UP Engineering Research & Development Foundation Inc.

Background

The UP Engineering Research and Development Foundation Inc (UPERDFI) is a non-stock and non-profit private foundation registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission and with the Department of Science and Technology.

Since its establishment in 1972, it has committed to support the UP College of Engineering in Diliman (UPDCOE) by generating financial resources; managing endowment funds and specified donations; awarding financial support for the faculty and students; administering donations (financial and in kind) for buildings and classrooms and for research and instructional laboratories; and advocating for academe, government and industry linkages that focus on research and academics.

UPERDFI comprises about 150 members who are mostly alumni of UPDCOE, and is run by a fifteen-person Board of Trustees: eleven elected to serve three-year overlapping terms, and four ex-officio members. UPERDFI works with the UP Alumni Engineers Association, Inc. (UPAE) in mobilizing support from individuals and corporate organizations. It provides some administrative support to the UP National Engineering Center (UP NEC), particularly with regards research projects and technical activities undertaken by the center.

UPERDFI is recognized by the Bureau of Internal Revenue as a Donee Institution, exempting donors from paying donor's tax and providing 100% expense deductibility of donations for donations of a minimum of P50,000. It is also a listed recipient of donations made through the Friends of the University of Philippines Foundation in America (FUPFA), enabling donors to receive an Acknowledgement Letter recognized by the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The SGV & Co. is the independent auditor.

Supporting UPCOE

The demands of a global society, where the interdependence of nations is a key element, requires us in the Philippines to take an active part in crafting the future, particularly our own. Yet, we must start in our own home – how do we help our bottom-of-the-pyramid countrymen in uplifting their state of well-being? We must strengthen our educational system, alongside with advances in all aspects of national consequence, and pursue activities where they can participate and benefit from.

Being the major player in the field of engineering education of the Philippine national university system, UPCOE is the learning home of 5,000+ students in the bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate programs, with over 260 faculty members. The UP Charter enjoins UPCOE to lead in education, research, extension and public service, with innovation being a renewed focus.

Beyond the classroom, UPCOE helps upgrade the instructional and research skills of faculty members of some State Universities. UPCOE is also the lead institution in implementing the Department of Science and Technology’s Engineering Research and Development for Technology Program (DOST-ERDT), with seven other universities involved.

In addition to building better engineers, we need to develop technopreneurs. Thus, our new thrust is Lab-to-Market-to-Lab (L2M2L) - to bridge the intellectual capital of UPCOE with society. By providing mentoring, bridge funding and investment, we help ensure that the potentials of these research results and conceptual designs are developed closer to market. We also ask industry and investors what topics they want to be researched and pursued. For this, we work with DOST’s UPSCALE – the UP Sustaining Collaboration in an Advanced Learning Environment based in UP Diliman.

We must expand our stakeholder base by involving more individuals and companies, who will help UPCOE maintain its leading-edge position in ENGINEERING EDUCATION, RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT OF INNOVATIVE AND ADAPTIVE TECHNOLOGIES, AND APPLICATIONS THEREOF, FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL LEVELS OF PHILIPPINE SOCIETY!

Ways to be Involved

For Alumni, we call it REINVESTING. Our first investment was when we spent five years or a little more of our young adulthood in the hallowed halls of our College; or a few additional years for master’s and doctorate degrees. Those years helped significantly in building our careers, leading us to become what we are now.

For friends and everyone interested in nation-building, let this be your RENEWED INVESTMENT. Being a taxpayer, you continuously contribute to support the UPCOE through the National Budget. You may want to do more, for future generations of your families and others who will someday have the chance to study in the University of the Philippines

Market-Oriented Research

1. Technopreneurship: Lab-to-Market-to-Lab Projects. Students and faculty enhance their respective thesis and research projects for potential market capitalization. Donors can contribute to the UPERDFI Innovation Grants Fund, to provide bridge financing to projects in the development and start-up levels. On the other hand, businesses and corporations may enlist the help of the college for their specific research and development needs. A digital platform is being built to connect students/faculty or “ideators” with investors.

While UPSCALE provides shepherding of projects, UPERDFI enlists industry mentors who provide much-needed entrepreneurial guidance to project teams. These mentors may be compensated with shares of stock in the incorporated start-ups.

2. Collaborative Research Projects. With the UP National Engineering Center (UPNEC) or with specific UPCOE Institutes and Departments, companies can engage faculty-led teams in carrying out in-depth research projects. In many cases, technical staff of the involved company join in to carry out defined parts of the study in their own laboratories, thus enabling skills exchange/transfer from academe to industry and vice versa.

Infrastructure and Facilities

3. Research and Instructional Laboratories. Laboratories are critical, as we push our faculty and students to carry out projects that require more intensive and extensive scopes. State-of-the-art technology software and equipment multiply the productivity of brainpower resident in our College!

4. Buildings and Classrooms. We have several new buildings at the Engineering Complex in the southern part of UP Diliman that need to furnish classrooms and case rooms with a set of multimedia equipment, ergonomic chairs and desks, air-conditioning, lighting and sunlight breakers. Based on the seating capacity, this requires P400,000 – P600,000. New buildings can also be donated, with naming rights given in accordance with UP policies.

Faculty Development

5. Professorial Chairs.Our program of awarding chairs has excited our faculty to redouble efforts in doing research on top of their teaching roles. In accordance with UP rules and guidelines, the chair awardees are chosen after a rigorous evaluation process, based on papers that they produced in the previous academic year.

A professorial chair is supported either by an endowment fund (where only the interest earned is used for the annual awards), or by a 6-year commitment to provide annual donations. The UP Board of Regents requires that a professorial chair must award at least P120,000. Thus, a donor has the following options:

- A P 120,000 Chair, which requires a P3.5 million endowment, or an annual donation for the award amount - A P 180,000 Chair, with a P5.3 Million endowment, or an annual donation - A P 240,000 Chair, with a P7.0 million endowment, or an annual donation

6. Faculty Grants. These are provided to faculty members handling courses that require new teaching innovations, or to faculty who are pursuing specific research projects. A full-scale faculty grant calls for P120,000 to P200,000 a year; and a Teaching and Research Grant for P60,000/year. An Innovation Grant is also available to faculty who mentor specific technopreneurship projects enrolled in UPSCALE. Expenses for professors to present their research papers in international conferences also require funding beyond what UP can provide. Donations to the Faculty Development Fund, which started with a P1.8 Million donation from the UP Alumni Engineers, will be of great help.

Student Support

7. Study Grants and Thesis Support Grants. Even with UP implementing the Free Tuition Law, less-resourced students are still facing rising costs of living and studying. These options are open:

• Study grants for P60,000/year, providing P5,000/month stipend plus P5,000/semester for books and miscellaneous expenses. Some existing donors have increased the support to P6,500/month, or P75,000/yr.
• Thesis support grants of P10,000/project for graduating students. The outcomes-based learning policy of the College requires students to build prototypes of their designed devices and products, or to conduct extensive fieldwork, which entail extra costs. (It used to be designs on paper!)

Currently, we have just over 200 slots available, supported by individuals and corporations, by DOST, and by the UP Oblation Scholarships. Our target is to help the 800+ UPCOE students belonging to UP’s the tuition-discounted brackets.

8. Student Research Projects and Competitions. The depth and breadth of research and design projects that our UPCOE students undertake are impressive. Aside from industry-ready projects for local applications, student teams have won awards in international competitions like Shell Eco-Marathon and the Ring of Fire Competition. Students also get their research papers accepted for presentation in international congresses. Donations to the Dean’s College Fighting Fund pool help our qualified teams in footing the registration fees, airfares and hotel costs.

9. Student Internships and Faculty Exposure Programs. As part of its curriculum revision into a 4-year course, UPCOE is moving towards making internships a requirement. The program is conducted during the June-July mid-year break. Also, faculty members being exposed to industry operations enhance their instructional skills, like the 8-week Plant Design Training offered by Fluor Engineering. The Associate Dean for Institutional Linkages administers this Industry and Government Linkage with Academe Program (IGLAP), with 120+ active companies now hosting 500 student interns.

10. Student Awards. Recognition for academic excellence and outstanding all-around performance provide much needed encouragement and motivation to our students. The few that we have now provide P10,000 to P20,000 cash awards to the best and the brightest graduates. You can sponsor an award in the Department or Institute that you choose.

11. Student Loans. To further increase the options for students who need financial assistance, the UP Alumni Engineers has set up the Study Now Pay Later Plan (SNPL). UPAE has enlisted UPERDFI in administering loans amounting to P60,000/year. For sustainability, repayment is due when the loanee can afford to repay on a scheduled installment plan. Donations to the UPAE SNPL Loan Fund will increase the loanee count beyond the present 24 students.

Coursework

12. Sponsored Courses. The University recognizes the importance of industry experts handling a course of their specialization. For example, Nokia Manila Technology Center co-conducts a Networks Engineering Course with the Electrical and Electronics Engineering Institute and with the Department of Computer Science. LaFarge-Holcim offers a Sustainable Construction course with the Institute of Civil Engineering. You can identify your specific subject matter, and co-develop a course with the appropriate Department or Institute.

13. In-house Degree Courses. Professors conduct the coursework at UP or at the host company’s site, with the basic course curriculum required by the College, and the electives tailor-fitted to the company’s requirements. Based on the needs of the host company, these courses comprise multiple disciplines – Chemical, Energy, Electronics, Materials, even Physics and Chemistry. A critical mass of at least 10 bonafide UP masters’ degree students is required.

14. Industry Forum. UPERDFI organizes conferences where burning issues are taken up. The 2016 CEO Forum featured researches undertaken by professors. In 2017, UPERDFI co-organized the Nuclear Energy Forum with DOST.

Personal Involvement

15. Willed Donations. We are currently crafting a donation plan that is similar to what is common in the USA and Europe. This involves a person including in his/her estate plan the UPCOE or UPERDFI as beneficiaries.

16. Adjunct Professorships. The College needs industry inputs in its various programs. Alumni with recognized expertise are encouraged to enlist as professorial lecturers or adjunct professors. The DOST Balik-Scientist Program provides opportunities for those residing abroad to come and teach subjects in their specialty fields.

Make a Move Now

For further details, contact: Executive Director Alfonso A. Aliga, Jr. Tel: 981-8500 local 3015, or DL 926-5487 Mobile: 0927-798-0451 Email: aliga.uperdfi@gmail.com or titonitaaliga@yahoo.com

Visit our website: [www.uperdfi.org] Like us on Facebook: [www.facebook.com/uperdfi]