Dr. Richard D. Alorro, the visiting scientist under the Balik Scientist Program (BSP) of the Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (PCIEERD-DOST) hosted by the UST Faculty of Engineering, delivered his Exit Presentation, concluding a 40-day visit, last 04 February 2016 at the Thomas Aquinas Research Complex. Dr. Alorro is a faculty member at the Department of Metallurgical and Minerals Engineering at the Western Australian School of Mines (WASM) of Curtin University.
One of the major activities of Dr. Alorro as a Balik Scientist was designing a course that bridges the gap between Chemical Engineering and Metallurgical Engineering under the M.S. in Chemical Engineering Program with specialization in Metallurgical Engineering. He also taught the course on intensive delivery mode from 19 January to 02 February. Students in the Program are expected to continue to WASM on their second year. As such, Dr. Alorro also identified areas of research that can be explored collaboratively between UST and WASM faculty members, and who can supervise students in their Master’s thesis collaboratively. He worked with Dr. Dimaano, who is also the Coordinator of Engineering Research Program, in writing research proposals for submission to the DOST.
Dr. Alorro led a number of activities while in UST. He conducted a seminar on “Mechanochemical Processing in Waste Treatment and Resources Recycling” for graduate and undergraduate students. He also held a lecture on “Rare Earth Elements: Application, Processing and Challenges”, which was attended by students, faculty members, and practitioners in the mining industry. He also worked with Chemical Engineering faculty members in a seminar-workshop on “Improved delivery of Metallurgy in the Chemical Engineering Curiculum”. As part of reaching out to the industry in building robust research platform for the M.S. Program, Dr. Alorro also visited the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines with Prof. Marcelo and Prof. Dimaano, and guided his students in field trips to the Bureau of Mines.
As part of his Balik Scientist activities, Dr. Alorro also visited the Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT). He gave a lecture at the Department of Metallurgical Engineering, and identified areas for collaborative research with MSU-IIT faculty members and WASM, which may develop into tri-Institution collaboration with UST. He has written a research proposal with the Assistant Dean of the College of Engineering, Prof. Ma. Teresa Ignacio, for submission to the DOST.
Dr. Alorro graduated cum laude with a degree of B.S. in Metallurgical Engineering from the Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT). He was a DOST scholar while in College, and placed 8th in the Metallurgical Engineer Licensure Examination in August 2002. He then continued his education in Japan as a MEXT scholar, obtaining his Master of Engineering degree, and then his Ph.D. in Sustainable Resources Engineering from the Hokkaido University. After obtaining his Ph.D. degree, he worked as a Metallurgist at Toyota Tsusho Corporation in Nagoya, Japan. He then joined WASM in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia as a Lecturer in 2013 on a permanent appointment.
Present in the Exit Presentation was Engr. Raul C. Sabularse, the Deputy Executive Director of PCIEERD, who awarded the Certificate of Appreciation to and conferred the BSP pin upon Dr. Alorro. Engr. Sabularse gave the response to Dr. Alorro’s presentation, on behalf of the DOST. He was accompanied by PCIEERD BSP Research Specialists who worked on the BSP activities of Dr. Alorro, led by Ms. Roxanne Delos Reyes. The Office of the Undersecretary for Research and Development was represented by Ms. Amy Rosalin.
The Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Prof. Philipina A. Marcelo, Ph. D., who worked with Dr. Alorro on his BSP proposal to PCIEERD-DOST gave the Welcome Remarks in the Programme. The Dean of the UST Graduate School, Prof. Marilu R. Madrunio, Ph.D., also graced the occasion with her presence and gave the Closing Remarks. The two Deans presented Dr. Alorro with a Certificate of Appreciation while Engr. Mark Emile H. Punzalan, Chair of the Chemical Engineering Department, presented him with tokens of appreciation. The Ppogram was organized and hosted by the Graduate School Engineering Cluster Lead, Prof. Maria Natalia R. Dimaano, D. Eng.
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