Cheers and applause filled the Limketkai Atrium as the winners of the Department of Science and Technology’s Regional Invention Contest and Exhibit (RICE) were announced recently. The winning inventions have been crowd-favorites throughout the three-day RICE showcase, which ran concurrently with the Regional Science and Technology Week celebration.

Clinching the top award in the Outstanding Utility Model category was the Dry Grain Picking Apparatus by Consorcio S. Namoco, Jr., Juvy T. Cloma, Gerby C. Rabago, and Reginal A. Surbano of the University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines (USTP). The inventors received a prize of Php 30,000 for their brainchild.

Meanwhile, in the Likha or Creative Research category, the Low-Cost Wireless Remote Power Monitoring Device for Transformer Load Management claimed the top spot with a Php 25,000-bounty. Karl Martin A. Aldueso, Marven E. Jabian, and Kister Genesis M. Jimenez, all from the Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT), were the brains behind the said device.

In the Sibol Student Creative Research category for College, the top slot went to the Air Quality Monitoring and Filtering Device by Christian Grant O. Bunane, Mike Francis N. Caiña, and Genard E. Delfin, with adviser Engr. Wencel Jean Carranza, also of the USTP. The invention won the college team Php 25,000.

Likewise, Php 25,000 went to the winning Sibol Student Creative Research for High School, the XYVO: All-natural Sore Throat Lozenges from Allium schoenoprasum (Sibujing) Stalk Extract by Verneece Charity F. Amlon, Kiarah S. Garma, Uriah Maxine D. Lumbo, and Angela Rayne J. Torres, with adviser Honey Ritzel G. Barillo of the Iligan City East National High School.

These winning innovations will represent Region 10 in next year’s National Invention Contest and Exhibit.

“We have a record-breaking number of participating inventions this year,” proclaimed DOST-X Regional Director Alfonso P. Alamban at the awarding ceremony. A total of 99 innovative entries from local inventors were pre-selected from numerous submissions, vying for top prizes in four different categories. This was the highest number of entries in the history of RICE in Region X.

In her keynote message during the opening program, DOST Undersecretary for Regional Operations Brenda Nazareth-Manzano emphasized the recognition and utilization of local inventions.

“The outputs of our innovators merit our recognition,” Manzano said, “but more than that, these scientific outputs should be utilized by us, the greater public, to help answer our needs wherever suitable.”

She especially addressed the student-participants, describing the budding scientists as “key to the development not just of our country as a whole but of each individual Filipino.”

DOST-X has also assisted a record-breaking number of these inventions in applying for Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) support from the Technology Application and Promotion Institute (TAPI). Some 34 inventions from this year’s contest have already been applied for IPR, plus five more in process, for a total of 39 – the highest in the country.

Before the announcement of RICE winners, all the competing inventions were publicly displayed at the exhibit from September 19 to 21. Visitors of all ages flocked to the booths of these RICE entries, where the inventors demonstrated how their creations worked.

Aside from the RICE entries, other displays during the NSTW celebration included successful technologies and enterprises assisted by DOST-X, as well as DOST-X programs and services.

The RICE and NSTW culminated with DOST Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña congratulating DOST-X and TAPI, which both spearheaded the invention contest. (By Hyacinth J. Tagupa and Benjoe Rey B. Visayas,
DOST-X)

Photos:


The enthusiastic audience at the RICE Region 10 awarding ceremony


The winning team from Iligan City East National High School receives their Sibol Award from DOST-X Regional Director Alfonso P. Alamban and TAPI Director Edgar I. Garcia.


College students from the University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines emerge victorious in the Sibol college category.


The team from Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology receives the Likha category first prize.


The top prize for the Outstanding Utility Model goes to the team from the University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines.


The DOST-X family pose with DOST Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña, DOST Undersecretary for Scientific and Technological Services Carol M. Yorobe, and TAPI Director Edgar I. Garcia.