In the recently held 19th International Symposium on Advanced Technology (ISAT-19) last 14 January 2021, Dr. Jey-R S. Ventura and team received two (2) first- and one (1) second-place Best Poster Presentation award. For the category Materials, Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering. Their posters titled “Synthesis of Polyhydroxybutyrate / Cellulose / Calcium Carbonate Bioplastic Composites using Heat-assisted Solution Casting Method” and “Selection of Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) Extraction and Recovery Protocol using AHP-GRA” received the first and second place, respectively. In the other category Energy and Transportation, their poster titled “Isolation, Characterization and Screening of Purple Non-Sulfur Bacteria for Biohydrogen Production” received first place. 

With this year’s theme “Engineering Innovation for Food and Nutrition Security”, the College of Engineering and Agro-industrial Technology (CEAT) of UP Los Baños hosted virtually via Zoom the ISAT-19. ISAT is an annual event organized by the Engineering Department of Kogakuin University (KU) of Japan. UP Los Baños through CEAT was officially recognized as a member in 2017. 

Chancellor Camacho of UPLB, in his opening remarks pointed out the role of engineering in food security, and how CEAT can help attain this. In their keynote addresses, Academician Eufemio T. Rasco Jr of the National Academy of Science and Technology and Prof. Masaharu Yamada of Kogakuin University of Technology and Engineering encouraged the engineers and scientists to provide answers to food security problems that are “based on the recognition of interconnectedness of steps and processes,” and enumerated some negative effects of wheat flour foods, respectively.

Plenary talks and oral presentations discussed topics on materials, mechanical and manufacturing engineering, energy and transportation, food and health, artificial intelligence and smart systems, information and communications technology, and architecture and civil engineering.