1st Cebu ECE Students’ Congress

USC hosts 1st Cebu ECE Students’ Congress

The University of San Carlos Department of Electrical/Electronics and Communications Engineering, together with SMART Telecommunications, successfully launched the first ever Cebu ECE Students’ Congress 2007 last March 16–17, 2007.

With the theme “Sharing Technologies: The Trademark of an ECE Caring Community”, the two-day event gathered senior ECE students from all over the country and showcased their academic excellence through a series of activities.

The event was formally opened on March 16, 2007 with a Holy Mass officiated by USC–TC Chaplain Fr. Ruel Gado, SVD. It was then followed by an opening program which included the turning over of Digital Signal Processing (DSP) kits from Analog Devices, signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between USC and NCR, and ribbon-cutting that formally opened the company and undergraduate project exhibits. The said program was graced by the presence of University President Fr. Roderick C. Salazar, Jr., SVD.

On the afternoon of the same day, the Undergraduate Thesis Presentation was held. Seven undergraduate projects from USC were presented before a distinguished panel of judges consisting of Maxim’s Engineering Manager Bruce Allen as chair, with Analog Devices’ Engineering Manager Alberto Geronimo Jr., and USC ECE alumnus now Analog Devices’ Senior Engineer Dindo Borlasa.

From the seven, the project “A Prototype Landslide Early Warning Device Using Soil Moisture and Soil Displacement Detection with SMS Capability” of Philip Lawrence Aberion, Ryan Alocilja, Fritz Cornel Bartolome, Dick Rosal and Harry Roilf Rovillos got the nod of the judges as Best Undergraduate Thesis, receiving the cash prize of P3,000.00 and a token. The group’s adviser was Engr. Alberto S. Bañacia. On the other hand, Quitilin Mae Balintag, the presentor of the project “Image-Based Pick and Place Program for the TeachMover Robotic Manipulator”, was chosen as Best Presenter and won for herself a P1,000.00 cash and a token.

The ECE Innotech Challenge 2007, an innovative quiz show that puts equal premium to theories and practical know-how, was held on March 17, 2007. Practical exercises and designs were also included and were given as much weight as the theoretical questions. Ten teams from different universities all over the country, including De La Salle University (DLSU) and Notre Dame of Dadiangas University (NDDU), participated in the said event.

After a grueling six hours of tough competition, three teams emerged victorious. The Cebu Institute of Technology Team II was declared the Champion, receiving P10,000.00 in cash and a plaque. Second place went to DLSU, who received P7,000.00 in cash and a plaque while University of San Jose-Recoletos placed 3rd and received P5,000.00 in cash and a plaque. Consolation prizes of P500.00 plus tokens were given to the CIT Team I and University of Cebu Lapulapu–Mandaue who placed 4th and 5th places respectively.

The Mobot Race, sponsored by ZiLOG Philippines Inc., was the last and final event of the Congress. Out of several entries from Visayas and Mindanao, two entries from NDDU won the 1st and 2nd places while an entry from USC bagged the 3rd place.

The two-day event was made possible by generous support from companies such as NCR, People Support, and Lexmark as major sponsors, and Maxim and Analog Devices as minor sponsors. Also, the event was co-organized by ECE–based student organizations including the Electronics & Communications Engineering Council, the ECE students exclusive fraternity and sorority STOICS, Institute of Electronics and Communications Engineers of the Phils.–Student Chapter (IECEP–USC), Students Electronics Society (SES), USC–Amateur Radio Club (ARC), and Society of Circuit Researchers (SCR).

Author: H. I. Pedrigal
04 / April / 2007