De La Salle and Ateneo: Not just vying for excellence on the court

By DENNIS POSADAS/BusinessWorld Many of us think that college basketball rivals De La Salle and Ateneo have cemented their popularity on the hardcourt. Very few of us know that both schools are nurturing their science and technology research capabilities. Here are some vignettes of research excellence and related activities from these two schools. De La Salle Microsoft R&D Center I attended a seminar on intellectual property and commercialization at the De La Salle University last week with Singaporean lawyer Zaid Hamzah as the lead speaker. DLSU now has Microsoft sponsored R&D Center in the campus, the first in the country. The research area of specialization planned by the DLSU Microsoft R&D Center will be in mobile-related software technologies. The DLSU Microsoft R&D Center will be headed by Merlin Cruz, one of the professors in the DLSU College of Computer Studies. Caslon Chua, PhD, the Dean of the DLSU College of Computer Studies, said in the seminar that, "people still associate the cost of a product with the media (e.g. CD, DVD, tape, etc.) that holds the information, and not the [worth of] content that comes with it." He was obviously referring to the fact that people do not often want to pay for the hard work that went into developing the content, but just want to copy it for free, if possible. If we are to change as a country, and create wealth out of innovation, I guess the first thing we should work on (aside from doing more R&D) is to change the paradigm that we don’t have to pay for the effort that goes into creating new intellectual property. Michelle Cacho of Microsoft said that the Microsoft Innovation Center in DLSU was launched last July. MIC is a global initiative of Microsoft, and "DLSU Microsoft Innovation Center is our [Microsoft’s] first in the Philippines." She added that, "we are also interested in seeing some of the technologies of the MIC commercialized." Zaid Hamzah, the Singaporean lawyer/speaker, who was also a former Microsoft employee, said that, "innovation and invention is different [or not necessarily the same]." He said that to invent, "you need to be a techie." But he said that to innovate, "you don’t necessarily have to be a technologist." He cited some examples such as the US patent granted to Amazon.com on its "one-click" purchasing system, and also showed a Harvard patented species of mice for research purposes called the "onco-mouse" — "onco," as in oncological (anti-cancer) research. I will tackle some of Zaid Hamzah’s ideas in a separate article. Ateneo de Manila University Interlinks III The Ateneo de Manila holds an annual Undergraduate Research Thesis presentation of the students, which gives us a pre-publication look at their research projects. Students from Chemistry/ Material Science, Physics, Computer Science, and Electronics and Communications Engineering present their research results in their respective fields of interest. The projects are faculty-directed research that the undergraduates perform. The topics focus on interdisciplinary, innovative ideas. For example, attendees of these presentations can hear discussions on Ateneo research in the following topics: - dye sensitized solar cells - fabrication and tests; - active bandage systems for monitoring physical therapy; - medical databases deployment for the monitoring of multiple drug resistant TB patients; - low cost optical filters made from cellophane tape; - real time rain monitoring of tropical rain; - embedded processors for secure communications; - steganographic communications over cellphones.; radio frequency identification (RFID) logistics solutions for Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) bus monitoring; Approximately 50 Ateneo research teams will present their results this year. Attendees can see state-of-the-art technology research, of which several are being patented by the Ateneo staff and students. Some of the corporate donors for research at the Ateneo School of Engineering and Sciences, such as Smart Communications, Inc., Philippine Long Distance and Telephone Company, Department of Health, Japan Radio Corp., and others also attend these presentations. I will announce in a future column, when these presentations will be held. In future issues, I would also like to feature what schools like Mapua Institute of Technology, University of Santo Tomas, and other schools are doing in research and development. Watch out for updates in these areas. 2007 Scientist of the Year Dr. Baldomero M. Olivera, the Distinguished Professor of Biology at the University of Utah, has been selected as the 2007 Scientist of the Year by the Harvard Foundation of Harvard University and was honored for his Outstanding Achievements and Contributions to American Science. Dr. Olivera was awarded at a special luncheon and awarding ceremony last Friday, March 16 at the annual Harvard Foundation Science Conference. He was presented the 2007 Scientist of the Year award and the Harvard Foundation medal in science by the Dean of Harvard College and the President of Harvard University. The award is "to recognize his notable achievements in and contributions to the field of biology." "We feel your notable contributions to molecular biology and your groundbreaking work with conotoxins deserve special recognition," said Harvard Foundation Director S. Allen Counter. Each year, the Harvard Foundation and members of the science community present this special award to an internationally acclaimed scientist for his or her contributions and achievements in the biological and physical sciences, and particularly their efforts to advance minorities and women in the sciences. The 2006 awardee was Dr. P. Uri Treisman, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Texas at Austin, who is widely recognized for his efforts to improve science and mathematics education, particularly for minorities and women, through such programs as Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID). The 2005 awardee was Professor Lily Jan of the University of California, San Francisco, an outstanding biophysicist and leader in science, and an important role model for students and scholars of all backgrounds. Dr. Olivera has distinguished himself as one of the world’s leaders in marine drug discovery and also in neuropharmacology. His work in the last thirty years, supported by the US National Institute of General Medicine Sciences, on peptides produced by venomous Conus snails has led to the elucidation of key molecular mechanisms that underlie nervous system function. Dr. Olivera graduated valedictorian of the UP Class of 1960 with a BS degree in chemistry, summa cum laude. He received a Fullbright scholarship in 1961 and obtained a PhD in chemistry at the California Institute of Technology with Dr. Norman Davidson. He did postdoctoral work at the Stanford University School of Medicine with Dr. Robert Lehman. Dr. Olivera has received numerous honors and awards for his work. In 2004, he was chosen the Most Distinguished Alumnus of the California Institute of Technology. In 2006, he was named Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor and was elected member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, USA.-Report from BusinessWorld