In fostering the linkage between MSU-IIT and Khon Kaen University (KKU) of Thailand, three professors of the Faculty of Education (FOE) of KKU visited the Institute on August 15-18, 2015 for a Focused Group Discussion (FGD) with the Executive Committee of the College of Education (CED).
The representatives from KKU’s FOE wanted to operationalize what both institutions have agreed on in the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), according to Acting CED Dean Dr. Manuel B. Barquilla.
Khon Kaen University is hailed as one of nine National Research Universities of Thailand. The three professors from KKU’s FOE who came to MSU-IIT were Dr. Nuchwana Luanganggoon, Ms. Phatchara Phantharakphong, and Dr. Jiradawan Huntula.
Among the terms of the MOU include the exchange of faculty members and students, undergraduate and graduate, which is set to happen by February 2016 wherein KKU FOE sends ten of its students and two faculty members who will be immersed in classroom engagements and in practice teaching.
However, policy concerns regarding the accommodation of international students were also raised during the FGD.
KKU is also offering scholarships in graduate and postgraduate programs for CED’s faculty members who are applying for a Ph.D. degree.
The MOU also includes the conduct of collaborative researches and academic conferences; plans in which KKU would like to reinforce. In terms of research collaborations, it has been agreed in the Focus Group Discussion that FOE and CED will match and combine its research outputs.
As for academic conferences, CED has already co-hosted the 7th International Conference on Education Research (ICER) with Khon Kaen University in 2014 where Chancellor Sukarno D. Tanggol was one of the keynote speakers.
CED students and faculty members have been presenting papers at the KKU even before the MOU was signed between KKU and IIT in September 2013.
Barquilla hopes that this partnership with KKU, a renowned research university could help the College of Education in its programs through benchmarking of curriculums, strengthening faculty profile, and engaging with Thai students to eventually realize IIT’s aspiration towards becoming a research university.
ASEAN University Network/ Southeast Asia Engineering Education Development (AUN/SEED ) conducted its Intensive Training Program on Promotion for University–Industry (UI) Linkage on November 5-15, 2013 in Nagoya and Toyohashi, Japan. (see related story on AUN/SEED-Net)
Engr. Eulalio C. Creencia of the Chemical Technology Department of MSU-IIT, along with 9 other delegates from the four ASEAN countries, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand, attended this intensive training to join the promotion of UI linkages among working institutions and universities within the ASEAN network.
Creencia, having been the active representative of MSU-IIT since its AUN/SEED-Net membership, said this experience was more goal specific than ‘impressionistic’.
According to him, he and other participants were made to submit a written analytical output for every exposure trip and seminar attended. This was to train them to do the same for the future caravan conferences they will be doing in their respective countries.
In line with this training requirement, last November 27, 2013, Creencia and Prof. Edgar Allan Donasco, Dean of the MSU-IIT, College of Engineering (COE), conducted a seminar on UI Linkages held at the COE for both the faculty and staff of the college.
The purpose was to inform the constituents about the partnership with AUN/SEED-Net as well as to promote research ideas that would be relevant not only to IIT but to the wider context of East Asia. The output from the seminar was immediately sent to the members of AUN/SEED-Net as partial completion of the training.
Now that AUN/SEED-Net is at its third Phase, its primary objective is to operate academic and sustainable development linkages among its member institutions. Moreover, Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA), the AUN/SEED-Net host will soon gradually withdraw its financing so that the ASEAN Network would be able to operate to its full potential, while being responsible not only with academic research collaborations but also including the financial strategizing needed to support each other.
The idea of setting this UI linkage is the primary goal of JICA to create bridges between ASEAN universities including that of Japan in order to promote sustainable development across East Asia. This project focuses its objective and goals on academic researches, conferences and trainings for both student and faculty so that every member institute will be globally inclined to promote science and technology.
In one exposure trip, according to Creencia, “It was truly a holistic training. It was very challenging yet fun at the same time”.
He and his co-participants witnessed a university dealing with tomato production using space age technology. The goal of this research was to produce 50 tons of tomatoes in a 1000 sq. meter space. In this tomato research, they were made to assess and give feedback in terms of the plantation’s produce parallel to the demand in the market. In other words, the research promotes not only engineering and technology but including marketability.
The responsibility weighs heavily on member institutes constituted by UP Diliman, De La Salle University and MSU-IIT as university links from the Philippines. The three universities met on Dec. 4 this year to set up country-wide plans to help promote and sponsor University Industry Linkages seminar/ workshops for 2015.
MSU-IIT looks forward to expanding industrial linkages with the AUN/SEED-Net for academic research and education.
Engineer Eulalio C. Creencia (standing 6th from left) with participants during an Intensive Training Program on Promotion for University-Industry Linkage on November 5-15, 2013 in Nagoya and Toyohashi, Japan. (contributed photo)
An expert in translating researches into commercially viable technologies visited MSU-IIT on October 22, 2013 to speak to Institute researchers, faculty members, and students.
Dr. Surya Raghu, the Founding President of Advanced Fluidics, LLC in Maryland, USA, spent his busy working-visit at the Institute not only meeting with researchers but delivering two lectures—one in the morning and another in the afternoon.
Raghu talked about “Blending Science and Engineering to Meet Societal Needs” to science and engineering students and faculty members in the morning where he emphasized on the collaborative work between scientists and engineers.
He focused on societal needs since he said “the needs of society are the drivers of research and development.”
Raghu then lectured on “Universities as Part of the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem” in the afternoon where he stressed the importance of securing patents for inventions.
According to Raghu, intellectual property protection is the active catalyst for the transformation of local economies since the invention can now be put in the market without fear of being copied.
The afternoon lecture was given to the technical staff of the Innovation and Technology Support Office (ITSO ), faculty members of the College of Business Administration and Accountancy ( CBAA) and faculty researchers.
Raghu has a doctoral degree in mechanical engineering from Yale University, and is an expert in meso/micro/nanofluidic devices and associated instrumentations.
He has 12 issued patents on his researches with four of these having been commercialized. One broadly commercialized invention of Raghu’s is the car windshield washer nozzle that is presently used in high-end cars manufactured by Mercedes Benz, GM and Saab among others.
Raghu’s extensive experience in exploiting research and translating it into commercially viable technologies has made him a sought-after speaker and consultant in developing countries.
Specifically, Raghu is asked to speak on the development of an entrepreneurial ecosystem, technology transfers at universities, creation of technology roadmaps, and how to bring inventions to market.
The visit of Raghu, made possible by the efforts of Vice Chancellor for Research & Extension Jinky Bornales bodes well for the Institute which is set to build an entrepreneurial ecosystem of its own in preparation for the establishment of a Technology Business Incubation Facility on campus.
Universities or Higher Education Institutions ( HEIs) are considered catalysts of economic development by bringing to market the innovations and inventions done in universities.
According to Raghu, the highest potential for generating ideas is in the fresh, bright, and creative minds of a university. by M. Esperanza P. Cruz, OVCRE for the OC-OPI
