Mapúa MCL’s Project Lawa Team visits the LSPU NICER’s Tadlac Lake Project
The Mapúa MCL’s Project Lawa Team headed by Prof. Jonalyn G. Ebron visited the Tadlac Lake Water Quality Monitoring Project under the Niche Centers in the Region for Research and Development or also called as the ‘NICER’ Program of Laguna State Polytechnic University (LSPU) in their Los Baños Campus. NICER is one of the programs of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). NICER provides grants to equip HEIs to produce quality research projects and technology that will promote the development of their region.
Prof. Ebron, together with the Research Director, Dr. Hermie V. Articona, and student researcher, Michael James F. Gnilo visited LSPU’s Los Baños campus to know more about the Tadlac Lake Project. The objective of the meeting is for Mapúa MCL’s team to understand the implementation and nature of the Tadlac Lake project and to gather inputs that would help define the scope and features of Prof. Ebron’s project. Project Lawa is developing research undertaking from Mapúa MCL’s College of Computer and Information Science (CCIS). The goal of this project is to create an efficient AI-based water quality monitoring system, which employs computational modeling and integrated mapping to help protect the lakes in the CALABARZON Region. The meeting between Mapúa MCL and LSPU’s NICER Team was suggested by the local DOST Region 4A office to encourage researchers with the same objectives to explore possible collaboration and technology integration thereby enhancing the implementation of their respective projects.
The LSPU’s NICER Team headed by Prof. Jonardo R. Asor, together with project staffs, Gene Marck Catedrilla and Jefferson L. Lerios, research assistant Glend Ferrer, and their consultant Director Christian Paul de la Cruz, currently manages the water quality monitoring project in Tadlac, which will end December this year. Though the project is about to end, Prof. Asor hopes to continue the research so their team can conduct more useful activities that would help protect Tadlac and other lakes within the region.
Overall, the meeting was fruitful for both institutions. LSPU’s Los Baños Campus Director, Engr. Manuel Luis R. Alvarez and the Mapúa MCL Team have identified areas for collaboration that both schools may explore in the future, specifically on enhancing Engineering programs and conducting joint research projects.