SLU launches technopreneurship course

August 5, 2019 Metro BLISTT

BAGUIO CITY – Saint Louis University (SLU) launched a technopreneurship course mandated to all engineering and architecture students that showcased the university’s TechHub, Fabrication Lab, and SIRIB center – artificial intelligence & robotics for environment studies in partnership with DOST, DTI, PhilDev and ISIP at Saint Louis University, Baguio City on Wednesday, July 31, 2019.

SLU has received a grant from the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) for the establishment of the SLU Incubator for Research, Innovation, and Business (SIRIB) that costed PhP31million, all for the three (3) centers, namely the SIRIB, FabLAb and the Technology Business Incubator coming from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and CHED.

The SIRIB center has been the core runner of the entrepreneurship 101 syllabus for the last 3 years and is going to be offered in 2020 at SLU.

The development of the technopreneurship syllabus has been in partnership with the other universities in CAR, Region 1 and Region 2. They are looking forward to have their first Technopreneurship 101 graduates by 2024.

“Yung framework po namin dito, we call it SIRIB ken SIGLAT, the thinking happens in part of the research coming from our student’s activity, the prototype is a tangible thing, product of their idea which can be tested to the community to whom they wish to bring their product as a solution to their problems na nakita nila,” SIRIB Center Brainchild Donna Tabangin said.

Among the prototypes exhibited by Engineering and Architecture students include the Dupli- Carving, a carve that can be duplicated with the use of the machine; another is the E-bee, a bee hive with a temperature control within which also serves as an incubator for the bee for them not to die; the modified wheel chair which helps the nurse to transfer the patient easily in bed because it is bendable and can be lifted according to the size of the bed; and a modular drone system with a sensor and a camera that can be replaced.

DTI-CAR regional director Myrna Pablo ensured all the prototypes of the students will have their own copyrights and trademark, and added that it is on the deal of the students and school how they want their product to be named.

“In 2016 binigyan kami ng designation sa CHED as one of the TechHubs in the Philippines along 4 other universities: UP; University of Batangas; University of San Carlos; and University of Science and Technology of Southern Mindanao. It all started with one of our faculty members in the person of Ms. Donna Tabangin given a scholarship in University of California Berkeley.

The scholarship was given by USA and PhilDev which was founded by Datu Bantao from Cagayan. Datu Bantao advocates technopreneurship as an alternative career path for engineers as well designers who are into innovation and putting their ideas to be executed towards commercialization so that is how it started,” SLU School of Engineering and Architecture Dean Cynthia Posadas said.