IPL conducts 2014 Workshop for looking back and planning ahead

Post date: Jul 13, 2014 9:57:37 AM

IPL conducts 2014 Workshop for looking back and planning ahead

To look back at previous accomplishments and to plan ahead for the future, the senior members and alumni of the Instrumentation Physics Laboratory (IPL) attended the IPL Workshop 2014 on 12 July 2014 at the Auditorium of the Institute of Environmental Science and Meteorology (IESM) in UP Diliman (UPD).

Senior members and alumni of the IPL during the IPL Workshop 2014 (click on image for larger view).

(L-R) Maria Eloisa Ventura, Norman Mascariñas, Kristine Faith Roque, Ranzivelle Marianne Roxas-Villanueva (front), Gerold Pedemonte (back),

May Lim, Gay Jane Perez, Reniel Cabral, Athena Evalour Paz, Rene Batac, Adrian Chester Balingit, Maricor Soriano, Giovanni Tapang,

Caesar Saloma, Krister Jazz Urog, Johnrob Bantang, Antonino Paguirigan Jr., Paul Leonard Atchong Hilario, James Christopher Pang,

Josephine Jill Cabatbat, Cefas Olivier Cabatit, Aimee Rarugal, Anjali Tarun, Jessica Nasayao. Photo courtesy of Norman Mascariñas.

25 years

It has been 25 years since the first PhD faculty of the IPL, Dr. Caesar Saloma, finished his PhD Physics in 1989. In reference to this, the chosen theme for this year’s Workshop is: IPL@25: Looking back, Moving forward.

The morning session of the program started with a short welcome message from Dr. Rene Rollon, Director of IESM. The Director thanked Dr. Saloma, former UPD Chancellor, for his part in making the construction of the IESM building a reality. He also thanked the IPL for choosing the IESM as venue for the Workshop.

Dr. Saloma then gave a presentation enumerating the milestones of the IPL over the past 25 years since his PhD graduation in 1989. His talk focused on the key publications that set the direction of the research in the laboratory and paved the way for the branching out of the IPL into new research topics. Some of these publications were also featured by international news agencies, showing their relevance and timeliness. In the end, Dr. Saloma challenged the IPL members to be ‘brave, bold, and competent’ in pursuit of their research ideas.

Dr. Caesar Saloma gave a talk highlighting IPL milestones.

Photo courtesy of Norman Mascariñas.

The current IPL Coordinator, Dr. Johnrob Bantang, gave a talk about the current state of the laboratory in terms of student memberships and publication rates. Using a word cloud from titles of IPL Publications, he showed the transition of research interests of the IPL from primarily optics and photonics research in the early years to multidisciplinary types of research problems in the last few years. His talk was followed by reports from heads of the different research groups, Dr. May Lim (CX Team), Dr. Giovanni Tapang (SynchBioOptics), and Dr. Maricor Soriano (VIP).

Dr. Johnrob Bantang discussed the current state of the IPL.

Photo courtesy of Norman Mascariñas.

Dr. May Lim presented the research interests of the CX Team.

Photo courtesy of Norman Mascariñas.

Dr. Giovanni Tapang discussed the capability of the SynchBioOptics group

and the VISSER project. Photo courtesy of Norman Mascariñas.

Dr. Maricor Soriano talked about the diverse topics being investigated by the

Video and Image Processing Group. Photo courtesy of Norman Mascariñas.

Two IPL Alumni who are heading their own research groups also presented their current research interests: Dr. Gay Jane Perez (PEARS, IESM) gave an overview of her work in meteorology and forecasting and Dr. Ranzivelle Marianne Roxas-Villanueva (IMSP, UPLB) discussed her work on physics education and other collaborations with IRRI scientists.

Beyond

In the afternoon, after a short group activity, the members revisited the Vision, Mission, and Goals of the IPL, with the purpose of revising them to be relevant for the next few years.

The group noted that many of the previous goals of the lab, like publications and production of PhDs, have been achieved over the last 25 years. Moreover, the group noted that many of the problems facing society today are of multidisciplinary nature.

In response to these changes, the group, headed by Dr. Bantang, formulated the new Vision of the IPL. This Vision was then used to introduce new Mission statements and corresponding measurable Goals to achieve them. These Goals are linked to key performance indices (KPIs), which will then be measured by the Coordinator to ensure that the IPL does not shy away from its Mission.

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