UST-ChE Department Holds Mock ChE Licensure Examinations

news by Darwin Eugenio and Dana Pineda
photos by Merryl Marquez (The Reaction Photojournalist)

In line with its efforts to improve the performance of the university in the licensure examinations, the UST Chemical Engineering Department along with the UST Chemical Engineering society – Student Affairs Committee hosted a three-day mock Chemical Engineering Licensure Examinations last October 20 to 22.

Originally scheduled to start as early as October 19, the mock licensure exams were delayed by a day due to the suspension of classes in the university during the onslaught of Typhoon Lando (Koppu). The three day examination pushed through on October 20, Tuesday. The examination was held in the General Chemistry Laboratory (Lab 9) and was primarily facilitated by designated Chemical Engineering students with an hourly shifting.

Examinees from ChE Batch 2015 during Day 2 of the
mock board exams

On the first day of the examinations, fifty-eight (58) out of sixty-five (65) registered examinees took the exam. The first day of the examination covered Physical and Chemical Principles, and lasted for five hours. On the second day of the examinations, fifty-five (55) registered examinees took the exam. Unlike Day 1, the second day of the examination lasted for a full ten hours as the coverage included core Chemical Engineering questions. On the final day of the examinations, fifty-nine (59) examinees took the exam which lasted for five hours and covered General Engineering principles and problems. In order to fully emulate the actual ChE licensure exams, examinees were required to use Mongol #2 Pencil and were required to eat their lunch or snacks inside the examination room as exiting the room except for lavatory reasons is prohibited.

Engr. Noel Sabarillo, a member of the ChE Faculty, oversaw the smooth facilitation of the three-day examinations. He led the checking of the exam papers an hour after the Day 3 Examinations ended. When asked about the results, Engr. Sabarillo said on Saturday that the results will be released in due time. (The Reaction correspondent got a peek of the results but was asked not to reveal any information.)

Engr. Sabarillo noted that some examinees who pre-registered failed to take fully all three exams due to many reasons. “Yung iba may klase, ‘yung iba may interview. May conflict sa iskedyul kaya ‘di nakapunta.” he said. He also noted the difference of the mock ChE board exams compared to the Integrated Course (ChE600) – a two-unit course offered to 5^th-year students in the second semester, saying “May mga ibang subjects kasing kasabay ang [Integrated Course], kaya di maka-focus ang mga estudyante. Hindi pa sila arál na arál. Ito kasing [ChE Mock Board Exams], tinatayang nakapag-aral na [para sa boards] ang mga estudyante.”

The 2015 November ChE Licensure Examinations will be held on November 13 to 15, 2015.

In 2014, the USTChE program garnered a 69.12% overall passing rate in the ChE licensure examinations.

UST-ChE Students Showcase their Sports Talents

news by Ezekiel Escoto and Patrick dela Cruz
photos by Bessie Mae Jose, Rica Glen Marchan, Erika Torres, Lara Lampano (UST-ChES Memdoc)

The Performing Arts and Recreations Committee organized a two-part event entitled “DRIVE: The ChE Varsity Tryouts 2015” held on September 11 and 18 at the Bombers Court Sampaloc, Manila that seeks to manifest the skills of Chemical  Engineering Students in basketball and volleyball.

Due to the exit of the senior players, respective teams in both volleyball and basketball need to fill the gap in order for them to compete in the next tournaments. In lieu of this, the feisty young aspirants, who are ready to take their game to the next level, lit their own fire as they show off their athletic side. Players who will be effective in the system will crack a spot on the team.

The Basketball team, led by team captain John Philip David and coach Nico Sardea, took out the gas from the cagers as they work on their drills to school their conditioning and fundamentals (shooting, dribbling, passing & etc.). Group workouts and scrimmages were done to promote communication and chemistry between the players on and off the court. Being a former hoopster of the team, Coach Sardea instigated the players that will push them to ball harder. ”Mahalaga ang disiplina sa bawat laro, kailangan tapusin niyo ang drills nang maayos, kung dito pa lang di niyo na magawa paano kapag actual game na.”, he stated.

After the successful 2 day tryouts, a 20-man training pool was screened from the hopefuls. The twenty (20) fortunate members include eight (8) players from last year’s roster and twelve (12) rookies.  Remarkable players stood out from the crop with their uncanny ability in each aspect of the game that will definitely help the team grab some W’s. Known as the team that lacks outside shooting, Gio Castillo and Kaile Miralo showed some brilliance by splashing a number of triples. Denzel Soliaban, Angelo Orallo and Toffee Paddayuman can pull off the run and gun with their speed and leaping ability. Nursing the paint with their size and post offense were Biel Dar and Alec Cortez. RJ Loring and Miguel Gloria slashed their way to the basket by being crafty with the ball which may attract defense away from the outside shooters. The 12-man lineup will be picked rigidly after a series trainings and evaluation.

Volleyball team

For volleyball, the torch was passed on to the triumvirate of Ian Micaller, Jerina Pangilinan and Daljit Singh; all of which are fifth year students. Their experience and volleyball IQ will surely help in leading the team. When asked about the performance of this year’s players, co-captain Ian Micaller said “Mas bonded, more improved, magagaling yung mga bata.”

Twelve (12) students tried out for the team. Notable potential recruits include: Eloisa Sariño and Dan Taplacido, known for their offence and defense skills, Thomas Mercado who possesses tremendous vertical leap and Trisdale Wong who has the potential to be one of the team's primary setters. This year's Engineering women's volleyball team captain, Renzi Barotac, also showed interest in joining the team, her being on the team this year will mean a solid lineup. Add the fact that the team will have regular training; and there the Chemical engineering department may have a title contender.

A ChES graphical announcement on the results of the tryouts.

Volleyball and Basketball final squads will represent the Chemical Engineering Department in the annual Philippine Institute of Chemical Engineering Olympics (PiChElympics) and Engineering Sportsfest. Athletes who will land a spot on any team will be acknowledged through the UST ChES Page.

UST Chemical Engineering Dance Crew Finds New Talents

by Mary Mae Buensuceso

The Chemical Engineering Dance Crew (ChEDC) conducted an audition for aspiring members of troupe at the Laboratory 10 of Roque Ruano Building from September 11-12.

Various alumni and current members of ChEDC judged the applicants. The final decision rested on Rochelle Louise Sampaga and Crystel Quijano, co-captain and captain of the dance crew, respectively. Candidates were obliged to perform their own routine as a requirement for audition.

Results Released on September 18

A ChES graphical announcement listing the names of the new members of the ChEDC.
(Graphics by: Logistics and Multimedia Committee, UST-ChES) 

On September 18, the dance crew officially announced that nine Chemical Engineering students, namely Jethero Abesamis, Jude Billiones, Sentiniel Canlas, Kristofer Allan Castro, Celine Cruz, Irvin Famatiga, Jonan Garcia, Joshua Solomon and Nina Ytturalde, passed the auditions.

Quijano said on Thursday that she is expecting new members to show dedication by attending trainings and meetings, and hopes to help them not just on dancing but in academics as well.  "Sana ma-feel nila na ang DC ay family sa bawat training namin. Lastly, welcome sa ChEDC family!” she said.

Meanwhile the two captains of the dance crew who finalized the decision stated they had a hard time choosing new members because the applicants were all good.

“It was because of the chemical engineering students who stepped up to share their talents to bring pride to the ChE community”, Sampaga said on the success of the said activity.

The Chemical Engineering Dance Crew is the only dance crew representative of the UST Chemical Engineering Department. In the UST Faculty of Engineering, the Chemical Engineering Dance Crew was the champion during the Ultimate Dance Revolution 1 (A.Y 2011 – 2012), Ultimate Dance Revolution 3 (A.Y 2013 – 2014), and the Ultimate Dance Revolution 4 which was held in October 2014. 

UST-ChE Department Joins 30th International Coastal Cleanup

by Nickole Jean Codico (September 21, 2015)

As part of the requirements of their Environmental Engineering Course, fourth year-level UST Chemical Engineering students accompanied by some members of the faculty participated in the 30^th International Coastal Cleanup held on 19 September 2015 in Lemery, Batangas.

A group photo of the participants. (Photo Credits: Kyle Linus de Guzman)

The volunteers were mainly composed of fourth-year level chemical engineering (ChE) students and some members of the ChE faculty. After passing through farm lands, many volunteers were puzzled to find that the coastal area was only half covered with trash and debris, since some parts of the coast were already cleaned up by the locals living in the surrounding area. It was not as bad as the group thought it would be, as Danielle Evangelista of 4ChE-B said, “I actually expected lots of trash. I thought that the beach would be full of garbage and would have a foul smell”. Even with the seemingly sparse trash, students from 4ChE-A and 4ChE-B gathered a total of 140.7 kg and there were still a lot left to pick up in order to make the coastal area clean and free of trash.

A "jumpshot" of the seven faculty members who participated. (From left to right: Engr. Emile Punzalan, Asst. Prof. George Chao, Assoc. Prof. Bernadette Duran, Prof. Edna Quinto, Prof. Evelyn Laurito, Assoc. Prof. Lani Pestaño, Engr. ER Rivera; Photo Credits: Kyle Linus de Guzman) 

The students were accompanied by seven members of the ChE faculty, the latter also contributed in clearing the trash on the beach. Prof. Evelyn Laurito, an Environmental Engineering Course instructor, expressed delight at what appears to be a successful endeavor. “Okay naman. Maraming nagawa [habang nasa Lemery] dahil nagkaroon din ng tree planting activity. Mostly two hundred (200) seedlings of mangroves were planted.” she said. (“[The activity] was fine. Many things were accomplished since a tree planting activity [was also done in which around] two hundred seedlings of were planted.” she said.) After clearing the trash, the fourth year students planted Mangrove saplings that would eventually grow and serve as the breeding ground for organisms and further prevent coastal erosion.

Photo Credits: George Chao 

Photo by: Jobie Tuscano

Photo by: Kathleen Kay de Regla

Since the purpose of the activity is to raise everyone’s awareness on the conservation of the environment, students were later asked what this activity has taught them and what they felt afterwards. A student named Denzel Soliaban of 4ChE-B answered, “I got relieved, just by the fact that even that we cleaned a teeny-weeny part of the beach, that teeny-weeny part could mean some difference between a cleaner and a dirtier environment. Our efforts seem small, but I felt like I made a big difference in saving our surroundings.” Even though a lot of students gave a positive realization after the activity and some even answered jokingly that they felt the sunburns afterwards, there are still some students that felt like they have not done enough like what Ariane Arenas of 4ChE-B said, “I feel dissatisfied after the cleanup. I know it didn’t make much difference. I know simple things count, but I think we could’ve done better”.

Planting Mangrove Seedlings (Photo Credit: George Chao)

The seedlings. (Photo Credit: George Chao)

Many students told The Reaction correspondent that they enjoyed the activity because they believe that through their little way, they contributed to the conservation of the ocean and all the life that depends on it. Some said that it should not stop with a one-day activity because every day is an environmental conservation day and this activity is just the start of a lifelong advocacy to save the environment.

The International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) is one of the world’s largest and one-day volunteer efforts to clean up the marine environment. It is primarily spearheaded by Ocean Conservancy, a nonprofit non-government organization based in Washington, D.C., United States. The cleanup is held annually every third Saturday of the month of September, in which millions of volunteers worldwide gather near large bodies of water to remove trash and record information on the debris collected. The Philippines officially joined the ICC in 1994. Since 2012, the Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary (PCGA) serves as the national coordinator between ICC Philippines and the Ocean Conservancy.

Baual Elected ChES President

Independent Candidates Dominate Top Positions

by Darwin Eugenio (June 10, 2015)

Independent candidates dominated the three highest positions of the Executive Council of the Chemical Engineering Society Academic Year 2015 – 2016 after winning the recent elections held last March 29, 2015 at the Unit Operations Laboratory.

​President-elect and independent candidate Ann Christine Baual got 305 votes (76.25%), securing the coveted presidential position. Despite being the lone candidate, the election rules require her to garner at least sixty percent (60%) in order to be proclaimed President.

​Taking the position of Internal Vice President is another independent candidate, Carla Rae Evaristo, with 349 votes (87.25%), way above the minimum requirement of 60% as set by ChESElect Committee.

Graphics by UST ChES-LMAC (Logistics and Multimedia
Committee)

​Independent candidate Justin Timothy Vinluan garnered 343 votes (85.75%), and will assume the position of External Vice President. Outgoing ChES secretary Erwin Jayag will assume the position of Junior Vice President after garnering 302 votes (75.5%). Outgoing ChES Assistant Secretary Janille Constantino of the Triple Point Party will take the position of Secretary this academic year, after getting 205 votes against Big Hero 8 secretarial bet Rich Espinosa, the latter getting 155 votes.

Big Hero 8 bets Kaye Suing with 191 votes, Raniella Coronado with 270 votes, Hannah Gohing with 195 votes, Janssen Peñaflor with 221 votes, Ronald Reveche with 206 votes, and Jorge Ochoa with 179 votes will assume the position of Assistant Secretary, Treasurer, Assistant Treasurer, Auditor, Business Manager, and Public Relations Officer, respectively.

​The Chemical Engineering Society Election Bureau calculated a 61.82% voter turnout with the participation of 400 student-members.

The veracity of the election results were approved by Joanne Sasondoncillo and Ian Kenneth Micaller, Administrator and Deputy Administrator of ChESSelect, respectively.

​