Editing National Engineering Center (section)

===NEC to the 21st Century===

The last ten years of NEC were marked by significant involvement from the faculty of the COE.  It was also during this period that the NEC progressed in terms of developing wide-ranging courses and trainings that cater not only to engineers but to non-engineers as well.  All these accomplishments transpired not without challenges along the way.

In 1997, Prof. Edgardo G. Atanacio, took over the dual role of COE Dean and NEC Executive Director from Dr. Vea.  This was considered a difficult period not only for the NEC but for the whole country as well, as the Asian region was then experiencing financial crisis.   Many of the companies that send their employees to attend the center’s short courses and seminars were forced to take austerity measures. Enrollment in many of the short courses offered by the center went down. Dr. Aura C. Matias, who took over the post of Deputy Executive Director in 1996, had to oversee the day-to-day operations of the NEC, as well as creatively find ways to keep the center afloat. She managed this by implementing lecture series, instead of short courses, on pressing topics of the day, such as construction management and preventive maintenance.  

Prof. Atanacio and Dr. Matias also faced the challenge of a lack of research initiative from within the COE faculty. “There were only a few faculty members that had the interest in research,” recounts Dr. Matias. “So our strategy at that time was to get big contracts, to get their feet wet. The projects were also mostly inter-disciplinary so we were able to tap into USAID and World Bank.” 
The researches ranged from climate change mitigation to public utilities and services. One such research, done in cooperation with the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), persists today in the form of the Public Assessment Water Services (PAWS). 
In 2002, Dr. Herman Mendoza became deputy executive director.  He recalled the Engineering Enhancement Program of the NEC as one of its highlights at that time because of the close involvement of the faculty members from the Departments of Engineering Science, Mechanical, and Civil Engineering. “This was one training program wherein NEC staff experienced working and coordinating closely with the faculty,” he disclosed.  The engineering enhancement program aimed to strengthen the basic engineering skills of the new engineering graduates and help them prepare for the industry and their respective licensure examinations. 

Dr. Mendoza also asserts that it was imperative to maintain an atmosphere of unity and cooperation among the NEC Staff to develop and implement effectively the projects and training programs of NEC and to support the research & development initiatives of the College of Engineering.

But even then, the willingness of the faculty to do research and consultancy work for the NEC still proved to be a challenge.  “In terms of consulting and research, not all faculty members were intent on doing these apart from their teaching jobs,” Prof. Atanacio revealed. It was a problem that constantly plagued the NEC from the very beginning, and one that would be mitigated by his successor, Dr. Rowena Cristina L. Guevara. 

Under Dr. Guevara’s leadership as Executive Director of NEC and Dean of COE, her biggest challenge on her first year in 2004 was to initiate a paradigm shift in terms of faculty involvement in NEC activities. “We had to convince the faculty members that you have to help the NEC so that it can help you back.  It was an enormous mindset change. Before, the faculty just minded their own work. But eventually we convinced them that we all have to work together,” Dean Gev, as addressed by her colleagues, reported.  Although the results were not instantaneous, faculty members’ participation in NEC programs dramatically increased from 20% to 80%. 

Aside from this initial success, the number of engineers and even non-engineers that were trained by NEC rose exponentially.  The range of courses that the NEC was offering expanded.  The links between the NEC’s projects and the COE’s graduate programs were also formalized.  There are two NEC programs that are linked to the COE’s graduate programs.  “One is with the National Electrification Administration and our Energy Engineering program, and the other one with the Philippine Constructors Association and the Civil Engineering program. With that last one, the COE also gained something from that engagement because the CE program now includes a Construction Management program, which we didn’t have before,” Dean Gev explained.

The NEC has become, in Dean Gev’s own words, a “lean, mean machine” with people who have a passion to serve and to succeed. And it was made possible under the kind of leadership—fearless, visionary, and uncompromising—that these men and women exercised. This leadership is matched only by the dedication and hard work of the NEC staff.

After serving as the Deputy Executive Director during the terms of Dr. Vea and Prof. Atanacio, Dr. Aura C. Matias then became Executive Director from 2010 to 2016. She focused on elevating the quality of services and creating national awareness about UP NEC. Dr. Matias and Deputy Executive Director Prof. Adeline A. Pacia envisaged UP NEC to become the “top in mind” institution for collaborative engineering solutions.

Through the bold leadership accompanied by a dynamic support from staff, UP NEC worked hard in improving further its operations and performance. In 2015, UP NEC received the Philippine Quality Award Level 1. This signalled UP NEC’s potential and journey towards organizational efficiency and performance excellence. The award branded UP NEC’s commitment to quality and resulted in the creation of new training programs such as the Public Procurement Specialist Certification and Business Analytics Certification programs. It also led to the recalibration of UP NEC’s research mandate, boosting the Project Development and Management Division to contract additional technical consultancy and research projects. These efforts created ripples of change. Employees became more fervent in helping UP NEC attain national significance. They felt challenged and motivated at the same time as the gains were translated into reward and recognition system.