Editing UP College of Engineering (section)

=== Developments ===

The U.P Engineer, a semi-technical quarterly publication of the faculty and students of the College had its inaugural issue in August 1953, with Professor Dominador I. Ilio, the incumbent secretary of the college. Cesar Concio Jr. was managing editor. The College turned out its first graduates (three of them) in chemical engineering in April 1954.

The school year 1954-1955 was a big year for the College. The total enrollment exceeded 1,000 - 68 of them were female, mostly enrolled in Chemical Engineering. Nineteen (19) new faculty members were appointed. Out of the 51 faculty members, thirteen were abroad on FOA fellowships. More equipment were received for the various laboratories. The chemical engineering building was completed. Through the efforts of then Congressman Florencio Moreno, an engineering alumnus, who later became Secretary of the Department of Public Works and Communications, funds were secured for the painting of the Engineering Building. The Engineering Library acquired about 2,500 volumes through PHILCUSA-FOA aid. The agricultural engineering curriculum was approved (the first 4 years in Diliman, the 5th year at Los BaÃ±os).

In October 1954, a resolution of the Board of Regents created the U.P Industrial Research Center, a non-profit unit operated by the College to avail of the expertise of the faculty and the use of facilities in the various laboratories. Important jobs undertaken by the UPIRC during the year were the design and construction supervision of the water supply system of U.P. at Los Baňos and the metallurgical analyses of ores for the Philippine Iron Mines and the Hixbar Gold Company.

Enrollment in the College continued to increase. In the first semester of 1955-56, it totaled 1,179. To cope up with this increased enrollment and to replace those who resigned, five new members of the faculty were appointed. For the physical plant of the college, the following buildings were constructed: (a) the Engineering Library Annex; (b) the Current Meter Rating Station; (c) the filtration plant for the men's swimming pool. Also extensive repair work was done on the engineering shops which were still housed in old Quonset huts occupied by Engineering when it first transferred to Diliman in 1949. And the grounds surrounding the Engineering Building were landscaped.

The U.P. Industrial Research Center continued to render services to government entities and the general public, including a research job for the Philippine Coconut administration. During the year, several scholarship grants donated by private entities were made available to engineering students for the first time. Among them: the STANVAC scholarship, Tide-water Oil Company scholarship; ten grants for mining students from various mining companies, and the Philippine Packing Corporation scholarship.

A major event took place in the College on March 19-21, 1956. This event was the holding of the 1956 Engineering Conference in which delegates from industrial firms, government corporations, engineering schools and societies, as well as ICA & NEC officials and other government officials, gathered to discuss engineering problems of the country. Some one hundred and forty guests and delegates attended the three-day conference.

It was in the same year that the University began offering a curriculum in architecture. The significant feature of this 5-year course is the presence of stronger background subjects in mathematics, physics, chemistry and mechanics than what is offered in private schools. The architecture course was at the time under the College. It is to be remembered that School of Architecture had been proposed for the College in 1928 but was disapproved by the Board of Regents.

Three participating architects, Aurelio T. Juguilon (also a UP civil engineering graduate), Victor Tiotuyco and Efren Hernandez, were appointed as members of the faculty. In June 1956, thirty-two students registered as freshmen in architecture. These were among the total engineering enrollment of 1,270. There were also 23 students registered for the newly opened curriculum in agricultural engineering. Aside from these two new curricula, 2-year courses in both mining and metallurgical engineering were instituted to meet the acute shortage of technically competent men in the mineral industry. These special curricula however were designed for degree holders in engineering other than mining and metallurgy.

Rehabilitation of engineering laboratories still continued during this school year, particularly the hydraulics laboratory, which received equipment manufactured by the Hawkeye Company of Davenport, Iowa. In this laboratory, a model of the Binga spillway was constructed and tested for the National Power Corporation. Under the U.P.-Stanford Contract, three visiting professors were still in service in the persons of Profs. E.L. Eriksen, George W. Duncan and Donald M. Hanson.

The Geodetic Engineering personnel who heretofore had been receiving salaries from the Bureau of Lands by virtue of the old UP-Bureau of Lands arrangement were transferred to the U.P. along with their budgetary items. Professor Angel Tronqued, head of the department since 1946, retired from government service early in the semester; Professor Norberto S. Vila was designated to the position.

In the latter part of the second semester, April 4-7, 1957, the Second Engineering conference was held with the following theme: "Identification of the Technological Problems of the Country." For purposes of orienting the discussions, the following areas were defined; technological problems in private industry; technological problems in government corporations; and problems in technological education. The fourth day of the conference, the formal inauguration of the engineering laboratories, took place with Col. Harry A. Brenn, director of ICA presenting a symbolic model building to President Enrique T. Virata, through the NEC Executive Director, Andres O. Hizon.

In June 1957, the enrollment in the College rose to 1,360 of which 117 were female. Six new faculty members were recruited to replace resignations and to reinforce the staff, six of whom were sent for advanced training in the United States under the ICA-NEC training program. During the school year 1957-1958, the UPIRC, which had been receiving ICA-NEC aid, continued to serve the general public. In the Center several engineering professors had been able to conduct research, particularly on Philippine timber, and solar energy utilization.

The Electronics Training Project for instructors in electronic courses started on September 2, 1957. The ICA-NEC sponsored program conducted instruction in the operation of microwave equipment to two groups of trainees. Three RCA engineers and technicians joined the engineering staff to conduct the course. Some $60,000 worth of equipment for instruction were acquired for this purpose.