Season’s Welcome, Bulacan State University! | Isabela State University (ISU) finds new academic venture with Bulacan State University (BulSU) as the latter sets for a benchmarking visit on Tuesday, December 19.
The BulSU delegation was led by Professor Teody C. San Andres, PhD, BulSU President, to appraise the best practices of ISU in terms of organizational culture and operations, especially on the establishment of the ISU- College of Medicine (ISU-CoM) and the Doctor of Medicine Program.
ISU-CoM, which launched its Medicine Program on October this year, shared the milestone of the program implementation with items highlighted on Faculty Qualifications, Curriculum Design and Implementation, Clinical and Laboratory Facilities, Student Support Services, Collaboration with Health Care Institution, Community Extension, and Financial Operations.
This visit also paved the way for a shared dedication to advancing research and development initiatives, particularly in the aspect of sustainable management of reservoirs and river basins.
ISU’s new SEDI Project, or “Sediment Evaluation and Development of Intervention (SEDI): S&T-Based Approach for Sustainable Management of Reservoirs and River Basins” in full, will be joined by BulSU following the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement for the implementation of the S&T Project.
This new research, which is a continuing venture of ISU in its R&D commitment for sustainable development of water infrastructure and resources, aims to conduct comprehensive sedimentation research and develop science and technology-based interventions for the sustainable management of reservoirs and river basins.
Initially, there was an inception meeting between the SEDI Project teams of ISU and BulSU, together with the Department of Science and Technology- Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DOST-PCIEERD).
The delegates of BulSU gratefully conveyed their words of appreciation to ISU for being generous in extending its technical assistance in terms of river basin management.
Dialogues on SEDI Project: ISU and BulSU Exchanges Commitment to Front New R&D Venture
Emphasizing the essential role of collaboration, Mr. Carluz Bautista, DOST-PCIEERRD Program Manager, underscored the importance of partnering with State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) and line government agencies to ensure that research project outputs will not only fulfill their respective mandates but also serve as valuable tools for end-users in addressing the community’s needs.
Afterward, Dr. Orlando F. Balderama, Vice President for Research and Development, Extension and Training, introduced the meeting participants and he gave prominence to the strong network of ISU with Kyoto University, Japan Water Agency, Vietnamese-German University, and other ASEAN universities in promoting integrated water resources management.
Furthermore, Dr. Lanie A. Alejo, Director of Water Research and Development Center and SEDI Project Leader, presented the rationale, objectives, project framework and outcomes, implementation schedule, and approved budgetary requirement of the said research endeavor. Specifically, she accentuated the need to have a comprehensive research-based assessment of sedimentation, develop an integrated monitoring system for sediment management, and design interventions to control sediment influx.
In addition, Ms. Alissandra Pauline Mariano, DOST-PCIEERRD Program Manager, oriented the collaborators on the procedures and requirements for project implementation. She guided the SEDI R&D team on DOST-GIA guidelines, including their obligations and implementation timeline. Subsequently, an open forum was convened, centering its discussions on foreign travel funds, international training initiatives, and call for project proposals by the agency.
Magat Dam: A Crucial Area of Study towards Ensuring its Infrastructure Integrity amid Sedimentation Concerns
The SEDI teams of ISU and BulSU visited the Magat Dam and National Irrigation Administration – Magat River Integrated Irrigation System (NIA-MARIIS), now joined by Hon. Teodoro Gatchalian, DOST Undersecretary for Special Concerns, after his visit and speakership from the 45th Founding Anniversary of the Cagayan Valley Agricultural and Aquatic Resources Research Center at ISU Echague Main Campus.
ISU team toured the BulSU delegation for a site visit on Magat Dam’s properties and its current situation, serving as a crucial research context.
Engr. Edwin Viernes of the Forecasting and Instrumentation Center of the MARIIS Dam Reservoir Division (DRD) oriented the teams about NIA operations and sediment countermeasures that the agency implements.
Afterward, Dr. Alejo presented the recently concluded innovative R&D projects of ISU particularly the science-based decision-making tools in Magat Subbasin and Magat Dam adopted by NIA.
Undersecretary Teodoro Gatchalian, Undersecretary for Special Concerns of DOST, commended the ISU team for the pioneering efforts in providing scientific and innovative hydrological models that assist the NIA in fulfilling their mandates and responsibilities in responding to the community’s needs.