Wednesday, September 23, 2015

TIT Students and Faculty Visit the Philippines - Sept 2015




Building Connections: The DLSU-TokyoTech Student Exchange Program was held from September 2 to 16 wherein fourteen (14) Japanese students along with two (2) professors namely Yamashita Yukihiko, and Winarto Kurniawan of Tokyo Institute of Technology in Japan traveled to the Philippines. The activity aims more than just to introduce Philippine culture to the Japanese visitors. More so, it also aims to create external linkages between the two institutions. The Civil Engineering Society (CES) of DLSU was assigned to assist the visitors in their daily activities in academic activities and cultural tours.

From September 7-11, the Japanese students enrolled in an English class arranged by the DLSU Civil Engineering Department. This class aims to enhance their English language competency. On their last day of English class, the TITECH students graduated from their class each receiving a certificate of completion. Three students namely, Yosei Inoue (First), Takuya Maekawa (Second) and Koki Hashizume (Third) were awarded certificates of recognition for their high grades and ranking.

On the night of September 11, a farewell event was held for our Japanese visitors at the roof deck of Henry Sy Sr. Hall. Students from DLSU and TIT prepared  presentations for the program. While the Filipinos sang "Hawak Kamay" by Yeng Constantino, the Japanese showcased some of their country's wacky and folk dances. The program also included games and icebreakers wherein the Japanese were partnered up with Filipinos in order to better strengthen the ties created in the past few days. Games such as Pinoy Henyo, Tongue Twisters and Newspaper dance were played.

From September 12- 13, all TITECH students and Sensei Kurniawan accompanied by 6 CES officers and 3 CE faculty ventured in an overnight trip at the Palm Beach Resort in Laiya, Batangas. Through the planned activities, both parties became more acquainted with each other. The mini vacation was able to deepen the Filipino-Japanese relationship.

Although it was challenging to break the language barrier between the two groups, both the DLSU and the TITECH students were able to create genuine friendships with one another. Moreover, the time spent will truly be cherished by both groups. The CES students have nothing else to say to them but thank you!

Article by Pat Ayala (CES)

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

BS-CIV Hydraulics Major Student, Jess Alcid joins JSCE Study Tour


The Japan Society of Civil Engineers – Study Tour Grant (JSCE-STG) is a grant travel program supported by the International Science Exchange Fund (ISEF). This program which was held on the 3rd week of September (13-19), 2015 invites civil engineering students to Japan for one week with all expenses are covered by ISEF. The students are selected by their participating country’s civil engineering society and consequently screened by the JSCE. Each country had one representative each and the countries that were chosen to participate were China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Myanmar and Philippines. The participants were to learn latest technologies through lectures provided, visit large-scale construction sites and have discussions with Japanese civil engineering experts.

Only five participants were selected including Jess Anthony Alcid (BSCIV-HWR) of De La Salle University who is the only undergraduate student and represents the Philippines. Mr. Alcid is now undergoing his OJT program. The other recipients of the study tour grant who are all prefessionals came from China, Indonesia, Vietnam and Myanmar.

The places visited in the study tour were  Public Works Research Institute and the National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management, Tsukuba City, Tokyo-Gaikan Expressway Construction Site “TAJIRI-area Project”,  KAJIMA Technical Research Institute, Chofu, Tokyo, Construction site of “JR Shinjuku Station Project”,   SetoOhashi Commemorative Park (SetoOhashi Tower) and      MizushimaTamashima Area Road Construction Site.

Aside from the construction site visits, they also attended the 17th International Summer Symposium held at Okayama University wherein International students and Japanese students have an opportunity to discuss their research projects and to have discussions with their peers. Over 100 papers are presented annually. The STG participants, presented their research papers as well. Mr. Alcid presented his group’s undergraduate thesis entitled “Flood Overlay Zoning Implications to Land use Plan of Surigao City” (co-researchers Mr. Arroyo, Mr. Co, Mr. Tiu and adviser, Dr. Tanhueco). After the presentations in the morning he also joined the International Workshop for Young Civil Engineers in the afternoon which was themed “Why Did You Come to Japan”. The workshop addressed the problems encountered by international civil engineering students (MS and PhD) while studying in Japan. The symposium also had a gathering to end the day at the Okayama Castle.

Alcid says "Overall, the trip was a very good opportunity to be exposed to large-scale projects and innovative methods and technologies of Japan civil engineering. The trip featured not only the technical advancements but also the dedication of the Japanese people, particularly those in the construction industry. They take pride in being exact when it comes to the schedule and their quality of work down to the last man. These things together with the technological advancements of that country should be set as a standard here, in our country as well. "


Sunday, September 20, 2015

BSMS alumnus presents at EACEF5-Indonesia



Last September 15-18, 2015, the 5th International Conference of Euro Asia Civil Engineering Forum (EACEF5) was held at Petra Christian University in Surabaya, Indonesia with a theme of "Civil Engineering Innovation for a Sustainable Future."

BSMS ERDT Scholar and now part-time faculty, Adrian Fredrick Dy presented a paper co-authored with his adviser, Dr. Andres Oreta at EACEF5  entitled, "Seismic Vulnerability Assessment of Soft Story Irregular Buildings Using Pushover Analysis." The paper focuses on utilizing pushover analysis as a method of refining preliminary seismic risk assessments for existing buildings. A static pushover analysis was utilized to determine the performance of a soft story building under different irregularity conditions.The study has found that one of the primary concerns in vertical irregularities is the localization of seismic demand. For soft story buildings, the concentration of seismic demand is where the soft story is located. Data from the pushover analysis is translated into score modifiers for the varying soft story severity which may be used for preliminary risk assessment tools.
Soft Story Building (www.nexus.globalquakemodel.org)
A Soft Story Failure (degenkolb.com)
 
At the EACEF5 Parallel Session Oral Presentation


The Euro Asia Civil Engineering Forum (EACEF) was founded in 2006 in Germany by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Harianto Hardjasaputra (Universitas Pelita Harapan, Indonesia) and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Karl-Heinz Reineck, (University of Stuttgart, Germany). EACEF conferences are held every two years and have been held in Jakarta (2007), Langkawi (2009), Yogyakarta (2011) and Singapore (2013). 

Acknowledgement:  Adrian Dy (ERDT scjholar) was supported by the DOST-ERDT funds.