MSU-IIT Chancellor Dr. Sukarno D. Tanggol and the Vice Chancellor for Research & Extension Dr. Jinky B. Bornales led the turnover ceremony of the Premier Research Institute of Science and Mathematics (PRISM) and the Launching of its core program for 2017-2027, the Discovery, Development and Delivery of Natural Products (D3NP) at the Conference Hall, second floor of the PRISM building on March 29, 2017. The PRISM was established as a research center of the College of Science & Mathematics (CSM) on December 18, 2015 envisioned “to generate principles, protocol and products that provide dynamic and innovative solutions to society and the environment.” Part of its mandate as published in its brochure are to foster, facilitate, and strengthen interdisciplinary collaborations among researchers of various fields of Science, Mathematics and allied fields; initiate further linkages and partnerships with local, national, and international companies, generate patents of generated technologies for commercial purposes developed from its research programs; and, to provide support to the general community. In November this year, the PRISM Council was created and the building was inaugurated the following month. There are eight research groups to share the offices and facilities of PRISM. These are the Nanoscience Group; the Natural Product and Drug Development Program; the Complex Systems Group; the Renewable Energy Group; the Climate Change Research Group; the Biodiversity Group; the Applied Mathematics and Statistics Group; and the Theoretical Science Group. Dr. Ferdinand P. Jamil, former CSM Dean is now the PRISM’s first Acting Director.
by Rex Godinez Ortega and Michelle Jeanne C. Caracut
In what can only be described as a big step towards MSU-IIT’s goal of becoming a research university, the Institute inaugurates last Friday (December 2) its Premier Research Institute of Science and Mathematics (PRISM) building.
The new building, which according to its director, Dr. Ferdinand Jamil, costs around P200 million to build, will house IIT’s state-of-the-art research laboratories and equipment, and is looked upon to provide inspiring new spaces for Institute faculty researchers to work in.
The construction of the PRISM building was made possible from funding from the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) and other sources, Jamil explained.
Institute Chancellor Sukarno D. Tangol is credited for being very instrumental in finding funding for the building.
The inauguration of the PRISM building was conducted amid simple ceremonies that was attended by Dr. Zenaida G. Gersana, Director IV of the CHEd Region X office; Dr. Mary Joyce Guinto-Sali, Secretary to the University and the MSU Board of Regents, representing MSU System President Habib Macaayong; Atty. Orlando Maglinao representing Iligan District Congressman Freddie Siao; Atty. Dexter Rey Sumaoy, City Administrator, representing Mayor Celso Regencia; and city councilors Samuel Huertas and Ryan Ong.
Other guests included visiting professors Dr. Ludwig Streit of Germany’s University of Bielefeld; Dr. Wathuge Thamara Priyantie Sandun Kumari Senarath of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura in Sri Lanka; and Dr. Christopher C, Bernido and Dr. Ma. Victoria Carpio-Bernido of the Research Center for Theoretical Physics of Jagna Bohol.
Dr. Gersana praised MSU-IIT for constructing the PRISM building, and said that she was “very impressed with the Institute’s College of Science and Mathematics, which has already made all its four departments Centers of Excellence in biology, chemistry, mathematics, and physics”.
Gersana said that the building’s construction will allow MSU-IIT to support a research climate that would encourage “collaborations among research groups as it houses state-of-the-art equipment and research facilities”.
“[It would] create a conducive academic and research environment involving the university faculty, the community, and PRISM members,” she added.
Chancellor Tanggol, listening to the speeches of how MSU-IIT was standing at the threshold of the future with the inauguration of the PRISM building, provided the cautionary words, saying that IIT should take care to remember that “research should be for development, and that the D in R&D should represent development of humanity rather than for its destruction”.
The PRISM is divided into nine sections or programs, each headed by leading faculty members in their fields.
These sections/programs are – Biodiversity (Dr. Olga M. Nuneza), Biotechnology (Dr. Franco G. Teves), Natural Products and Drug Development (Dr. Mylene M. Uy), Nanoscience (Dr. Reynaldo M. Vequizo), Applied Mathematics and Statistics (Dr. Daisy Lou L. Polestico), Theoretical Science (Dr. Sergio R. Canoy, Jr.), Climate Change (Dr. Cesar G. Demayo), and Complex Systems (Dr. Mark Nolan P. Confessor).
The different program leaders make up the PRISM Council, who are tasked to work with the PRISM Director Jamil.
The PRISM building inauguration ceremonies included a blessing, ribbon-cutting, unveiling of the building nameplate, and laying of the time capsule that will be unearthed in 50 years.
Retired College of Engineering and Technology faculty member, Engr. Geronides P. Angcog who chairs the Technical Working Group for the PRISM building construction, presented the building’s environmentally-responsible and resource-efficient features to the guests and Institute officials.
It was also announced during the inauguration that the PRISM will be a cost center under the direct supervision of the Office of the Chancellor, and which will be managed by the PRISM Council and the PRISM Director.
Former Dean of the College of Science and Mathematics (CSM) Dr. Ferdinand P. Jamil is now the new acting director of MSU-IIT’s Premier Research Institute of Sciences and Mathematics (PRISM).
According to Special Order No. 1778-IIT issued today, Jamil’s designation as PRISM acting director covers the period September 1, 2016 to December 31, 2016.
The PRISM, which is already in the final phase of its construction, is the MSU-IIT building that will house all of the research laboratories of CSM and the College of Engineering and Technology (COE&T), as well as other state-of-the-art research equipment and facilities of the Institute.
According to the current CSM Dean, Dr. Mark Nolan Confessor, part of Jamil’s duties as PRISM acting director is to supervise the transfer of the various laboratories and equipment for research from the CSM and the COE&T.
Confessor said that Jamil, who sits in the Technical Coordinating Panel overseeing the construction of the building, was instrumental in initiating “the many meetings that led to the BOR approval of the PRISM mandate (vision, mission, and structure).”
“As acting director, Jamil will focus on the attainment of the PRISM implementing rules and regulations,” Confessor said.
Jamil is a faculty member of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. -RGO
Prof. Sasha Anne Valdez, CSM Assistant Dean, with Mark Jezreel Orbe
“I was inspired by corporate branding and then I realized, with my years of stay in IIT, there is a need for growth in design and I wanted to give a professional image to IIT, and suddenly just hours before the deadline, lines came to my mind and I traced the logo,” so said BS Information Systems alumnus of MSU-IIT, Mark Jezreel T. Orbe, who won in the Premier Research Institute of Science and Mathematics (PRISM) Logo Contest.
The event was sponsored by the College of Science and Mathematics (CSM). Orbe’s winning entry will be the official logo of the research institute and will be placed at the facade of the PRISM building.
Orbe explained that the logo “symbolizes how the diverse fields of science and mathematics can both be complex and beautiful at the same time as represented by the spiral structure, but when viewed from a different perspective it can also be simple as portrayed in the minimalist logo.”
“Influenced by the parameters of the Institute, PRISM bears the image of the MSU-IIT’s Seal of Excellence (a triangle), the tilted triangle represents the passion to explore and discover, the spiral structure has two ends: the tail represents the will to look beyond the status quo, and the core represents where all studies lead to—knowledge, which forms PRISM’s identity. The triangle forms a ‘P’ figure for PRISM.”
A total of forty-four (44) submitted logo entries: 13 students, 4 faculty members, 3 staff members, and 4 alumni and these were reviewed by the PRISM Committee and the top 5 entries were then reviewed by the Innovation and Technology Support Office (ITSO) for possible copyright infringement.
Consolation prizes were awarded to four other winners, namely: Prof. Louie T. Murcia, faculty member of the Physics Department, first runner-up; William Dale B. Santander, fourth year BS Information Technology, second runner-up; Pablo Bruno Manuel I. Celdran, IV, first year BS Accountancy, third runner-up; and, Dan Cristino S. Bajalan, fourth year BS Information Technology, fourth runner-up.
Orbe is currently working as the Institute photographer and staff of the Office of Publication and Information headed by Acting Director, Dr. Christine F. Godinez-Ortega.
With the need for adequate space to house state-of-the-art equipment and research facilities, along with the need to create a conducive academic and research environment, the PRISM was conceived and is designed to house all the research laboratories of CSM. This is a move which strongly encourages collaboration between research groups to produce quality researches beneficial to both the institute and the community. PRISM members are Institute faculty members who are actively doing quality researches in Science and/or Mathematics.
