
student from Saint Louis University of Baguio City was chosen as the ''Best Project of the Year.''
Titled, ''Translating Words through Synthesized Sign Language Avatar,'' Khayef's project could cater
not only to people with hearing impairment but to others who would like to learn sign language. ''The
project is like an electronic dictionary and the user can input his or her specified language. This is
made generic to accommodate all languages,'' he explained.
Meanwhile, the project of BS Chemical Engineering of the University of the Philippines in Los Baños
Jomuel Velandres regarding the recovery of high-purity silver from the gold effluents in the MarilaoMeycauayan-Obando River in Bulacan bagged first place. For second place, the project of BS Biology
student of the University of San Carlos in Cebu Kimberly Lucero on discovering an organic pest
control was chosen.
Khayef received a P50,000 cash incentive, a trophy and a scholarship for a masteral/doctorate degree
from the DoST while Velandres and Lucero each received R30,000 and R10,000 in cash prizes and
trophies.
According to BPI Foundation Florendo Maranan, the search for the ''Best Project of the Year'' Awards
aims to recognize and provide incentives to graduating students in selected colleges/ universities who
excel in specialized fields of science. ''These include those who excel in mathematics, physics,
chemistry, engineering, computer science and biology,'' he explained.
Maranan said the participants were from BPI Foundation's 10 partner-universities nationwide
including Ateneo de Manila University, Ateneo de Davao, De La Salle University, Silliman University
(Dumaguete City), Saint Louis University (Baguio), University of the Philippines Los Baños,
University of the Philippines Diliman, University of San Carlos (Cebu), University of Santo Tomas,
and Xavier University (Cagayan de Oro).
''These schools can nominate up to three projects each year, of which six are chosen as finalists. Three
of the six finalists will be chosen as the winner, first and second runner ups,'' he added.
Other finalists include Leo Albert Sala, a BS in Chemistry with Materials Science and Engineering
student from Ateneo de Manila; Francis Tallo, a BS Applied Physics students from University of San
Carlos; and Kim Hazel Arafiles, a BS Microbiology student from UST.
This year's panel of judges was composed of Eduardo D. Jose, Jr., former Executive Director, BPI
Foundation (chairman of the panel); Dr. Alvin Culaba, Professor, De La Salle University; Dr. Aura C.
Matias, Dean, College of Engineering, UP Diliman; Voltaire Mistades, Assistant Professor of the
Physics Department, Dela Salle University, and 1993 BPI-DOST Science Awardee (DLSU); Dr.
Christopher Monterola, Associate Professor National Institute of Physics of UP-Diliman; and Dr.
Maria Corazon De Ungria, head, DNA Analysis Laboratory of UP Diliman.
By Nito Meneses
Light That Transforms
Friday, February 18, 2011
SCIENCE and technology are the undoubtedly engines of progress and are the essential components in nation building. Our
history points to the fact that the modern world has been shaped by the advances made by people in these fields.
Outstanding science students are, therefore, worthy of recognition because of their potential contributions to the academe and
industry. They serve as a motivation to their fellow students in the Cordillera region and nationwide to likewise forge to excel in
their studies and aim for academic excellence.
Started in 1989, the BPI-DOST Science Awards has become a perennial venue for giving recognition and incentives to
exceptional graduating students who excel in specialized fields of science such as mathematics, physics, engineering, chemistry,
biology, and computer science. Awardees are selected on the basis of their academic performance and must have been nominated
by their school.
This afternoon, three students of Saint Louis University namely Ahmed Abdullah Khayef (BS IT), Janelle Esconde (BS ECE)
and Humbeline Gaboy (BS Biology) will be awarded at the SLU-CCA Theater for their outstanding researches and inventions in
the 22nd BPI-DOST Science Awards ceremony.
SLU president Fr. Jessie Hechanova together with the senior staff of BPI and the BPI Foundation will be handing out the awards
to the students accompanied by their parents or guardians after they have briefly presented their studies.
Mr. Khayef will explain his research paper "Translating words through synthesized language avatar," Ms. Esconde about "Lowcost computer-based surveillance inspector for Baguio City bomb squad department," and finally Ms. Gaboy on the "Growth and
histological responses of two varieties of Brassica Oleracea (var. Capitata and var. Italica) as phytoremediants to lead and
cadmium."
Mr. Khayef also bagged the much-coveted and prestigious 'Project of the Year' award besting other finalists from the UP-Los
Baños, Ateneo de Manila University, University of San Carlos, and University of Santo Tomas.
SLU is the only university in northern Luzon and one among 10 universities nationwide accredited by BPI and DOST to
participate, through its Registrar's Office, as a coordinator. SLU now has a total of 39 science awardees since it started
participating in 1998.
Aside from SLU, the other partner-universities of the BPI-DOST Science Awards nationwide are ADMU, De La Salle
University, University of the Philippines (Diliman and Los Banos), UST, Silliman University, Ateneo de Davao University, USC
and Xavier University.
DOST believes that honoring the academic excellence and distinction of these outstanding students at the close of their college
days will encourage them to pursue a career path in these fields. Indeed, the honor roll of BPI-DOST Science Awards alumni
contains names that have since become leading lights in their respective fields and champions of their enterprises.
Past awardees have proceeded to secure their places in Philippine society as university professors, researchers, scientists and even
corporate executives both here and abroad.
Accomplished as they have become, they have never forgotten their values - knowing that they hold the key towards making
positive changes happen.
Cecilia Mercado <[email protected]>
Fwd: BPI-DOST Best Project of the Year Awards Top 6 Finalists
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Carmen Sia <[email protected]>
Tue, Jan 8, 2013 at 12:28 AM
To: "Fr. Jess Hechanova" <[email protected]>, Noel De Leon <[email protected]>, Ces Mercado
<[email protected]>, cnsdean <[email protected]>, bipgmte12 <[email protected]>,
cynthiaposadas <[email protected]>
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Subject: BPI-DOST Best Project of the Year Awards Top 6 Finalists
This email contains confidential information for the sole use of the intended recipient/s. If you are not the intended recipient,
please contact the sender, delete this email and maintain the confidentiality of what you may have read.
After a thorough review and a most tedious deliberation by the BPI Science Awards
Committee and the DOST recommended experts in various fields of science, we are
happy to announce that the following projects have been chosen as finalists for
the Best Project of the Year Awards 2013:
1.
"Towards Affordable Solar Cells: Fabrication of Photovoltaic Devices
Incorporating Doped Graphene from Graphite and Doped Carbon
from
Pyrolyzed Glycerol"
Napoleon Salvador B. Antonio, BS in Chemistry with Materials Science and
Engineering
Ateneo de Manila University
2.
"Design, Fabrication, and Testing of an Experimental Set-up for Direct
and Indirect Evaporative Cooling using Ceramic Absorbers"
Joseph P. Talampas, BS in Mechanical Engineering
De La Salle University
3.
"MapStruct: A Location-based Service Delivery System for
Establishments"
Karen Rose I. Dacanay, BS in Information Technology
Saint Louis University
"Improved Photocatalytic Reactor Design: Geometry and
Hydrodynamics"
4.
Angella Rainbow H. Lim
University of the Philippines - Diliman
5.
"Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms in the 3' UTR of the Pregnane X
Receptor Gene and Inter-Individual Variability in Drug Responses"
Jann Adriel C. Sy, BS in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology
University of the Philippines - Diliman
6.
"Development of an Immobilized Microbial Alginate Bead (IMAB)
Coupled with Zero-valent Iron Nanoparticles for the Reduction of
Hexavalent
Chromium"
Jose Paolo P. Aguilar, BS in Biology
University of Santo Tomas
The presentation of the top six research projects vying for the Best Project of the
Year Awards 2013 will be held on January 18, 2013, at 9A.M. at the Main Dining
Area, Club 1851, 20th floor, BPI Head Office,Ayala Avenue corner Paseo de Roxas,
Makati City.
Congratulations to the Top 6 Finalists of the BPI-DOST Science Awards 2013!
Cecilia Mercado <[email protected]>
To: Leah Riego <[email protected]>
[Quoted text hidden]
Sun, Feb 3, 2013 at 11:00 PM
Synthesized sign language avatar gets BPI-DOST top prize
FEBRUARY 4, 2011
tags: Bank of the Philippine Islands, BPI, BPI-DOST Best Project of the Year Awards, Department of
Science and Technology, DOST,Synthesized Sign Language Avatar
by mpost
MANILA—A high-tech sign-language computer program won the grand prize in the BPIDOST Best Project of the Year Awards on January 28.
The project Translating Words through Synthesized Sign Language Avatar was the entry of the
team from Saint Louis University (SLU) in Baguio City. The team that bested other teams from
10 universities and received P50,000.
The project leader, Abdullah Khayef, earned a DOST post-graduate scholarship.
The winning entry is a computer program that teaches sign-language. It uses an avatar to teach a
user the standard sign language and also to create his or her own sign code for any word.
“You input the word, pick the sign elements, then save it. When the user types that same word,
he can now view that the avatar is already doing the sign language,” Khayef said.
“Eventually, you can create your own sign language, like jejemon,” Khayef added.
Unlike other sign language computer programs, the sign-language avatar is generic, meaning it
can accommodate different languages around the world. Other existing technologies are
language-specific.
The project also allows users to define the animation itself. The users can pick different choices
available in the program and the sign can be animated.
This other winning entries were from teams from the University of Los Banos, University of San
Carlos (two entries), Ateneo de Manila University, and University of Santo Tomas.
Organized in 1989 by the Bank of the Philippine Islands Foundation, Inc., the BPI-DOST Best
Project of the Year Awards is an annual competition that aims to recognize and provide
incentives to graduating students in selected colleges and universities who excel in specialized
fields of science, such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, engineering, computer science and
biology.
It is co-sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology.
With iSketch, students help crime probers
By Charles E. Buban
Philippine Daily Inquirer
5:22 am | Monday, January 30th, 2012
3 214 52
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MANILA, Philippines—The next time you feel like committing
a crime, think about what this group of senior information technology students from Baguio City has just developed.
The iSketch, developed by a team from Saint Louis University (SLU), is a new type of facial composite-illustration
system that is much different and in all likelihood better than the Facefit technology that the Philippine National Police
is using to produce images of suspects for public identification.
The work was declared “Best Project of the Year” in the 2012 Bank of the Philippine Islands-Department of Science
and Technology (BPI-DOST) Science Awards, a yearly competition that recognizes and provides incentives to
graduating students in select colleges or universities who excel in mathematics, physics, chemistry, engineering,
computer science and biology.
“Unlike the very limited number of Facefits that are deployed in the Philippines, ours is web-based, meaning, any
police station in the country with good Internet connection may be able to access our iSketch,’’ said Sarah Jane
Calpo, 19, head of the team representing SLU.
Calpo said “the police in charge could now immediately begin using our facial composite-illustration system and come
up with a better image of the wanted suspect.”
P50,000 cash
Calpo received a cash incentive of P50,000, a scholarship from the DOST’s Science Education Institute for a
masteral or doctorate program and a trophy from the BPI Foundation.
“We haven’t talked yet about how we will divide the cash but perhaps a portion of it will go to the refinements that
should be done to iSketch before we offer it to the PNP, hopefully by April,” Calpo said at the awarding ceremony at
the 1851 Club’s executive lounge at the BPI head office in Makati City.
Among the features of the iSketch is its ability to add facial features that provide the witness more options as he or
she describes the suspect’s face.
“Basic photo-editing features will be integrated to iSketch in order to make the creation of facial composites less
complicated than the variation of Adobe Photoshop that Facefit employs,” Calpo said.
While the typical Facefit offers a database of more than 700 stored facial images, the iSketch will provide a much
larger collection.
The fact that these can be altered makes the system much more flexible for the police collating the composite image,
according to Calpo.
Electrical wiring
The entry of SLU’s team bested other projects, including the one presented by Chiliast Juan, an electrical engineering
student at the University of the Philippines-Los Baños.
Juan’s entry is a version of the single wire earth-return system, a relatively cheap cabling method that could provide
electricity to communities that are not or cannot be serviced by a local electricity provider.
With his entry awarded second place, Juan received P30,000 and a trophy.
Maxine Andrea Garcia, a life sciences student of Ateneo de Manila, placed third. Her entry is a research on difficultto-identify biological aerosols that were detected for the first time in the stations of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 1
and of the Metro Rail Transit (MRT 3).
These bioaerosols, which may contain fungi, bacteria, mycotoxins and viruses, may pose a significant health threat to
a number of commuters and, thus, must be further investigated.
Garcia received P10,000 and a trophy.
Prizes for finalists
Apart from the cash incentives that the three finalists got, Calpo, Juan, Garcia and the rest of the 30 finalists chosen
for this year’s BPI-DOST Science Awards each received a cash prize of P25,000 and a trophy.
The board of judges who also did the final screening of the six finalists included Dr. Windell Rivera, associate
professor and scientist of UP-Diliman’s Institute of Biology; engineer Alex Sy, president and CEO of semiconductor
components distributor Alexan Commercial; Bayana Benjamin Lara, supervising science research specialist of the
DOST’s Advanced Science and Technology Institute; Dr. Maribel Nonato, dean of University of Santo Tomas’ College
of Science; and Maria Corazon Guzman, VP-operating risk management unit of BPI.
“It is imperative that we continue with our effort in beefing up the Philippines’ pool of scientist and engineers who will
bankroll the much-needed research and development our country needs,” Director Filma Brawner of the Science
Education Institute said at the awarding ceremony.
Discovering treasures
Brawner said the annual award “is important considering that while the country ranks 85 in private companies
spending on research and development, and [got a] satisfactory [rating] on university-industry collaboration in
research and development, the Philippines continues to slide in the ranking in the availability of scientists and
engineers.”
She added that the BPI-DOST Best Project of the Year Awards was one of the ways to discover treasures among the
country’s top young researchers and to provide them the opportunity to shine and show the world the intellectual
prowess of young Filipinos.
Read more: http://technology.inquirer.net/7965/with-isketch-students-help-crime-probers#ixzz2ojsRwGIS
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Baguio City student wins 'Best Science Project of the Year'
Sunday, January 22, 2012 12:00 AM
Views : 119By:FRANCIS T. WAKEFIELD
MANILA, Philippines â€" A 19-year-old fourth year student from Saint Louie University in Baguio City was adjudged
this year’s grand prize winner in the recently-concluded 2012 Bank of the Philippines-Department of Science and
Technology (BPI-DoST) “Best Science Project of the Year― awards held at the BPI head office in Makati City.
Â
Sarah Jane M. Calpo, a fourth year BS in Information Technology student, was adjudged the “Best Project of the
Year― winner for her work iSketch: A Web-enabled Facial Composite Illustration System employing the featurebased Approach.
Â
She received a trophy of recognition from BPI Foundation, a cash incentive of P50, 000 and a Masteral/Doctorate
scholarship from the DoST subject to the existing rules and regulations of the DoST-Science Education Institute.
Â
Calpo said the groundbreaking study was meant to help improve the Philippine National Police’s capability in
solving crimes, provide a low-cost alternative to the computerized composite illustration system currently being used
by the PNP in police sketch of suspected criminals.
Â
The 1st runner-up Best Project of the Year award went to Chiallist B. Juan, a fourth year student from the University
of the Philippines (UP) Los Baños, for his work: Analysis on the Effect of Various Factors to the Voltage Drop of a
Single-wire Earth Return Distribution System in Lipa Soil Series.
Â
The 2nd runner-up Best Project of the Year award went to Maxine Andrea T. Garcia, a fourth year BS Life Sciences
student from Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) for her work: Identification and Assessment of Bacterial
Bioaerosols Present in Light Rail Transit and Metro Rail Transit Station using Terminal Restriction Fragment Length
Polymorphism of 16S rRNA Genre. Both the 1st place and 2nd place winners received P30,000 and P10,000 cash
prizes, respectively and trophies from the BPI Foundation.
Â
Other finalists include Marie Gene D. Cruz, a BS Life Sciences student at the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU)
for her work: Synergistic Overview of Rainfall in Matina Heights, Davao City in a Finite Window; Aibar Rabi Rashad F.
Bibi, a BS in Electronics & Communications Engineering student from the De La Salle University (DLSU) for his work:
Battery Management System (BMS) for Lithium-Ion Electric Vehicle Traction Batteries and Ferdinand Renfred A.
Zapata, a student from the University of San Carlos for his work: Effects of Chitosan Extracts from Shrimp head
wastes applied as fruit coating on bitter gourd Momordica charantia L. Sta. Rita Strain.
Â
The BPI-DoST Best Project of the Year Award, the country's longest running science competition, aims to recognize
and provide incentives to graduating students in selected colleges/universities who excel in specialized fields of
science, namely: Mathematics, physics, chemistry, engineering, computer science and biology.
Â
The awards, now on its 7th year, is a joint undertaking of the BPI Foundation, Inc., the corporate social responsibility
arm of the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), and the Department of Science and Technology (DoST).
Â
Participants include science and engineering students from each of BPI Foundation’s ten partner-universities
nationwide which vie for the ‘Best Project of the Year’ Awards. These colleges and universities nominate up to
three science and engineering projects each year, of which six are chosen as finalists. Three of the six finalist are
chosen as the winners, and the first and second runners-up.
Â
The 10 partner colleges and universities include Ateneo de Manila University, Ateneo de Davao, De La Salle
University, Silliman University ( Dumaguete City ), Saint Louie University ( Baguio ), University of the Philippines Los
Baños, University of the Philippines Diliman, University of San Carlos (Cebu), University of Santo Tomas (UST) and
Xavier University (Cagayan de Oro).
From detecting germs to fighting crime, young scientists shine in tilt
Saturday, January 28, 2012 12:00 AM
Views : 299By:DENNIS D. ESTOPACE
YOUNG scientists from the northern Philippines have made local crime-fighting less, er, sketchy.
Developed by group of students from Saint Louis University in Baguio City, the potentially groundbreaking• study called
iSketch, which allows police and crime investigators to compare hand drawn or computerized facial composite sketches to
an online database, was tagged Best Project of the Year• in the 2012 BPI-DOST Science Awards.
iSketch was one of the six science and engineering projects, which, while competing for cash prizes, scholarship and
prestige, reflected not only the best minds among young Filipinos but the harnessing of knowledge to better the lives of
ordinary people.
The project offers an alternative to Facefit, a feature-based computerized composite illustration system• currently being
used by the Philippine National Police, especially those in Benguet.
Nonetheless, Sarah Jane Calpo, the BS in Information Technology student who led the seven-member research project,
said they hope to see its application nationwide, supplementing the eight FaceFit units in the country that was donated by
the Australian government.
iSketch and FaceFit are two approaches in police composite sketches, one of the most crucial investigative tools in law
enforcement. There are two modern approaches inw the country: the feature-based, which is like a jigsaw puzzle where law
enforcement authorities pick existing facial features to form a suspect's profile; and, the recognition-based approach,
wherein witnesses make choices of facial features at random.
Calpo noted that FaceFit is expensive, with a P250,000 tag price. Updates are also exclusive to licensed users, which can
only work with 200 sets of images.
By using open source technology, we believe a Web-enabled iSketch would be sustainable and cost our government less,•
Calpo said.
Ditto for the project developed by Chiliast Juan of the University of the Philippines-Los Banos, which proposes the use of a
single wire in the distribution of electricity.
Juan said the Single-Wire Earth Return (SWER) electrical distribution system costs 20- to 35-percent less than the
conventional three-phase system being used in the country today.
SWER requires fewer poles or poles that are lighter, he said, noting that more than a third of electric poles in the Philippines
use the conventional system.
Juan added that the SWER also uses less insulators as contacts between adjacent conductors can't occur.
The technology is more applicable in sparsely populated regions where energy demand is low.
Juan said he experimented on the technology using a 500-meter SWER line inside the UPLB campus, the soil of which he
also sampled and used as one variable. Other variables he said he included were the distance of the single wire from the
generator as well as the depth of the soil.
If the government says it is expensive to bring power to 31 sitios that are still not electrified today, then maybe using SWER
in rural electrification projects can be an option, Juan said.
The second runner-up winner in the BPI Foundation Inc. and Department of Science and Technology (DOST)-sponsored
award, on the other hand, can lower the cost of public health by giving more information on the number of bacteria found in
Light Rail Transit (LRT) and Metro Rail Transit (MRT) systems.
Titled Identification and Assessment of Bacterial Bioaerosols Present in [LRT] and [MRT] Stations using Terminal Restriction
Fragment Length Polymorphism of 16S rRNA gene,the study discovered several disease-bearing germs in these public
spaces.
It was unusual for cyanobacteria to be present in both areas we sampled,• said Maxine Andrea Garcia, a BS Life Sciences
student of Ateneo de Manila who conducted the study touted as the first in evaluating the diversity of bacterial bioaerosols in
LRT and MRT stations.
Garcia said while still awaiting results of samples they sent to a gene analysis center in Hong Kong, she noted the impact on
public health as 16 of 62 bacterial bioaerosols she was able to identify as present in these stations are opportunistic.
This means the bacteria attacks only those with weak dispositions or are immuno-compromised, or have had surgery or
recently underwent radiation therapy.
She noted that it would be wise for these type of people to be advised of the presence of these bacteria so that they can
avoid certain hours of the day when traveling.
Garcia tested the air in these stations on three hour sets: early morning, noon and early evening.
Initial results also revealed that Garcia discovered two pathogens one of which is multiresistant and the other causes
diptheria.
Hence, by conducting more tests that may confirm Garcia's findings, the government, she noted, can avoid outbreaks that
may cause dents in public-health spending as well as loss in manhours.
Garcia won P10,000 in cash prize and a trophy while Juan, aside from a trophy, was awarded P30,000. Calpo received a
P50,000 cash, a trophy and a scholarship for a doctorate degree from the DOST.
The 2012 BPI-DOST Science Awards press statement said it aims to recognize and provide incentives to graduating
students in selected colleges/universities who excel in specialized fields of science, namely: mathematics, physics,
chemistry, engineering, computer science and biology.
The other finalists were: Synergistic Effect of Chemical and Ultraviolet Irradiation on the Biodegradation of Low Density
Polyethylene by Aspergillus oryzae by Marie Gene Cruz (BS Life Sciences, Ateneo de Manila University); Battery
Management System for Lithium-Ion Electric Vehicle Traction Batteries• by Aibar Rabi Rashad Bibi (BS in Electronics and
Communications Engineering, De La Salle University); and the Effects of Chitosan Extracts from Shrimp head wastes
applied as fruit coating on bitter gourd Momordica charantia L. Sta. Rita strain (Family Cucurbitaceae; Order cucurbitales)•
by Ferdinand Renfred Zapata (BS Biology, University of San Carlos).
Source:http://businessmirror.com.ph/home/science/22531-from-detecting-germs-to-fighting-crime-young-scientists-shine-in-tilt
JAN30
With iSketch, students help crime probers
Technology

Mapua gains 4th-place tie, Perpetual Help stuns Letran
MANILA, Philippines—The next time you
feel like committing a crime, think about what this group of senior
information technology students from Baguio City has just developed.
The iSketch, developed by a team from Saint Louis University (SLU), is a new
type of facial composite-illustration system that is much different and in all
likelihood better than the Facefit technology that the Philippine National
Police is using to produce images of suspects for public identification.
The work was declared “Best Project of the Year” in the 2012 Bank of the
Philippine Islands-Department of Science and Technology (BPI-DOST) Science
Awards, a yearly competition that recognizes and provides incentives to
graduating students in select colleges or universities who excel in
mathematics, physics, chemistry, engineering, computer science and
biology.
“Unlike the very limited number of Facefits that are deployed in the
Philippines, ours is web-based, meaning, any police station in the country
with good Internet connection may be able to access our iSketch,’’ said
Sarah Jane Calpo, 19, head of the team representing SLU.
Calpo said “the police in charge could now immediately begin using our
facial composite-illustration system and come up with a better image of the
wanted suspect.”
P50,000 cash
Calpo received a cash incentive of P50,000, a scholarship from the DOST’s
Science Education Institute for a masteral or doctorate program and a
trophy from the BPI Foundation.
“We haven’t talked yet about how we will divide the cash but perhaps a
portion of it will go to the refinements that should be done to iSketch
before we offer it to the PNP, hopefully by April,” Calpo said at the
awarding ceremony at the 1851 Club’s executive lounge at the BPI head
office in Makati City.
Among the features of the iSketch is its ability to add facial features that
provide the witness more options as he or she describes the suspect’s face.
“Basic photo-editing features will be integrated to iSketch in order to make
the creation of facial composites less complicated than the variation of
Adobe Photoshop that Facefit employs,” Calpo said.
While the typical Facefit offers a database of more than 700 stored facial
images, the iSketch will provide a much larger collection.
The fact that these can be altered makes the system much more flexible for
the police collating the composite image, according to Calpo.
Electrical wiring
The entry of SLU’s team bested other projects, including the one presented
by Chiliast Juan, an electrical engineering student at the University of the
Philippines-Los Baños.
Juan’s entry is a version of the single wire earth-return system, a relatively
cheap cabling method that could provide electricity to communities that are
not or cannot be serviced by a local electricity provider.
With his entry awarded second place, Juan received P30,000 and a trophy.
Maxine Andrea Garcia, a life sciences student of Ateneo de Manila, placed
third. Her entry is a research on difficult-to-identify biological aerosols that
were detected for the first time in the stations of the Light Rail Transit
(LRT) Line 1 and of the Metro Rail Transit (MRT 3).
These bioaerosols, which may contain fungi, bacteria, mycotoxins and
viruses, may pose a significant health threat to a number of commuters and,
thus, must be further investigated.
Garcia received P10,000 and a trophy.
Prizes for finalists
Apart from the cash incentives that the three finalists got, Calpo, Juan,
Garcia and the rest of the 30 finalists chosen for this year’s BPI-DOST
Science Awards each received a cash prize of P25,000 and a trophy.
The board of judges who also did the final screening of the six finalists
included Dr. Windell Rivera, associate professor and scientist of UPDiliman’s Institute of Biology; engineer Alex Sy, president and CEO of
semiconductor components distributor Alexan Commercial; Bayana
Benjamin Lara, supervising science research specialist of the DOST’s
Advanced Science and Technology Institute; Dr. Maribel Nonato, dean of
University of Santo Tomas’ College of Science; and Maria Corazon Guzman,
VP-operating risk management unit of BPI.
“It is imperative that we continue with our effort in beefing up the
Philippines’ pool of scientist and engineers who will bankroll the muchneeded research and development our country needs,” Director Filma
Brawner of the Science Education Institute said at the awarding ceremony.
Discovering treasures
Brawner said the annual award “is important considering that while the
country ranks 85 in private companies spending on research and
development, and [got a] satisfactory [rating] on university-industry
collaboration in research and development, the Philippines continues to
slide in the ranking in the availability of scientists and engineers.”
She added that the BPI-DOST Best Project of the Year Awards was one of the
ways to discover treasures among the country’s top young researchers and
to provide them the opportunity to shine and show the world the
intellectual prowess of young Filipinos.
Refer http://technology.inquirer.net/7965/with-isketch-students-helpcrime-probers/
Article taken from the Manila Bulletin, January 22 issue, Author: Francis Wakefield)
MANILA, Philippines - A 19-year-old fourth year student from Saint Louie University in Baguio City was adjudged
this year's grand prize winner in the recently concluded 2012 Bank of the Philippines-Department of Science and
Technology (BPI-DoST) "Best Science Project of the Year" awards held at the BPI head office in Makati City.
Article, taken from the Manila Bulletin, January 22 issue, Author: Francis Wakefield)
MANILA, Philippines - A 19-year-old fourth year student from Saint Louie University in Baguio City was adjudged this
year's grand prize winner in the recently concluded 2012 Bank of the Philippines-Department of Science and
Technology (BPI-DoST) "Best Science Project of the Year" awards held at the BPI head office in Makati City.
Sarah Jane M. Calpo, a fourth year BS in Information Technology student, was adjudged the “Best Project of the
Year” winner for her work iSketch: A Web-enabled Facial Composite Illustration System employing the feature-based
Approach.
She received a trophy of recognition from BPI Foundation, a cash incentive of P50, 000 and a Masteral/Doctorate
scholarship from the DoST subject to the existing rules and regulations of the DoST-Science Education Institute.
Calpo said the groundbreaking study was meant to help improve the Philippine National Police’s capability in solving
crimes, provide a low-cost alternative to the computerized composite illustration system currently being used by the
PNP in police sketch of suspected criminals.
The 1st runner-up Best Project of the Year award went to Chiallist B. Juan, a fourth year student from the University
of the Philippines (UP) Los Baños, for his work: Analysis on the Effect of Various Factors to the Voltage Drop of a
Single-wire Earth Return Distribution System in Lipa Soil Series.
The 2nd runner-up Best Project of the Year award went to Maxine Andrea T. Garcia, a fourth year BS Life Sciences
student from Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) for her work: Identification and Assessment of Bacterial
Bioaerosols Present in Light Rail Transit and Metro Rail Transit Station using Terminal Restriction Fragment Length
Polymorphism of 16S rRNA Genre. Both the 1st place and 2nd place winners received P30,000 and P10,000 cash
prizes, respectively and trophies from the BPI Foundation.
Other finalists include Marie Gene D. Cruz, a BS Life Sciences student at the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU)
for her work: Synergistic Overview of Rainfall in Matina Heights, Davao City in a Finite Window; Aibar Rabi Rashad F.
Bibi, a BS in Electronics & Communications Engineering student from the De La Salle University (DLSU) for his work:
Battery Management System (BMS) for Lithium-Ion Electric Vehicle Traction Batteries and Ferdinand Renfred A.
Zapata, a student from the University of San Carlos for his work: Effects of Chitosan Extracts from Shrimp head
wastes applied as fruit coating on bitter gourd Momordica charantia L. Sta. Rita Strain.
The BPI-DoST Best Project of the Year Award, the country's longest running science competition, aims to recognize
and provide incentives to graduating students in selected colleges/universities who excel in specialized fields of
science, namely: Mathematics, physics, chemistry, engineering, computer science and biology.
The awards, now on its 7th year, is a joint undertaking of the BPI Foundation, Inc., the corporate social responsibility
arm of the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), and the Department of Science and Technology (DoST).
Participants include science and engineering students from each of BPI Foundation’s ten partner-universities
nationwide which vie for the ‘Best Project of the Year’ Awards. These colleges and universities nominate up to three
science and engineering projects each year, of which six are chosen as finalists. Three of the six finalist are chosen
as the winners, and the first and second runners-up.
The 10 partner colleges and universities include Ateneo de Manila University, Ateneo de Davao, De La Salle
University, Silliman University ( Dumaguete City ), Saint Louie University ( Baguio ), University of the Philippines Los
Baños, University of the Philippines Diliman, University of San Carlos (Cebu), University of Santo Tomas (UST) and
Xavier University (Cagayan de Oro).