Taguig junior engineers win in Malaysia

MANILA, Philippines — Six grade school students from the Taguig Integrated School (TIS) bagged gold and silver medals in an international engineering invention and innovation congress held in Malaysia recently.

Kenth Andrew Gallardo, Franxes Keisha Joven and Francis Elija Valdez took home the gold for their “Euphorbia Hirta Dengue-Relieving Tea” at the International Engineering Invention and Innovation Exhibition organized by the World Invention Intellectual Property Association and the International Federation of Inventors’ Associations held April 13 to 15 at the Universiti Malaysia Perlis.

Ivan Gabriel de Lumen, Issachar Philippe’e Zerda and Vien Kiosoffe Lopez won silver for their coconut oil, basil and beeswax concoction for an anti-bacterial and mosquito repellent candle.

The two TIS teams were led by research advisers and faculty members Rosenda Puno, Georgie Amaranto and Grace Binalla.

Aboitiz Foundation provided the school’s learning facilities as well as financial support during the three-day exhibition as part of its broad commitment to the Department of Education Special Science Elementary Schools project. 

As part of the project, the science students explained that their inventions were inspired by practical everyday challenges that they sought to address. 

“Many people today have dengue, especially in our community, and we want to help relieve their symptoms through the euphorbia, which make blood platelets reproduce faster,” said Joven.

“I felt a bit nervous during the question-and-answer portion because I thought the questions from the jury would be too hard. Still, I was able to answer some of them,” Gallardo said of his experience at the contest.

“I felt really happy for our students. Aboitiz proved to be a really big help. Aside from the laboratory provided by the Aboitiz Foundation, the equipment for research such as projectors and computers can definitely be used in the future,” said Puno.

The Aboitiz Group has long been supportive of the country’s public education system, believing this is where the group can make the biggest impact.