The year 2018 ended with the MC community pitching new and exciting ideas during the 2nd President’s Challenge. It was held at the MC-Henry Sy, Sr. Innovation on December 11-12, 2018. A total of 30 groups joined representing all academic units from the pre-school to the Higher Education Unit. Making the activity special was the participation of faculty for the first time. This year’s theme was “Our Learners and Teachers, their BIG ideas.”
Big, bold, and fresh ideas were heard from the participants, covering the areas of Science and Math, Arts and Design, Humanities, Social Sciences, and Entrepreneurship. The panel of judges were composed of Dr. Rosario O. Lapus, Miriam College president, Ms. Kai Pioquinto, Emerson-Asia Pacific Marketing Communications manager, Mr. Ryan Noleal, Teaching, Curriculum Studies, and Learning Sciences and Technology specialist; and Ms. Mareecel “Happy” Dimaapi, Emerson-Asia Pacific Marketing/Business Development director.
January 2019 opened with the announcement of the winners of the Challenge. There are 11 groups selected from each unit. This year’s winners are:
1. Child Study Center: Tinker Kits for Kids
A project to help the Yellow Boat of Hope Foundation by providing Tinker Kits to create a Tinker Lab for Design Thinking.
2. Lower School: www.wellness works wonders
A campaign that demonstrates the importance of eating healthy and making it a habit.
3. Middle School: The Colour Project
A visual campaign to promote mental wellness in school using colors that contribute to better performances.
4. High School: Drogo: Disaster Rescue on Government Operations
Drogo is a rescue operations robot designed to locate and alert potential survivors affected by earthquakes, flash floods, and fires.
5. MC Nuvali: Bakawan
An environmental advocacy project aimed at educating people to protect the marine habitats in the Philippines.
6.MC-Southeast Asian Institute for the Deaf: My Lost Finder: It’s Better to Be Together
Long range proximity sensors are fit inside a watch to help track lost persons may have accidentally strayed from a group or a companion.
7. MC-Southeast Asian Institute for the Deaf: Guardian Angel
A project that aims to prevent danger against women even before it happens. A flexible sensor strip is embedded into an undergarment to detect above normal heart rate levels that may indicate immediate danger to the wearer of the device.
8. Miriam Adult Education: Flood Warning Device
An alternative flood warning device that will contribute to efficient and effective evacuation and that will notify vehicles that a road they are about to pass is underwater.
9. College of Arts and Sciences: Punla: A Love That Grows
This project is about upcycling packaging materials by embedding plant seeds on wrappers so it sprouts new life when discarded.
10. College of Education: Teacher’s P.I.E: Persuade, Inspire, and Empower
This project is about capturing the real essence of teaching through an on-line platform that will motivate incoming students in college to pursue education.
11. Faculty: Cool-Tura, Inc.
A modern, cost-efficient version of the tapayan that may be used by every Juan. It uses local pottery of Laguna that will keep food and water fresh for a longer period of time.
All winning groups will be given a seed funding of P15,000 to implement their projects. They are also encouraged to use the laboratories and tools available at the HSSIC to create prototypes of their proposal. The prototypes will be placed on exhibit at the MC-HSSIC on February 12-18, 2019.
The President’s Challenge is in line with the school’s thrust in innovation and celebrates the ability of students to generate big, bold ideas that lead to innovation and social impact. The competition was initiated by Dr. Rosario O. Lapus and implemented through the MC-HSSIC.
The Challenge involves pitching ideas that are research-based and solution-focused.