Written by: Aryzza Aperocho, Kateleen Vicente, Justine Moises
Photos by: Gabriel Battung, Bea Galvez, Bea Caranto, Airon Valenzuela
With the theme “116nite: Energizing the Thomasian Engineering Excellence,” the UST Faculty of Engineering (FoE) commenced its 116th foundation week through the opening and torch lighting ceremonies held on February 13, 2023, at the UST Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati Auditorium and Roque Ruaño Drive, respectively.
Rev. Fr. Roberto L. Luanzon, Jr., O.P., SThD, DL, FoE’s Regent, presided over the welcome mass which served as the start of the opening ceremony.
Rev. Fr. Luanzon mentioned that he is thankful for the return of some face-to-face activities for the Engineering Week after three years, and he hopes that activities next year will take place in a full face-to-face mode.
“Each celebration of a faculty or college week always showcases what is present in a certain faculty or college and what it wishes to have. We are very thankful that our UST Faculty of Engineering remains to be excellent in all fields and we commit ourselves to [achieving] more. And, we know we have all of these and we can achieve them if we always work together as one Thomasian Engineering family,” Rev. Fr. Luanzon said.
After the eucharistic celebration, the keynote program took place with the Outstanding Thomasian Alumni Awardee, Engr. James Velasquez, as the guest speaker. In his speech, Engr. Velasquez discussed the four practical lessons he has learned over the years.
The first lesson encouraged students to know their strengths and what they enjoy doing early in their careers. Engr. Velasquez shared his inclination to managing things which led to his decision to take up a managerial position as an engineering graduate.
"Test to know what you are good at — be it in technical, entrepreneurial, or arts. It may in turn be an unrelated field," he said.
He then urged the students to take on challenges in his second lesson, "I never thought to be the president of a company, but I knew that taking on new challenges would make me a better person."
Furthermore, Engr. Velasquez mentioned that running the Center for Information Technology Exponents Inc. (CITE), a data center and systems integration company, made him realize the importance of gaining new skills, which led him to the third lesson: learning new skills to become better at what you want to do and enjoy doing.
For the fourth and last lesson, Engr. Velasquez says, "Having perseverance spells the difference between success and failure." He shared that without perseverance, they would not have survived the challenges they faced within his company.
Following this, Thomasian engineering students witnessed the ABLAZE: Torch Lighting Ceremony at the Roque Ruaño Drive. Six athletes representing the six pillars of the faculty acted as the torch bearers, passing the flame to each other which symbolizes sportsmanship, peace, hope, and discipline. The banner of each department was unveiled afterward.
“I feel very excited to know that the events are slowly transitioning back to normal because to be honest, I was not really engaged with online events as it only felt like I was watching online videos whereas onsite events really make us feel immersed and it is just more memorable,” Ryan Enriquez, a second-year Electronics Engineering student answered when asked about his feelings regarding the onsite opening of Engineering Week 2023.
When asked about what he is looking forward to this week, Nestor Casipit, a third-year Industrial Engineering student mentioned, “What I am looking forward to in the coming days are the Bingo Royale and Engineering Night. These are just some, yet the most anticipated events for me, even before since it is fun and of course, the prizes.”
In the afternoon, the research colloquium entitled “RADIATE: Research and Development, Innovation and Technologies in Engineering,” took place in a hybrid set-up — occurring in the Engineering Conference Hall while being streamed via Zoom meetings.
In this colloquium, six faculty members, Engr. Jean Margaret R. Mercado, Ph.D., Engr. Francis Darwin T. Eugenio, M.Sc, Engr. Yoshiki B. Kurata, Ph.D., Engr. Mariz A. Chua, Engr. Josyl Mariela R. Reyes, M.Sc, and Engr. Ma. Francesca D. De Guzman, M.Sc, presented their respective research.
