Written by: Marc Ivan Dilla and Aryzza Antonette Aperocho
Photos by: Laurence Arellano, Tori Lopez, and Alex Tacderas
The Chemical Engineering (ChE) Team was proclaimed as back-to-back champions of the 42nd General Information Quiz Contest (GIQC) held at the Physics Laboratory of the Fr. Roque Ruaño Building on February 16, 2023.
The GIQC, organized and hosted by the Thomasian Engineer (TE), is an annual quiz bee that tests participants’ knowledge of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) and the UST FoE history, Philippine history, current events, general knowledge, algebra, calculus, plane trigonometry, plane geometry, solid geometry, analytic geometry, chemistry, and physics.
Engr. Ma. Madecheen S. Pangaliman, MSc. commenced the event with her opening remarks, in which she emphasized that the contest serves as an opportunity to learn something new and expand their understanding of different topics.
“Through this competition, we hope to create a healthy and friendly environment that encourages learning and encourages the exchange of knowledge,” she remarked.
In both editions of the competition, the questions, which were a total of 48 for the student-level category and 24 for the faculty-level category, were spread evenly across three rounds with varying difficulties: the easy, average, and difficult rounds, which merited three (3), five (5), and nine (9) points, respectively, when answered correctly within the set time limit for the category—30 seconds for the easy round, 1 minute for the average round, and 3 minutes for the difficult round.
Reminiscent of the turn of events during last year’s GIQC, the ChE and Electronics Engineering (ECE) departments both topped the average round with 32 points, beating the Civil Engineering (CE) team by 5 points, Electrical Engineering (EE) team by 10 points, Mechanical Engineering (ME) team by 8 points, and Industrial Engineering (IE) team by 21 points.
The ChE team then edged out the competition towards the end of the contest during the difficult round by amassing a total of 45 points versus the EE team’s 36 points, the CE, ECE, and ME teams’ 27 points, and the IE team’s 18 points.
By the end of the student edition, the ChE team, composed of Joshua Ronard De Castro, Franc Lorenz Cacal, Darren Cerado, and Justin Robert Tolentino, garnered 77 points and were hailed as champions of the GIQC. The ECE team, comprising Sophia Gabrielle Suarez, Kiel Ethan Lanzanas, John Earl Patrick Sandoval, and Leighla Louisse Sto. Tomas came in second place with a total of 59 points. At the last spot on the podium was the EE team, composed of Justine Queenie Bacani, Aaron Emmanuel Panglima, Justine Kylie Zaguirre, and Ma. Cielo Galuno, placing only a point behind the ECE team.
Subsequently, the competition proceeded with the faculty edition, where the mechanics were the same, but the participants would be competing without available lifelines, unlike in the student edition.
The ECE team dominated the easy round by being the sole team to garner 18 points, while the team also remained at the top spot during the average round, scoring 20 points alongside the ChE team. The ChE team fought for the top spot during the difficult round where they earned 54 points—9 points in the lead of the ECE team during the said round.
Garnering 83 points after the difficult round, the ChE team and the ECE team had a clash of quick wits during the tiebreaker, in which the ECE team answered the question correctly first.
The faculty edition of the GIQC ended with the ECE team, comprising Engr. Harold Alexis A. Lao, Engr. Jehiel D. Santos, M.Phil, and Engr. Michael S. Matias, MEng, placed at the top spot with a total of 84 points. Following them were Asst. Prof. Noel S. Sabarillo, MSc, Asst. Prof. Basil James S. Santos, MS, and Engr. Divine Angela G. Sumalinog, Ph.D. of the ChE team, garnered a total of 83 point. Behind the ChE team was the CE team, composed of Engr. Paul Marion J. Demapelis, MSCE, Engr. Harf J. Miranda, MPE, and Instructor Stacey Henry Nuqui, who placed third with 46 points.
After the faculty-level category tie-breaker round, the top three winners from both the student- and faculty-level categories were recognized.
