UP receives two new professorial chairs in Engineering

The donors of two professorial chairs in Engineering received a warm welcome at the University of the Philippines Board of Regents Room in Quezon Hall, UP Diliman, Quezon City on January 18, 2018. They also received Sundial Plaques as tokens of appreciation for their commitment and generous support to the University.
Representatives of the benefactor families, Dr. Antonio Tanchuling, Jr. for the Antonio and Lourdes Tanchuling Mining Engineering Centennial Professorial Chair; and Mrs. Rosario Halili-Quintos for the Juan, Jr. and Rosario Halili-Quintos Professorial Chair in Engineering; and Secretary Fortunato de la Peña of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), delivered inspiring messages as they expressed their reasons for supporting UP.
UP President Danilo L. Concepcion thanked the alumni for their endowments. He also recognized the officials of the UP College of Engineering (UP CoE) and the UP Engineering Research and Development Foundation, Inc. (UPERDFI) for getting more support for UP’s education, research and development initiatives.
UP Executive Vice President Teodoro J. Herbosa; Executive Director Alfonso Aliga, Jr. of UPERDFI; Chairman Pedro H. Maniego, Jr. of UPERDFI; Dr. Aura C. Matias, treasurer of UPERDFI and former dean of the UP CoE; and Dr. Menandro S. Berana, associate dean for Instruction and Research of the UP CoE also expressed gratitude to the donors.
Berana said the number of CoE faculty with Masters and PhD degrees are increasing, and that 126 professorial chairs were awarded to faculty who applied last year. He assured everybody that the College would continue to produce research beneficial to Filipinos and that the faculty would continue to inculcate a culture of research among their students to produce new generations of researchers and scientists.
De la Peña said the DOST aims to strengthen the transfer and utilization of technologies developed through research and development, through the joint efforts of UP, UPERDFI, alumni, and the private sector. He also announced the contribution to a new incentive for students and faculty who are able to obtain an intellectual property approval or patent, the incentive initially pegged at P50,000 each year, for the next 10 years.
Tanchuling said his family decided to sponsor a professorial chair in honor of their parents, Antonio (BS Mining Engineering, 1952) and Lourdes (BS Pharmacy, 1952), who believed that education was a tool to combat poverty and to promote genuine concern for others, especially for the rank and file, the laborers and their families. They wanted their parents’ vision which included giving back to the community, sustainable mining, preservation of the environment, optimal use of natural resources, and love for country passed on to students, through the faculty, who contribute to the making of a just and better world.
Halili-Quintos said her family, through their company, Rosehall Management Consultants, aimed to help the College produce innovative research that would improve the people’s quality of life.
Concepcion said professorial chairs encourage UP faculty to further excel in teaching, research work, and public service.
Last year, UP received the following professorial chairs in Engineering: the Vicente T. Paterno Mechanical Engineering Centennial Professorial Chair; the RASA Surveying and Realty Corporation Professorial Chair in Geodetic Engineering; the Hermenegildo B. Reyes Mechanical Engineering Centennial Professorial Chair; and, the Meneleo G. Carlos, Sr. Electrical Engineering Centennial Professorial Chair.