MANILA, Philippines -- An avatar for the hearing-impaired. An effective way to recover high-purity silver from waste water. A breakthrough organic pest control.
These are just some of the amazing things that young Filipinos have come up with during the 2011 Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI)-Department of Science and Technology (DoST) Science Awards. Students from different schools nationwide did not fail to amaze with their ground-breaking projects.
The search for the "Best Project of the Year" Awards aims to recognize and provide incentives to graduating students in selected colleges/universities who excel in specialized fields of science, such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, engineering, computer science and biology.
Created by exceptional science and engineering students from top universities, the projects were chosen for their relevance and impact on knowledge advancement, their viability for commercial production and marketability, the originality and uniqueness of the studies, and their adherence to scientific soundness.
Participants hailed from BPI Foundation's 10 partner-universities nationwide such as Ateneo de Manila University, Ateneo de Davao, De La Salle University, Silliman University (Dumaguete City), Saint Louis University (Baguio), University of the Philippines Los Baños, University of the Philippines Diliman, University of San Carlos (Cebu), University of Santo Tomas, and Xavier University (Cagayan de Oro).
Amazing young minds
The Best Project of the Year is the groundbreaking study to help the hearing-impaired with the use of a Filipino sign language avatar. This was developed by Ahmed Abdullah Khayef, a BS Information Technology student from Saint Louis University of Baguio City.
The project of UP Los Baños Chemical Engineering student Jomuel Velandres bagged first place. It concerns the recovery of high-purity silver from the gold effluents in the Marilao-Meycauayan-Obando River in Bulacan.
The project of Kimberly Lucero, BS Biology student from University of San Carlos in Cebu, on discovering an organic pest control was chosen second place.
Khayef received a P50,000 cash incentive, a trophy, and a scholarship for a masteral/doctorate degree from the DoST while Velandres and Lucero each received P30,000 and P10,000 in cash prizes and trophies.
Other finalists included Leo Albert Sala, a BS in Chemistry with Materials Science and Engineering student from Ateneo de Manila; Francis Tallo, a BS Applied Physics students from University of San Carlos; and Kim Hazel Arafiles, a BS Microbiology student from UST.
Paving the way for the hearing world
Top winner Khayef knew that the many barriers to communication arise due to impairment and malfunctions in speech organs. But there are many possible solutions, he explained, and sign language is one of them.
He thus came up with his project, titled "Translating Words through Synthesized Sign Language Avatar," which is like an electronic dictionary that allows the user to input their words and define the animation itself.
"The users can animate the signs so eventually, they can create their own language, even a 'jejemon' sign language," Khayef, 20, explained.
The project started out as a thesis proposal. "I don't know anybody who is deaf that's why I don't know anything about sign language," he said. "But, with my knowledge about certain gadgets being used by people with disabilities, I thought of exploring more about their means of communication."
To get more information on sign language, Khayef, along with his group, went to various learning institutions in Baguio that cater to the hearing impaired. There, they discovered that most of those who teach sign language in various centers only took up one-week sign language course.
The group thus decided to push through with the project in order to address the lack of competent sign language teachers.
Through this project, Khayef hopes that in the future, that there will be a generic technology for translating words to animated sign language, which can be used to animate all sign languages including Filipino sign language.
Liking science
For first runner-up Jomuel Velandres, the key to elevate the quality of science and technology in the country is to get more people - especially the young ones - interested in it.
"Ideas and innovation is the future of our country," the 20-year-old Velandres said. "Older people should inspire the younger ones. You need to show that what you are doing is making changes in the society."
Second placer Kim Lucero added that it's good to make young people realize how they can use technology for the betterment of society. "They should realize how technology can change people's lives and how much technology can impact society everyday."
The top three winners added that more support from the government and other organizations can boost the interest of young people in S & T.
Khayef also said that investing in S &T will also lessen the country's brain drain. "If there are more opportunities here, there won't be a need for our professionals especially in the fields of science, to leave the country for greener pasture," he stated.
Believing in opportunities here, the three plan to stay in the country. "If we leave, that's for the enrichment of our knowledge," Velandres said.
Khayef and Velandres plan to pursue their masteral studies, while Lucero has decided to pursue Medicine as a course.
There are no comments yet