UP Chemical Engineering Society, Inc.

UP Chemical Engineering Society, Inc.
Established	August 26, 1954
Motto	Academic Excellence and Holistic Development
Type	Socio-Academic
Location	3/F Lobby, Melchor Hall, College of Engineering, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City
Website	http://upkem.org/
Affiliations	Philippine Institute of Chemical Engineers - Junior Chapter Luzon (PIChE-JCL) and Philippine Association of Chemistry Students, Inc. (PACS, Inc.)
Contact Us	ec@upkem.org

History and Legacy

Established in 1954, the University of the Philippines Chemical Engineering Society, Inc., or more popularly known as UP KEM, is one of the largest socio-academic organizations recognized by the university. Awarded as the Best Organization by the Engineering Organization Excellence Award (EOEA) in 2009, 2011, and 2012, the Gawad Chanselor Para Sa Natatanging Samahan in 2014, the Best Society of 2014 by the Philippine Association of Chemistry Students, Inc. (PACS, Inc.), and the Best Chapter Organization of 2013 and 2015 by the Philippine Institute of Chemical Engineers - Junior Chapter Luzon (PIChE-JCL), UP KEM carries on its consistent tradition of academic excellence, holistic development and prime professionalism by participating in events beneficial to our members' growth as well as organizing events beneficial to students and professionals and to the university and society.

With innovative minds and an impeccable brand of leadership, UP KEM has made itself known by organizing big-time events. AWITAN, a university-wide Christmas choral competition that started in 1965, has been one of the organization’s most prestigious events, annually attended by several organizations. The Students' National Chemical Engineering Conference (sNCEC), going in its 6th year, has grown from a single event, now having five sub-events: the National Chemical Engineering Symposium (NaChES), a seminar and workshop series about the recent trends and developments in the field of chemical engineering; the Students' Chemical Engineering Networking Event (SCENE), a night for students and corporate and academe representatives to meet and converse over a formal dinner; the Research Grant (ReGrant), an event aiming to fund the best undergraduate research proposals all over the country; the Inter-University Quiz Show (Inter-U), a venue for the brightest chemical engineering students to battle it out in a friendly competition; and the Chemical Engineering Campus Challenge Series (ChaSE), an interactive event where participants apply the theories and concepts they learned in real-life applications.

Aside from AWITAN and sNCEC, the organization gives back to the community and society through KEM Gives Back (KGB) and Project C++: ChEck Marks The Spot (CMTS). Just this year, KGB Kids was organized for the benefit of the children of Barangay UP Campus. Learning sessions, games and food were prepared for the children over the course of several weekends. Project C++, meanwhile, benefits high school students all over the country. With four sub-events, Project C++ aids high school students through free college entrance exams review sessions, laboratory tutorials and renovations, and a career caravan about chemical engineering as a course.

With 60 years of existence, UP KEM is currently home to about 200 members and has produced over 1,400 alumni. In line with its traditions, the organization has successfully molded many of its members into well-rounded individuals and achievers. Currently, there are more than 30 student leaders of different organizations in and out of the university, who are members of UP KEM, such as incumbent USC Councilor Bryle Leano and PIChE-JCL's first Executive Vice President Vicky Abagon. Our alumni have also succeeded in their different endeavors. Engr. Karl Pilario was recently awarded the 2015 Limcaoco Instructor Award for Teaching Excellence, while the UP Department of Chemical Engineering Chair, Dr. Rizalinda de Leon was awarded the 2015 Most Outstanding Engineering Researcher, Gawad Chanselor sa Natatanging Guro and Outstanding Chemical Engineer for Research and Development 2015. UP KEM also has several distinguished alumni such as Sir Fortunato dela Pena, the current DOST Undersecretary and Ms. Alice Herrera, the current President of the UP Alumni Association in Toronto, Canada.

With over 60 years of excellence, the organization has continuously been awarded by different organizations for its successes. UP KEM is one of the only two organizations that have won the Engineering Week Over-all Champion (1992, 1994, 1999). Last February, UP KEM dominated OlymPACS winning the championship title as well as numerous minor awards. sNCEC 2014 was awarded the Outstanding Service Project to the University by the Engineering Organization Excellence Awards (EOEA), the Best Academic/Research Development Project by PIChE-JCL and the Best Academic Project by PACS, Inc.

UP KEM truly continues to set its standards higher and higher every year, while maintaining its status as the premier chemical engineering organization in the country.

KEM's 5 P's

PURPOSE TO LIVE FOR
A KEMer’s goal is to excel in all aspects of life, be it academic or social for it is with holistic development that a person actually grows.

PEOPLE TO LIVE WITH
KEM aims to home all chemical engineers of any social groups and classes. In diversity we find unity. In unity, we find glory.

PRINCIPLES TO LIVE BY
KEM achieves victory by hard work, dedication and most of all, honesty. We fight a good, clean fight. We run the race and we finish it.

PROFESSION TO LIVE OUT
KEM’s influence on its members never stops in the academic halls. The instilled strength on each KEMer is much proven when they go out in the work field, in the real world. KEMers continue to shine endlessly, never fading and never outshone.

POWER TO LIVE ON
We, the KEMers, given this unique power, will continue to show forth our glory to all corners of the College of Engineering, never ceasing dreaming and making all these dreams sweet realities.

Committees

Membership Committee

The Membership Committee is made up of at least 20% of the entire organization's population, and is tasked to handle all membership concerns of the organization as well as the recruitment, application, acceptance and induction of KEM's applicants. The committee is headed by the Vice-President for Membership, and meets once every two weeks to discuss all membership- and application-related affairs. The committee is a salad bowl of unique, strong and exciting personalities, making it one of the most widely diverse committees in KEM. In such diversity, one can find unity. True to the ideals of UP KEM, the Membership Committee sees to it that each member of the organization abides by the rules, fulfills his/her responsibilities, and, most importantly, finds a family to cherish in KEM.

Finance Committee

The Finance committee manages the funds of the organization and ensures that the expenses for all the events and endeavours of the organization would be covered. To do this, the committee conducts fundraising projects such as calculator, food and book sales. The committee also oversees the UP KEM Online Shop, the main UP KEM team handling the selling of the organization's merchandise. To date, the UP KEM Online Shop has sold numerous products including the Wear Your Feelings and What's Your Flavor shirts.

The Finance committee also formulates guidelines for the collection of fees from the members and for the disbursement of funds to the different committees. With the Vice President for Finance, it recommends the organization’s financial budget and plans per semester.

Aside from the financial aspect, the committee is also the bridge connecting UP KEM to the corporate world through its marketing. Most of UP KEM's marketing teams and heads come from the committee. It also organizes marketing seminars for the members.

Public Relations Committee

Being the ambassadors of KEM to the outside world, the Public Relations Committee is in charge of fostering good relations with other student organizations and alliances both inside and outside the university. The team is also in charge of maintaining KEM’s reputable image, and its top-caliber brand of excellence that is recognized not only in the university, but throughout the country.

In line with creating the distinct KEM brand, the Public Relations Committee oversees all the publications, organization statements and information dissemination campaigns of the organizations and its events. It also supervises the publicity and advertising of the events, projects and activities of the organization, ensuring that the publicity materials are of superior level. The committee also handles UP KEM Folio, the official newsletter of the organization, and upkem.org, UP KEM’s official website.

Ways and Means Committee

The Ways and Means (WAM) Committee is in-charge of UP KEM's merchandise, domicile maintenance, and logistics. The committee oversees all UP KEM merchandise, including the internal merchandise, such as drifits and corporate jackets, and merchandise sold to the public through the UP KEM Online Shop.

Its committee members spearhead the supervision of cleanliness, orderliness and discipline during activities of the organization and in its official domicile. Daily cleanups of the domicile are monitored by its members through the KEMMDA. They take charge of all properties of the organization, except those under the supervision of the other committees.

Most of the organization's logistics teams and heads come from the committee. The WAM committee members ensure that all logistics requirements of the organization and its activities are provided for regardless of budget constraints.

Educational Affairs Committee

The Educational Affairs Committee promotes academic excellence both within and outside of the organization. This is done by holding year-round events such as tutorials and by having a built-in library within the domicile. Aside from this, the committee also provides review materials and modules for the members.

The committee also dedicates its time and effort to the community by spearheading events such as college entrance review sessions and career talks for high school students through Project C++: ChEck Marks The Spot. It also fosters good relationship between the students and the Chemical Engineering Department by conducting the annual Student-Teacher Dialogue.

Socio-Cultural Affairs Committee

The Socio-Cultural Affairs Committee caters to two main purposes implied by its name: (1) a social objective and (2) a cultural objective. As the committee in charge of the members’ social growth, their task is to provide events that strengthens the members' relationships and gives them a bit of retreat from too much of life’s stresses, through activities such as the UP KEM Talent Camp and Little Miss KEM. And events that engages them to fulfill their social responsibility, through regular outreach programs such as the KEM Gives Back: Kids

The committee also addresses the point that learning is not restricted to the faculties of logic and the sciences but it also expands through the pursuit of the arts. That is one of the reasons why the committee manages the organization’s Talent Pools. Through committee-organized events, workshops and competitions, we are able to not just enhance the artistic gifts of our members but also share it with the people around us.

Here are the four (4) Talent Pools currently in the organization’s Performing Arts Circle:
Skitttles – High-Art Theatre Performers
Troupers – Virtuosos of Soul Expression through Movement
Band – Sultry Authority on Rhythm and Music
Choir – Angelic Heralds through Song

As members of the Socio-Cultural Affairs Committee, it is our duty to further advance the benchmark of the performing arts and always exemplify in action the compassionate heart that a true KEMer has for his fellow man and the world he lives in.

Sports Recreation Committee

The goal of the Sports Recreation committee is to develop means for athletic development and physical fitness within the organization. The committee provides the organization with clinics and activities which enhance the members’ abilities in the field of sports and recreational activities. The committee is simply a pool of sports-enthusiastic people who are able to deal with the load of academics and still excel in the field of sports.

Through sports clinics and the semestral Sports Fest, the committee ensures that UP KEM stays physically fit and strong. The committee also spearheads the participation of UP KEM in inter-school sports competitions such as the Philippine Association of Chemistry Students, Incorporated's (PACS, Inc.) event OlymPACS, and the Philippine Institute of Chemical Engineers-Junior Chapter Luzon's (PIChE-JCL) event PIChElympics, where UP KEM has consistently been on top.

Aside from sports, the committee also encourages the members to participate in recreational activities. Board games are available at the UP KEM tambayan for the members not inclined to athleticism. Also, the committee ensures the healthy well-being of the members through its annual BMI check-up.

Executive Council 2015-2016

President: Paul Jake Nalzaro

Executive Secretary: Joaquin Marcelo Dominguez

Vice President for Membership: Geoffrey Naldoza

Vice President for Finance: Lara Angelica Casalme

Vice President for Public Relations: Jansen Ng

Vice President for Ways and Means: Chelsi Ann Llanes

Vice President for Educational Affairs: Allieson Ilao

Vice President for Socio-Cultural Affairs: Raymund Joseph Osabel

Vice President for Sports Recreation: Art Philippe Bucaneg

See Also

http://www.upkem.org
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