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| Batangas State University's Team WONDERPETS comprising of chemical engineering students Ghia Luwalhati, Nicole Elizabeth Tan and Reaner Jacqueline Bool (Image Source: Batangas State University) |
Batangas State University (BatStateU) students emerged champions in the first WED Hackathon marking UNESCO’s World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development, trumping 125 student teams from 23 countries worldwide on March 4, 2022. In second and third place are students from the University of British Columbia Okanagan in Canada and the Egerton University in Kenya, respectively. The only team from the Philippines to compete in the final round, Team WONDERPETS (Water remediatiON using metal-organic framework DERived from PET bottleS) is composed of chemical engineering students Ghia Luwalhati and Nicole Elizabeth Tan of Lipa City -- graduates of Lipa City Colleges (LCC) Silvercrest School -- and Reaner Jacqueline Bool and their mentor Dr. Reymark Maalihan of the Material Testing and Calibration Center (MTCC) of the university’s STEERHub.
BatStateU was invited by the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO) under the auspices of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) through its Center for Innovation in Engineering Education (CIEE), the university’s arm in advancing the quality and responsiveness of engineering education. The CIEE and MTCC, alongside the university’s Analytical Research Center (ARC) and the Center for Technopreneurship and Innovation (CTI), were instrumental in linking student groups and the university researchers and experts. The challenge of the WED Hackathon was to demonstrate a sustainable engineering solution addressing a global real-world problem. Tackling “Water Accessibility in a Changing Climate", Team WONDERPETS devised a water pollutant adsorbent based on a metal-organic framework, chemically recycling terephthalic acid extracted from PET bottles. The resulting material is extremely porous, cost-efficient, and reusable; thus, making it a sustainable means of removing pollutants from water. “[T]his entry was very interesting with the potentially transformative technology,” commented Dr. Marlene Kanga, Immediate Past President of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO), as she announced the winners on World Engineering Day Hackathon during the finale of the WED 24HRS Live broadcast in San José, Costa Rica. The solution offered by Team WONDERPETS supports both the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6: “Clean Water and Sanitation for All" and SDG 12: “Responsible Consumption and Production” for its plastic-recycling feature.
Judged by 40 engineers from 16 countries in the preliminary round and by six judges from UNESCO, Engineers Without Borders, the International Federation of Engineering Education Societies, the International Network of Women Engineers and Scientists, the Global Engineering Deans Council, and the International Engineering Alliance in the final round, the WED Hackathon entries were evaluated based on International Engineering Alliance global graduate attributes and professional competencies profiles. The WED Hackathon is organized by WFEO with UNESCO support, stimulating the inventiveness of young engineers to address engineering challenges developed by the World Federation of Engineering Organizations in collaboration with its partners in the international engineering community and the Engineers Without Borders international network.
Six student groups from BatStateU participated in the preliminary round in January, with the WONDERPETS qualifying for the final round in February, along with eight other teams from Australia, Canada, China, India, and Kenya. BatStateU, the only State University in the Philippines with engineering programs accredited by the US Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, celebrates World Engineering Day alongside UNESCO in a three-day event held on March 4, 7, and 8, 2022 with the theme “Engineering Today for Sustainable Tomorrow”.
