UP COE Technical Bulletin 2021: PCA and TRA Book of Abstracts

INSTITUTE OF CIVIL ENGINEERING 33

PHER ERROL B. QUINAY
Beatriz Basa-Altura Professorial Chair in Civil
Engineering

Pher Errol B. Quinay is an Associate Professor in UP Institute of Civil Engineering and the Head of Structural Engineering
Group. He obtained his B.S. Civil Engineering degree from UP Diliman in 2005, M.Eng in Civil Engineering degree from
Tokyo Institute of Technology in 2009, and D.Eng in Civil Engineering degree from The University of Tokyo in 2012. He
was an Assistant Professor in Niigata University's Research Institute for Natural Hazards and Disaster Recovery from
2012-2016. In 2016, he returned to the Philippines as a DOST-Balik Scientist awardee. His research interest is on
combining numerical modeling and high performance computing techniques to solve high fidelity models in structural
and earthquake engineering problems. FEATURE (or Feature-based Earthquake Analysis Toolset for Urban Area
Response Estimation), is one of the tools he is currently developing for fault-structure seismic analysis.

FEATURE: A SEISMIC RESPONSE ANALYSIS TOOL FOR URBAN AREAS IN THE PHILIPPINES

This study aims to develop a tool for seismic analysis of urban areas in the Philippines, called FEATURE, or (F)eature-
based (E)arthquake (A)nalysis (T)oolset for (U)rban Area (R)esponse (E)stimation. FEATURE is designed to provide
overall quantitative estimates of response of buildings in the study area by summing up coarse approximations of
individual building responses. This is achieved by including in the modeling the physical parameters which are known to
influence the building dynamic response. FEATURE, through its developed modules, performs the tasks of input data
processing, time-history ground motion generation, building dynamic analysis, and postprocessing. The required inputs
are parameters that influence the dynamic response of soil and building structures. The main outputs are displacements
and story drifts that are needed to analyze the variability of response of the different buildings in a city. To manage the
expected large computation cost, the FEATURE toolset was implemented with parallel computing techniques. Data
partitioning from model generation is implemented to divide the workloads for the subsequent tasks of ground motion
generation, building analysis, and postprocessing. As a demonstrative example, FEATURE was applied to the simulation
of seismic response of school buildings due to a recent earthquake event, the April 22, 2019 Mw 6.2 Central Luzon
Earthquake. Results of FEATURE were compared to reported information from a conducted field investigation. In another
example, the building models in cities in Metro Manila were analyzed for a Mw 7.2 scenario earthquake for the West
Valley Fault. MDOF analysis models were set to represent structure types that vary in heights and floor areas. From the
comparison of results for four selected cities, the parameters, soil condition, structure type, and distance from epicenter,
have significantly influenced the distribution and variation of story drifts for structures with different number of storeys.
This shows that the developed tool can account for the effect of variability in the parameters in estimating the overall
seismic response of a city.

2021 PROFESSORIAL CHAIR AND TEACHING &RESEARCH AWARD - BOOK OF ABSTRACTS

34 UP DILIMAN - COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

ALEXIS PHILIP A. ACACIO
Beta Epsilon Professorial Chair

Alexis A. Acacio, PhD is a Professor of the Institute of Civil Engineering at the University of the Philippines. His research
interest involves site specific geotechnical investigation, laboratory testing and geotechnical analysis for various
infrastructure projects. He is also involved as a geotechnical consultant to various civil infrastructure projects
throughout the Philippines and served as the as the past president of the Philippine Society of Soil Mechanics and
Geotechnical Engineering (PSSMGE).

GROUND IMPROVEMENT OF UNSUITABLE BACKFILL MATERIAL AS A FOUNDATION
SUPPORT OF LOW-RISE STRUCTURES

This research studies the method of ground improvement necessary for backfill material underlain by Adobe
or Guadalupe Tuff. Certain areas in Metro Manila, although geologically underlain by the very stable
Guadalupe Tuff, have layers of soft materials in the thickness range of 4-5 meters. Constructing a shallow
foundation in this soft deposit can pose a problem as large settlements can occur during the design life of the
structure. A shallow foundation is usually embedded up to a depth of 1.5 meters and there is still a weak layer
that remains underneath it. Thus, ground improvement is typically carried out, in lieu of a deep foundation
system. For this study, jet grouting was employed to increase the bearing capacity for a low-rise residential
building. Upon conducting confirmatory tests and inspection, the design target bearing capacity was attained
through installation of jet grout columns underneath the shallow foundations. It was also shown that the jet
grouting system had a cost advantage over the other alternative foundation options.

2021 PROFESSORIAL CHAIR AND TEACHING &RESEARCH AWARD - BOOK OF ABSTRACTS

INSTITUTE OF CIVIL ENGINEERING 35

KRISTIAN AZUL
Salvador F. Reyes Professorial Chair in
Geotechnical Engineering

Kristian Azul has been part of the UP Institute of Civil Engineering since 2012, starting out as an instructor, and is
currently an Assistant Professor. He finished his Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering in 2012 and his Master’s Degree
in Civil Engineering (Geotechnical) in 2017 - both from the Institute of Civil Engineering of the University of the
Philippines Diliman.

His field of research is Geotechnical Engineering – with his interests being in Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering,
Earthquake Simulation and Sensitivity Analysis, and Soil Improvement Studies. His most recent research works include
simulation and validation of earthquake simulations of the 2013 Bohol Earthquake, the simulation of the possible
Mw7.2 West Valley Fault earthquake, as well as sensitivity analysis of earthquake input parameters used in modelling
of the local subsurface in relation to local site effects of earthquakes and input parameters for the earthquake
simulation process.

RESPONSE SPECTRUM ANALYSIS OF A SIMULATED MAGNITUDE 7.2 EARTHQUAKE EVENT
FOR THE WEST VALLEY FAULT SYSTEM

An analysis of the response spectrum for several simulated possible earthquake event from the West Valley
Fault was made for 3 sites. The simulated events consist of two test cases (TC) which can be considered as
base cases – where no direct manipulation or scaling of frequency content was applied by the user. Two more
test cases show the effect of low-frequency scaling, a process that serves to address the shortcoming of
stochastic finite-fault modelling in predicting the low-frequency content of a simulation. The test cases with
low-frequency scaling showed increased responses around the same range of the application of low-
frequency scaling. For the pseudo-acceleration responses, the effect of low-frequency scaling was noteworthy
for one of the sites as it caused exceedance of the design response spectrum of the local structural code.
However, for all sites, the simulated events’ response spectrum showed varying degrees of exceedance in the
high-frequency (low-period) range of the design response spectrum. A comparison of the pseudo-relative
velocity and relative displacement response spectrum between each TC and each station is also presented in
relation to the applications of each spectral value.

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36 UP DILIMAN - COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

MA. BRIDA LEA D. DIOLA
Levy V. Espiritu Professorial Chair in Civil
Engineering

Ma. Brida Lea D. Diola is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Civil Engineering, University of the Philippines
Diliman. She teaches Engineering Sciences, Civil Engineering and Environmental Engineering undergraduate courses.
She graduated from UP Diliman with a degree of MS Environmental Engineering (2014) and BS Civil Engineering (2010).
She is active in doing extension and research work, and she has been involved in several industry and government-
funded projects specifically on municipal solid waste & disaster waste management, waste-to-energy, disaster risk
reduction and management, water quality monitoring and modeling, sustainable construction materials, Environmental
Impact Assessment, and human and ecological risk assessment. She is currently involved as a project staff in Project
Integrated Waste Analysis and Technological Options (IWASTO), a 2-yr DOST-funded project under the IM4ManilaBay
Program.

WASTE MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM IN THE PHILIPPINES THRU MOBILE
AND WEB-BASED APPLICATION

The accessibility and reliability of data and information regarding waste management is vital for decision
makers to properly plan and devise solid waste management strategies. In this paper, a proposed waste
management information system in the Philippines was studied and developed. The initial system functions
and features were designed based on a preliminary review of similar existing information systems, a user
survey, and stakeholder consultation. The researchers developed a web portal and mobile application for
users to access relevant documents online, as well as to be guided in properly managing their household solid
wastes. Beyond the repository of information, the system presents visual data that people can see in one
snapshot, such as waste generated, disposed, and diverted, as well as a map of SWM facilities.
Recommendations and future activities to ensure the sustainability of this initiative were also included. The
developed waste management information system can be potentially adopted by regulatory agencies and
utilized on a national scale as a decision support tool for solid waste management in the country.

2021 PROFESSORIAL CHAIR AND TEACHING &RESEARCH AWARD - BOOK OF ABSTRACTS

INSTITUTE OF CIVIL ENGINEERING 37

MARIA ANTONIA N. TANCHULING
Maynilad Professorial Chair

Dr. Maria Antonia N. Tanchuling is the current Director of the Institute of Civil Engineering. Her research interests include
Solid Waste Management, Plastic Leakage Studies, Microplastics, Environmental Impact Assessment, Water Quality
Management, and Water and Sanitation. She is the Chairperson of the Philippine Association of Tertiary Level Educational
Institutions in Environmental Protection and Management (PATLEPAM). She also sits as a Vice-chairperson of TAO-Pilipinas,
an NGO which assists urban poor communities plan its settlements. She is a founding partner of AMH Philippines, an
engineering consultancy firm. She is the Vice-Chair of the Environmental and Energy Engineering Specialty Group of
Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers (PICE) and also the Adviser of its Student Affairs Committee.

CHARACTERIZATION OF MICROPLASTICS IN TAGUIG RIVER AND ITS CONTRIBUTION TO
POLLUTION LOADING TO LAGUNA LAKE

The occurrence of microplastics in freshwater systems is of growing concern and being studied worldwide.
Rivers serve as channels for carrying microplastics to other water bodies, such as lakes and oceans. In the
Philippines, Laguna Lake is considered to be the largest lake with Taguig River as one of its tributaries. This
study is the first to evaluate the abundance, characteristics, and distribution of microplastics along Taguig
River to Laguna Lake in surface water, water column, and sediments during dry and wet seasons. Samples
were collected, extracted, and examined under a 40x magnification microscope according to size, color, and
shape. For the dry season, results showed that the concentrations of microplastics are 107-390 particles/m3 in
surface water, 47-370 particles/m3 in water column, and 76-119 particles/kg in sediments. For the wet season,
concentrations are 60-103 particles/m3 in surface water, 30-77 particles/m3 in water column, and 43-129
particles/kg in sediments. The concentration of microplastics is higher during the dry season than the wet
season. The average ratio of microplastic count in water column to surface water is 0.57. The dominant colors
found are transparent, blue, and white. Microplastics in the form of fiber and films are abundant in water
samples and sediments, respectively. Representative samples analyzed using a Fourier-Transform Infrared
(FTIR) spectroscopy revealed that the polymer types present are polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP),
polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and polystyrene (PS). Further, the total microplastic pollution load in water
samples of Taguig River contributing to Laguna Lake is approximately 2-61 particles/s.

2021 PROFESSORIAL CHAIR AND TEACHING &RESEARCH AWARD - BOOK OF ABSTRACTS

38 UP DILIMAN - COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

EUGENE C. HERRERA
Maynilad UP Centennial Professorial Chair

Dr. Eugene C. Herrera is an Associate Professor of the Institute of Civil Engineering, University of the Philippines Diliman.
He obtained his BSCE and MSCE from UP Diliman, and his Doctor of Engineering at the Tokyo Institute of Technology,
Japan, in Mechanical and Environmental Informatics He has been involved in various research projects with the
National Hydraulic Research Center as Research Fellow with expertise on water resources and hydraulic engineering. He
is presently the local counterpart on coastal environmental and hydrodynamic modeling of the JICA-funded BlueCARES
Project (Comprehensive Assessment and Conservation of Blue Carbon Ecosystems and their Services in the Coral
Triangle). He currently spearheads the Eco-System Modeling and Material Transport Analysis for the Rehabilitation of
Manila Bay (e-SMART), a DOST-funded project that intends to streamline solution interventions for the rehabilitation of
Manila Bay through hydrodynamic and material transport analysis.

TEMPORAL DYNAMICS AND DRIVERS OF LAKE ECOSYSTEM METABOLISM USING HIGH
RESOLUTION OBSERVATIONS IN A SHALLOW, TROPICAL, EUTROPHIC LAKE (LAGUNA LAKE,

PHILIPPINES)

The physical, chemical, and biological dynamics under changing atmospheric conditions of Laguna Lake, Philippines
were analyzed from intensive observations. Diel measurements were conducted for 48 continuous hours for both dry and
wet tropical seasons in addition to fine resolution long-term monitoring. Results revealed significant vertical and diel
variations of lake variables in spite of a shallow water depth (2.5 m), brought by the intense surface heating from solar
irradiance (~ 800 W • m-2) and accentuated by the lake's high turbidity (16-32 ftu). Late afternoon land-lake breeze (~ 5-
7 m • s-1) regularly breaks daytime thermal stratification, and convective cooling at night maintains isothermal condition
until dawn of the next day. The stratified condition demonstrated a wind-driven, density-induced 2-layer current pattern
with a windward moving epilimnion (~ 4 folds faster) and a compensating hypolimnetic flow in the general lake circulation
direction. Analyses confirm the flow structure strongly defined by the prevailing atmospheric and hydrodynamic forcing
conditions of the lake, both in the day-night cycle and seasonally. Laguna Lake was observed to have a dominating diel
cycle but also undergoes significant seasonal limnological variations brought primarily by climate, hydrology, and its
interaction with the adjacent sea. Significantly correlated variations of pH, chlorophyll-a and DO in the dry season were
indicative of the higher biological activity associated with the intrusion of polluted waters from Metro Manila. The non-
occurrence of thermal over-turn was observed to be regularly followed by bottom hypoxic conditions (2-4 mg • L-1),
suggestive of the eutrophic condition of the lake and the importance of diel wind-induced mixing in the bottom supply of
DO. Laguna Lake was found to be predominantly net heterotrophic (GPP:R < 1, NEP <0). Respiration exceeds primary
production, indicating that the food web of the ecosystem is supported by external inputs of energy.

2021 PROFESSORIAL CHAIR AND TEACHING &RESEARCH AWARD - BOOK OF ABSTRACTS

INSTITUTE OF CIVIL ENGINEERING 39

GUILLERMO Q. TABIOS III
Angel Alejandrino Professorial Chair

Guillermo Q. Tabios III is a Professor of the Institute of Civil Engineering and Research Fellow of the National Hydraulic
Research Center at the University of the Philippines at Diliman. He holds Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from Colorado State
University. Dr. Tabios teaches and conduct researches in stochastic and computational hydrology and hydraulics, as
well as water resources systems engineering. He is a member of the National Academy of Science and Technology. His
academic work and research experiences in the last 20 years are contained in his book, “Water Resources Systems of
the Philippines: Modeling Studies” published by Springer International.

SEDIMENT YIELD STUDIES OF PULANGI RIVER BASIN, BUKIDNON
This paper presents watershed flow and sediment yield modeling for the Pulangi River Basin to generate
inflows and sediment loads to Pulangi Hydropower (HP) IV Reservoir in Bukidnon. This is part of the sediment
management study of the Pulangi HP IV reservoir which is the only reservoir in the Philippines with a sediment
flushing facility (i.e., bottom sluice gates) for drawdown and/sluicing significant amounts of sediments instead
of accumulating in the reservoir. This study in particular illustrates how sediment yield modeling is conducted
especially in calibrating the model with scarce sediment yield field data. Results of this study can be used for
prioritizing areas with high sediment yields for soil erosion control such as reforestation or forest restoration.

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IMEE BREN O. VILLALBA
Federico E. Puno Professorial Chair A

Imee Bren Villalba is an Assistant Professor of the Institute of Civil Engineering, University of the Philippines, Diliman,
Quezon City where she teaches courses on Fluid Mechanics, Hydraulic Engineering, and Engineering Meteorology. She
also advices senior civil engineering students who are taking research topics in water resources and coastal engineering.
Her research interests include water resources engineering, coastal engineering, hydrologic engineering, flood
modelling and storm surge modelling. In addition, Prof. Villalba has made several presentations in national and
international conferences of studies in storm surge modelling, tidal energy, and hydrologic and flood modelling in the
Philippines.
Asst. Prof. Villalba graduated Cum laude in B.S. Civil Engineering and earned her degree in M.S. Civil Engineering major
in Water Resources from the Institute of Civil Engineering, University of the Philippines, Diliman.

MODELLING THE EFFECTS OF VARYING TYPHOON TRACKS ON STORM SURGE
GENERATION IN MANILA BAY USING ADCIRC

Manila Bay is an important semi-enclosed bay in the Philippines that is considered vulnerable to storm surges
due to its shallow bathymetry and exposure to typhoons. To help in coastal disaster preparedness, this paper
investigates the effects of varying typhoon tracks on storm surge generation in Manila Bay. A storm surge
model was developed for Manila Bay using the Advanced Circulation (ADCIRC) model. The model was
validated using the observed data during Typhoon Rammasun (Glenda) 2014. From analysis of historical
typhoon tracks, three (3) major group of typhoon track directions were considered in this study – namely, due
Northwest (NW), due West (W), and due Southwest (SW). The synthetic tracks per direction group were
created from historical tracks and shifting the tracks vertically, creating a total of 5 tracks per direction. The
tracks were then simulated using the intensity of the calibrated Typhoon Rammasun 2014. Results of the
simulation revealed that typhoon tracks were significant in storm surge variation along the coasts of the bay.
The substantial findings of the study are (i) storm surge increased from the mouth of the bay to the inner part,
(ii) highest peak storm surges for all the tracks were located at the northern portion of the bay along the
coasts of Pampanga and northern Bataan, (iii) critical tracks for NW, W, and SW directions passed near the
center of the bay, (iv) critical tracks for the three directions produced the same order of peak surges along the
southern Bataan and Cavite coasts but not for the coasts of Pampanga, Bulacan, and Metro Manila which
showed varying peak surge profile, and lastly (v) the northwest track that passed near the center of the bay
(NW3) produced the highest peak surges in Manila Bay except in Bacoor Bay.

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ROBERTO SORIANO
Dr. Leonardo Q. Liongson Professorial Chair

Dr. Soriano joined the Institute of Civil Engineering in 2013 and holds the rank of Associate Professor 4. He earned his
Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of New South Wales in 2004. He received his Master of
Engineering degree from the Asian Institute of Technology and his BS Agricultural Engineering degree from UPLB in
1985 and 1983, respectively. Currently, Dr. Soriano is the Group Head of the Water Resources and Coastal Engineering
Group of the Institute and serves as member of the National Water Resources Board.

FIELD OBSERVATIONS TO DEFINE THE BOUNDARY CONDITIONS AND SALINITY
STRUCTURE IN A COASTAL SAND DUNE AQUIFER

A field study of an aeolian coastal sand dune aquifer was carried out to describe the varying head and salinity
conditions of the groundwater particularly near hydraulic boundaries influenced by the tides and waves.
Bundled piezometers and monitoring wells were installed to measure fluid electrical conductivity and
hydraulic heads including their variation with depths. Results show the dynamic flow patterns of the
groundwater influenced by the tide and enhanced by the wave activity near the coast. Observations show the
interaction of the sand dune aquifer with rainfall recharge, regional influx from a nearby marsh and a tidal
creek. Heterogeneity in the geologic formation posed by a low permeability layer significantly modified the
groundwater flow patterns. The field observations from drill logs, geophysical survey and water properties
aided in developing the conceptual model for the groundwater flow and salinity structure in the coastal sand.

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42 UP DILIMAN - COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

MARJORIE T. DAVID
DMCI Project Developers Professorial Chair 2

Asst. Prof. Marjorie T. David is a full-time faculty of the Institute of Civil Engineering since 2017. She is the holder of the
DMCI Project Developers Professorial Chair 2. She obtained her bachelor’s degree (cum laude) and master’s degree in
Civil Engineering from the University of the Philippines Diliman. As a member of the Water Resources and Coastal
Engineering Group of the institute, her research interests include numerical modeling of water related hazards
particularly in the coastal environment such as storm surges and tsunamis. Her other fields of expertise include
hydrologic and hydraulic studies, drainage system design, and water supply distribution system design.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF PARAMETRIC CYCLONE MODELS AND RELATIONS FOR
RADIUS OF MAXIMUM WINDS FOR STORM SURGE SIMULATIONS: CASE OF TYPHOON

MERANTI 2016
Parametric cyclone models consist of relations for a pressure field and wind field based on specified typhoon
parameters such as coordinates, central pressure, maximum wind, and radius of maximum wind. Such
models generate the forcing conditions for simulations of storm surges. This study investigated the cyclone
model parameters considering the Typhoon Meranti event, which made landfall in Batanes Islands of the
Philippines in 2016. Available empirical equations for radius of maximum wind were compared and it showed
that the equation developed by Vickery and Wadhera in 2008 best estimated the radius of maximum winds for
the dataset considered. Comparisons of modeled and observed winds and pressures using various
parametric cyclone models showed that the 1952 Fujitamodel gave more accurate pressure fields, while the
2010 Holland model gave more accurate wind fields. Based on storm surge simulations of Typhoon Meranti,
the 1952 Fujita cyclone model gave the more accurate simulation of the storm tides. The 2010 Holland
cyclone model generally has lower wind fields which reduced the wind surge component and the simulated
significant wave heights which also reduces the contribution of wave setup to the storm tide levels.

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INSTITUTE OF CIVIL ENGINEERING 43

JAIME Y. HERNANDEZ, JR.
Antonio G. Tan Giok Kun Professorial Chair in
Civil Engineering

Jaime Y. Hernandez Jr. is a Professor of the Institute of Civil Engineering. He holds a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the
University of Tokyo. Dr. Hernandez teaches and conduct researches in structural engineering analysis and design, as
well as structural health monitoring. His research interests include vulnerability assessment of existing structures and
wind engineering.

MEASUREMENT OF THE NATURAL FREQUENCIES OF VIBRATION OF COLUMNS
OF THE ICE L1 & L2 BUILDING FOR STRUCTURAL HEALTH MONITORING

The dynamic properties of structural buildings and their members are inherent in the structure and are
sensitive to damage. One of these is the natural frequency of vibration of structural members. Using a data
acquisition system free vibration data is measured and analyzed to determine the natural frequencies of
vibration of columns in the Structures and Construction laboratory building (ICE L1 & L2 building). These
natural frequencies will serve as baseline data for comparison with future measurements to detect damage.

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OSCAR VICTOR M. ANTONIO JR.
Alfredo L. Juinio Professorial Chair

Dr. Oscar Victor M. Antonio, Jr. is a Professor at the Institute of Civil Engineering and a Research Fellow of the Building
Research Service (BRS) of the University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City. He teaches undergraduate and graduate
courses. These courses include statics of rigid bodies, mechanics of deformable bodies, mathematical methods,
construction materials, geotechnical engineering, structural analysis, structural design (steel and reinforced concrete),
and nondestructive testing. Dr. Antonio served as Associate Dean under two administrations, in 2007 and from 2012 to
2016.
His fields of specialization are structural engineering and geotechnical engineering. His research areas cover
nondestructive testing and evaluation, structural integrity evaluation of new and existing structures, structural health
monitoring, concrete imaging (superstructure and substructure), ultrasonic wave simulation, concrete technology, smart
building, ground improvement, and applications of unmanned aerial vehicle, unmanned ground vehicle, neural network,
and augmented reality for structure evaluation.
Dr. Antonio graduated with a Doctor of Engineering degree from Tokyo Institute of Technology. He obtained his Master
of Science and Bachelor of Science degrees in Civil Engineering from the University of the Philippines Diliman.

DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF A CONCRETE CARBONATION CHAMBER WITH AN
AUTOMATED PARAMETER CONTROL SYSTEM

This paper presents part of an ongoing research project. The main objective of the overall project is to
investigate the effects of incorporating graphene nanoplatelets (GNP) to concrete properties (mechanical,
piezoresistivity, durability). This paper focuses on a portion of the durability component of the project wherein
researchers subject concrete samples to accelerated carbonation to examine the effect of carbonation on the
pH value and in strength of concrete. Carbonation leads to a drop in pH values of concrete due to the reaction
of carbon dioxide and calcium hydroxide which may lead to the corrosion of steel reinforcements. Prolonged
exposure to carbonation may also result in reduction of the compressive strength of concrete. To conduct the
investigation, the researchers designed and constructed a carbonation chamber, which includes an automatic
parameter control system to maintain certain conditions for increasing the rate of carbonation. The algorithms
for each module that control the carbon dioxide concentration, temperature, and relative humidity were
designed by the researchers, while the programming and electronic hardware assembly were outsourced.
With the given budget, space, and time constraints, the researchers built a carbonation chamber with an
automatic parameter controller that can accommodate at least 400 concrete samples (4”x8” cylinder) at any
given time. The carbonation chamber was built at the second floor of the Structural Engineering laboratory of
UP Institute of Civil Engineering.

2021 PROFESSORIAL CHAIR AND TEACHING &RESEARCH AWARD - BOOK OF ABSTRACTS

INSTITUTE OF CIVIL ENGINEERING 45

DIOCEL HAROLD M. AQUINO
Engr. Ronaldo S. Ison Professorial Chair in
Structural Engineering

DIOCEL HAROLD M. AQUINO has been serving as faculty member of the Institute of Civil Engineering since 2009. He
obtained his bachelor’s and master’s degree in Civil Engineering at the University of the Philippines Diliman in 2009 and
2014, respectively, and his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering degree at the University of Auckland in New Zealand in 2020. He is
concurrently serves as the Deputy Director for Academic Programs of Institute. He is also an affiliate faculty of the
Environmental Engineering Program of the UP College of Engineering. He is also a fellow of the UP Resilience Institute, a
young scientist fellow at the Integrated Research on Disaster Risks, and a mentor at the Coalition of Disaster Resilient
Infrastructure. His work is centered around the theme of Sustainable and Resilient Built Environment. Among his major
involvements include the review and revision of the National Building Code of the Philippines in order to mainstream the
issues of Sustainability and Disaster Resilience. He is also well-immersed in community-based engineering practice in
partnership with civil society organizations.

FACTORS INFLUENCING RESILIENCE-BUILDING THROUGH BUILDING REGULATIONS
Recent history has seen an increasing trend in the extent of damage brought about by disasters on structures
and infrastructure systems in light of intensifying hazards globally. In order to address this, the Sendai
Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction has put forward the creation or updating of building regulations as a
strategy towards achieving disaster resilience in the building stock. Building code upgrade has been seen as
an important strategy in developing the resilience of the emergent post-disaster building stock in the
aftermath of major disaster events. This research employs the grounded theory method in unpacking the
factors that affect the resilience-building effectiveness of building code updates using the case of Fiji’s post-
Cyclone Winston and the Philippines’ post-Haiyan recovery. Three key factors have emerged: Inclusion,
Information, and Implementation. These factors collectively contribute to enhancing the resilience of the
housing stock through building regulations.

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46 UP DILIMAN - COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

RICHMARK N. MACUHA
Federico E. Puno Professorial Chair B

Assistant Professor Richmark N. Macuha has been serving as a full-time faculty member from the Institute of
Civil Engineering since 2010. His expertise is in the field of numerical modeling applied to water resources
engineering applications. He had conducted hydrological investigations, flood studies, and water resources
assessments of various watersheds in the Philippines as part of his involvements in some past research
projects. He has also industry-related experiences in hydraulic engineering applications such as in the design
of surface water intakes, water supply systems and hydropower components. He earned his Bachelor of
Science in Civil Engineering and Master of Science in Civil Engineering (Water Resources) from the University
of the Philippines Diliman.

SUPPLEMENTARY TOOLS IN BASELINE INFORMATION BUILDING FOR WATER RESOURCES
PROJECTS UNDER THE NEW NORMAL

The impacts of COVID-19 pandemic made everyone change lifestyle and live under a new normal. Research
and industry-related engineering projects are affected in many ways. For example, in recent times, data
gathering becomes more challenging for several pandemic-related reasons. The main objective of this paper
is to demonstrate alternative ways to gather baseline data related to water resources projects. There are
supplemental open-source tools available for baseline information building which are used in the past years
that are expected to play more significant roles. The data gathering phase of some projects were used as
examples to achieve the paper’s objective. First, the importance and basic know-hows of Google Earth Pro ™
in the context of rapid reconnaissance and appraisal (RRA) were portrayed. Secondly, the use of hydrologic
modeling to obtain estimates of flow data was illustrated. And lastly, estimation of water levels which are
important for flood studies was approximated using a hydraulic model. As depicted in the following examples
and applications, there are some tools that could be very helpful in acquiring data under the new normal.
Although the results are subjected to some limitations, as in the case of uncalibrated models, these provide
opportunities to obtain valuable information amidst the pandemic.

2021 PROFESSORIAL CHAIR AND TEACHING &RESEARCH AWARD - BOOK OF ABSTRACTS

INSTITUTE OF CIVIL ENGINEERING 47

HILARIO SEAN O. PALMIANO
David M. Consunji Professorial Chair in
Engineering

Dr. Hilario Sean O. Palmiano specializes in Transportation Planning and Traffic Engineering and is currently the Group
Head of the Transportation Engineering Group under the Institute of Civil Engineering. Many of his research and
extension activities are affiliated with the National Center for Transportation Studies, wherein he was former Director
and currently a Research and Extension Fellow. His field of study includes traffic simulation, intelligent transportation
systems, traffic flow analysis, sustainable transportation, road safety, traffic management, and traffic engineering. He
obtained his master’s and doctoral degrees from Tokyo Institute of Technology.

VALIDATION OF A CUSTOMIZED LOCAL TRAFFIC SIMULATOR (LocalSim)
Traffic management offices in the Philippines commonly rely on experimentation or the trial-and-error
implementation of traffic management schemes to solve the growing traffic problem. This method is
unreliable, time-consuming, costly, and inconvenient to road users who are often not aware of the sudden
changes in traffic rules, regulations, and road configuration. One possible way to test the effectiveness of
proposed traffic schemes is by implementing them in silico or by computer simulation. There are traffic
simulation software programs available in the market, but they are either too expensive for massive use of the
different local government units (LGUs) and/or too general such that they are unable to replicate some
features of Filipino driving behavior. It is under this backdrop how LocalSim was conceptualized: A traffic
simulation software customized to the needs of the different LGUs with driving models designed to capture
Filipino driving behavior. This study presents the model validation performed, which proves that LocalSim can
generate simulation results that are acceptable representations of the real-world scenario. The study area is
the EDSA–Quezon Ave Intersection where the in situ or on-site traffic behavior was measured using the
selected measure of performance (MOP) and evaluated with Theil’s indicator.

2021 PROFESSORIAL CHAIR AND TEACHING &RESEARCH AWARD - BOOK OF ABSTRACTS

48 UP DILIMAN - COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

JOSE REGIN F. REGIDOR
Ambrosio Magsaysay Professorial Chair in
Engineering

Dr. Jose Regin F. Regidor obtained his BS and MS in Civil Engineering degrees at the University of the Philippines Diliman
in 1993 and 1995. He holds a Doctor of Engineering degree from Yokohama National University, Japan (1999). Dr.
Regidor was Visiting Scientist at the Tokyo Institute of Technology (1996) and Saitama University (2001 and 2008). He is
currently a Fellow at the National Center for Transportation Studies where he was Director from 2006 to 2012. He is
presently involved in projects on “Child Road Traffic Injury Prevention (CRTIP)” for UNICEF and “Network Planning for
the Establishment of Bike Lanes in Metro Manila, Metro Cebu and Metro Davao” for UNDP. He was one of the Project
Leads under the Emerging Inter-Disciplinary Research (EIDR) Program on “The Mass Transit in Metro Manila: From
Tranvia to MRT, 1879 – 2014.”

PEDESTRIAN SAFETY ASSESSMENT WITHIN PUBLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ZONES IN
QUEZON CITY USING STAR RATING FOR SCHOOLS

The implications of Philippines being a developing country indicate that Filipino children may be facing safety
risks going to and from school due to poorly built environments. In this study, three public elementary schools
located along highways in Quezon City were assessed using Star Rating for Schools. The Star Ratings of the
selected school zones were obtained, and improvements were correspondingly identified to improve the
obtained Star Ratings to at least three out of five stars. Aside from the importance of communicating results
and impacts in an effective, measurable manner to involved stakeholders through tools such as Star Rating for
Schools, great importance must also be placed in involving the users themselves in conducting the pedestrian
safety assessments. This is for designers to have considerable knowledge and understanding of a built
environment's day-to-day use and thus, come up with apt and ergonomically designed solutions.

2021 PROFESSORIAL CHAIR AND TEACHING &RESEARCH AWARD - BOOK OF ABSTRACTS

INSTITUTE OF CIVIL ENGINEERING 49

JAIME ANGELO VICTOR
Ciriaco Professorial Chair in Engineering

Jaime Angelo Victor is an Assistant Professor of the Geotechnical Engineering Group of the UP Institute of Civil
Engineering. He has a bachelor and master’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of the Philippines Diliman.
He is an active member of the Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers and the Philippine Society for Soil Mechanics and
Geotechnical Engineering. His research interests are geo-hazard and risk assessment and mitigation, soil field testing,
and sustainable buildings and construction materials

UNCONFINED COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH PREDICTION USING DYNAMIC CONE
PENETROMETER TEST

The unconfined compressive strength (UCS) may be used to estimate the shear strength of the clayey soils.
This test is done in the laboratory using nearly undisturbed samples. This study aims to estimate the UCS
using a field test by using the dynamic cone penetrometer test (DCPT). Soil samples used in the study are
controlled in terms of gradation, while test cases were defined by varying compactive effort and moisture
content. These cases where tested with unconfined compression tests and DCPT. A correlation between UCS
and the dynamic cone penetration index was established. The regression model yielded acceptable prediction
metrics. Further studies include the investigation of the effect of chemical soil stabilizers and the inclusion of
other factors to develop a multi-variable prediction model.

2021 PROFESSORIAL CHAIR AND TEACHING &RESEARCH AWARD - BOOK OF ABSTRACTS

50 UP DILIMAN - COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

LESTELLE V. TORIO-KAIMO
DMCI Project Developers Professorial Chair 3

Lestelle V. Torio-Kaimo is an assistant professor at the Institute of Civil Engineering of the University of the Philippines,
Diliman, teaching undergraduate subjects in Geotechnical Engineering, and Engineering Sciences. She obtained her
Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering degree and her MS degree in Civil Engineering specializing in Geotechnical
Engineering from the University of the Philippines.
Her research interests include materials testing, geosynthetics and geofibers, use of indigenous materials in
construction, pavement engineering, ground improvement, sustainable geotechnics, and geohazard assessment and
mitigation.

EFFECT OF DIFFERENT ALKALI ACTIVATOR IN THE GEOPOLYMERIZATION OF GOLD-
COPPER MINE TAILINGS

This paper presents a study that determines and compare the effect of geopolymerization to gold-copper
mine tailings using two kinds of alkali activator. Geopolymerization is a process wherein aluminosilicate
materials are transformed into geopolymers. The aim is to apply it to mine tailings in order to improve its
geotechnical characteristics to serve as an alternative material for embankment. The geotechnical parameters
are weighed such that it follows the DPWH Blue Book guidelines. The variables considered include the type of
alkali activator, alkali reagent-mine tailings (3:10, 4:10, 5:10) and different drying method (oven-dried vs. air-
dried). The alkali activator used for this study are sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and potassium hydroxide (KOH).
Based on the results of tests performed, it is concluded that there is a significant change in the particle size
analysis parameters, liquid limit, plasticity index, dry unit density, heavy metal content and the microstructure
of the geopolymerized test samples. Among the test samples, it is concluded that for NaOH activated
samples, the oven-dried specimen with the concentration of 4:10 alkali reagent-mine tailings is the optimum
mixture and the most suitable material for embankment purposes, while for KOH activated samples, air-dried
sample with 3:10 test ratio is considered as the optimum test specimen.

2021 PROFESSORIAL CHAIR AND TEACHING &RESEARCH AWARD - BOOK OF ABSTRACTS

INSTITUTE OF CIVIL ENGINEERING 51

NORIZA T. SADIE
Honorio and Elisa Allado Professorial Chair in
Civil Engineering

Noriza T. Sadie is an Assistant Professor in the Institute of Civil Engineering under the Environmental and Energy
Engineering Group at the University of the Philippines Diliman. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Civil
Engineering and Master of Science degree in Environmental Engineering from the same university. Asst. Prof. Sadie has
actively carried out research and consulting activities in the areas of solid waste management, rainwater harvesting,
mapping, and disaster risk reduction and management. To advance her learning, she also took part in training courses
in organizations and universities abroad such as the Kompost & Biogas Verband and First Zero Waste & Organic Cycle
Organisation, University of Texas at Arlington, Keio University, Tohoku University, and University Teknologi Malaysia.
These trainings expanded her knowledge in the fields of bio-waste, solid waste management, environmental
assessment, disaster risk reduction, and management of technology.

DEVELOPMENT OF A CLIMATE CHANGE VULNERABILITY AND IMPACT ASSESSMENT
FRAMEWORK FOR COMMON CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS IN METRO MANILA - A CASE

STUDY ON THREE DIFFERENT TYPES OF CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS
The main purpose of this research project is to develop an integrated and consolidated climate change
vulnerability index (CVI) and impact contribution index (ICI) assessment framework that is applicable to
different common construction projects in Metro Manila and the Philippines. It is aimed to understand the
relationship between climate vulnerability and impact contribution of construction projects through a weighted
point system index, and to compare the varying differences between individual construction projects through
the CVI and ICI diagram. The CVI may be obtained through analyzing three main factors which are: (1)
exposure to climatic hazards, (2) sensitivity indicators, and (3) adaptive capacity, while the ICI may be
obtained through analyzing four main factors which are: (1) life cycle carbon emissions model, (2) water use
and recycling, (3) energy efficiency, and (4) external sustainable infrastructures. An extensive case study of
three different types of construction projects, which are a 43-storey building, 42-storey building, and low-cost
15-storey building in Manila of varying geographic locations were done to apply the developed climate
vulnerability and impact contribution framework. A comparative analysis was done among the cases, and it
was determined that the construction projects have significant varying degrees of climate change vulnerability
and impact contribution indices that represents the growing disproportionality of climate change vulnerability
and impact contribution, which further requires adjustments on determining the feasibility of construction
projects to achieve sustainable development.

2021 PROFESSORIAL CHAIR AND TEACHING &RESEARCH AWARD - BOOK OF ABSTRACTS

52 UP DILIMAN - COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

AUGUSTUS C. RESURRECCION
Holcim Professorial Chair

Dr. Augustus C. Resurreccion obtained his BS Geodetic Engineering at the University of the Philippines Diliman in 1997
and Master of Engineering in Civil and Environmental Engineering and PhD in Biological Science at Saitama University,
Japan in 2002 and 2007, respectively. He went to Aalborg University for a short ERDT postdoctoral position in May of
2010. He has a varied research interests from environmental soil physics, water quality management modeling, solid
waste management, constructed wetlands and wastewater treatment. Currently, he is the Director of the Human
Resource Development Office of University of the Philippines Diliman and he is working towards the competency-based
and strategic Human Resource Management in UP Diliman.

DETERMINING THE OPTIMUM OPERATIONAL PARAMETERS OF A 100-L ELECTROCHEMICAL
ARSENIC REMEDIATION (ECAR) REACTOR

Electrochemical Arsenic Remediation (ECAR) through electrocoagulation is a groundwater treatment technology that is
low maintenance, has low sludge production, and a small system size. This study determines the optimal parameters of
the 100-L ECAR system in terms of charge loading rate and electrolysis time for collected groundwater with a volume of
100 L and spiked to have initial concentrations of 114.0 ppb and 134.6 ppb. With a charge loading rate of 8.33 x 10-2 A/L,
the As concentration was reduced to almost undetectable levels in approximately 45 minutes of operation time. For the
standard treatment time of 60 min, the optimum charge loading rate for the 100-L ECAR system is approximately at 6.0
to 7.0 x 10-2 A/L. It was also observed that the increase in the total surface area of the electrodes decreases the charge
loading rate, which implies that a lower charge loading rate is required for the optimum operation of the proposed scale
up 600-L ECAR System for deployment in the field site.

2021 PROFESSORIAL CHAIR AND TEACHING &RESEARCH AWARD - BOOK OF ABSTRACTS

INSTITUTE OF CIVIL ENGINEERING 53

MAXELL P. LUMBERA
Jorge M. Consunji Professorial Chair in
Engineering

Maxell P. Lumbera is an Assistant Professor from the UP Institute of Civil Engineering and a primary member of the
Environmental and Energy Engineering group. He has been a regular faculty member in the Institute since 2012. He
finished MS CE in Water Resources Engineering and BS CE from UP ICE. His research interests are on water quality
management, urban drainage systems, and rainwater harvesting systems. He is currently one of the project leaders of
Water and Energy Audit of selected UP Diliman Buildings. He is also part of the Quezon City Master Drainage Plan
Project of UP Resilience Institute.

ISSUES, CHALLENGES, AND STRATEGIES FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ROOF-BASED
RAINWATER HARVESTING SYSTEMS IN THE PHILIPPINES

The Philippines is known to have abundant rainfall averaging from 960 to 4000 mm annually. Despite this
abundance, water scarcity is imminent and growing especially during the dry periods. Despite its archipelagic
structure and abundance in rainfall, the Philippines is projected to be water stressed in 2040. The need for
alternative and intermittent water sources such as rainwater harvesting rises. Rainwater harvesting (RWH) is
defined as the collection, conveyance, storage, and treatment of rainwater for on-site use. Currently, there is
limited research on rainwater harvesting application in the Philippines and there is no established standard or
guidelines for its local design, construction, operation, and maintenance. This study reviews rainwater
harvesting, its history, its components (catchment, conveyance, first-flush diverter, storage), harvested
rainwater quality, and treatment methods for possible nation-wide adoption in the Philippines. Some problems
hindering the integration and implementation of this technology include lack of acceptance, motivation, and
involvement among potential users, missing hydrological data and information for confident planning, design,
and implementation of RWH systems, and insufficient attention to social and economic aspects such as land
tenure and unemployment. To address these, possible strategies to encourage implementation of RWH
include information education campaign strategies to promote the value and latest development of the
technology, offering subsidy and interest loans for potential users, tax exemptions for private institutions, and
strict implementation, review, and expansion of RA 6716, “An Act Providing for the Construction of Water
Wells, Rainwater Collectors, Development of Springs and Rehabilitation of Existing Waterwells in All
Barangays in the Philippines” for government institutions. With the advancement of technology, GIS-based
decision making can be implemented in optimizing the location and sizing of rainwater harvesting systems.

2021 PROFESSORIAL CHAIR AND TEACHING &RESEARCH AWARD - BOOK OF ABSTRACTS

54 UP DILIMAN - COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

FERNANDO J. GERMAR
Felisberto Reyes Professorial Chair

Fernando J. Germar is a Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of the Philippines-Diliman. He has served as the
Director of the UP - Building Research Service and Head of the Construction Engineering and Management Group of the
Institute of Civil Engineering since 2013. He currently occupies the Felisberto Reyes Professorial Chair. He also served as
the Director of UP Diliman Office of the Campus Architect from 2006 to 2008.
He obtained his B.S. Civil Engineering degree (cum laude) from the University of the Philippines Diliman in 1982. He also
obtained his MS and PhD (Structural) in Civil Engineering from the University of the Philippines Diliman in 1988 and
2011 respectively.
His research interests include earthquake engineering and seismic design and retrofit of structures.
Dr. Germar is a PICE- accredited Specialist in Structural Engineering and Construction Management and Engineering. He
is also a member of the Association of Structural Engineers of the Philippines (ASEP) and the Institution of Specialist
Structural Engineers of the Philippines (ISSEP). Dr. Germar also serves as a member of different national government
committees such as Accreditation of Innovative Technologies for Housing (AITECH) under the National Housing
Authority and various technical committees of the Department of Trade and Industry- Bureau of Product Standards.

SEISMIC RISK EVALUATION OF MEDIUM-RISE REINFORCED CONCRETE BUILDINGS
Based on a study conducted by JICA in 2004, a major earthquake up to Magnitude 7.2 is possible to occur as
a result of fault movement traversing some cities in Metro Manila and nearby provinces. As a result of the
study, the government embarked on a program to assess and retrofit public buildings in Metro Manila. Local
consultants currently use the provisions of the National Structural Code of the Philippines, which, however,
are applicable to new buildings. A section devoted to strength evaluation of existing reinforced concrete
buildings is somewhat limited to guide the engineers in the structural evaluation of existing buildings. The
current practice for most local consultants is to use the design provisions for new buildings following the
National Structural Code to assess existing structures. With such assessment and retrofitting program in
place, it is important to come up with standard procedures for seismic evaluation of building structures. This
paper reviews current international standards for seismic evaluation of existing structures, particularly from
the US, for possible adoption in the Philippines. Simplified procedure for seismic evaluation following ASCE
41 that may be applicable to medium-rise concrete buildings is reviewed. As a way of transition from the
current practice of local engineers who are accustomed to doing linear analysis, the possibility of using linear
analysis for seismic evaluation of mid-rise concrete buildings is explored. Limitations on the applicability of
linear analysis are also discussed.

2021 PROFESSORIAL CHAIR AND TEACHING &RESEARCH AWARD - BOOK OF ABSTRACTS

INSTITUTE OF CIVIL ENGINEERING 55

MARK ALBERT H. ZARCO
Prof. Alfredo B. Juinio Jr. Professorial Chair in
Civil Engineering

Mark Albert H. Zarco is a Professor and Head of the Geotechnical Engineering Group, Institute of Civil Engineering. He is
also currently the chair of the Geotechnical Engineering Specialty Division of the Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers
(PICE), President of the Philippine Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, and an honorary member of
the Association of Structural Engineers of Philippines. His research interests lie in the area of Geotechnical Engineering,
Computational Geomechanics, and Disaster Risk Reduction and Management. Professor Zarco obtained both his
Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering and Master of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of the Philippines
Diliman, and his Doctor of Philosophy in Civil Engineering (majoring in Geotechnical Engineering) from the Virginia
Polytechnic Institute and State University.

ANALYSIS OF LOAD-SETTLEMENT BEHAVIOR IN BI-DIRECTIONAL STATIC LOAD TESTS OF
BORED PILES

Bi-directional static load testing is widely used around the world for verify the load carrying capacity of cast-in-
place bored piles. Unlike the conventional top-loaded static load test, the bi-directional test allows both the
end bearing and skin friction to be determined independent of each other. In this paper, the results of bi-
directional static pile load tests are analyzed to gain insight into the load settlement behavior of cast-in-place
bored piles. Results of the tests indicate the presence of soft-toe conditions in varying degrees of severity.
Based on these results, a modified method for predicting the equivalent pile head load-settlement curve
considering the presence of soft-toe conditions is proposed in which the load-displacement along the side
and toe of the pile are approximate from test data using cubic-spline interpolation in lieu of the traditional
hyperbolic approximation. The proposed method is applied to test data obtained from bi-directional test data
to illustrate the method and compare the resulting equivalent pile-head load-settlement obtained from the
conventional method of analysis.

2021 PROFESSORIAL CHAIR AND TEACHING &RESEARCH AWARD - BOOK OF ABSTRACTS

56 UP DILIMAN - COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

RICARDO D. SIGUA
Dr. Olegario G. Villoria Jr. Professorial Chair on
Transportation/Logistics

Dr. Ricardo G. Sigua, is a professor of UP College of Engineering and is currently the director of the UP National
Center for Transportation Studies (NCTS). He served as director of the Institute of Civil Engineering from 2014 to
2017 and as director of NCTS in 1996-1999 and 2002-2005. He has authored a book entitled “Fundamentals of
Traffic Engineering” which has been widely used as main reference/textbook by many universities in the Philippines
and was awarded by UP as one of its Centennial Publications in Science in 2008. His forte is on transportation
engineering and traffic engineering, emphasizing the safety needs/requirements of nonmotorized transport (cycling
and walking) in all aspects of the design of roads and highways. He leads and encourages students to undertake
research on walkability, pedestrian safety, and bikeways development, both in public & private learning institutions
(UP, Ateneo de Manila University, PUP, UST, DLSU, MIT, etc.). He has been involved in several research works and
speakerships on this advocacy locally and internationally. He was project leader of the Marikina City Bikeways
Development Plan Project (1999 – 2000) , which garnered awards from Gawad Kalinga and from World Bank in its
annual conference in development economics in 2006, for its lifestyle health advocacy, economic sustainability.
This project has also been cited by DENR as one of the good replicable practices for climate change adaptation. He
has taken a key role in the development of UP Diliman traffic management plan, specifically the carless Oval, the
bikeway and jogging lanes and improvement of intersections for safety.

STUDY OF MOTORCYCLE RIDER CASUALTIES AT SIGNALIZED AND UNSIGNALIZED
INTERSECTIONS

Road crashes have been a significant contributory in fatal and serious injuries. Moreover,motorcycle injuries
are one of the top causes of road crash death. The main objectiveof thisstudy is to improve safety of
motorcycle riders at intersections using indirect approach. With this, intersection designs can be improved to
achieve minimal casualties and safer roads by conducting studies on factors affecting intersection safety. For
this study, traffic signalchangeandclearance interval, stopping and intersection sight distance wereevaluated.
Each of thesewas conducted to find relationship withone another and the collisions that occurred on the
selected intersections. Using traffic conflict analysis, the study revealed significant relationships between
hourly traffic volume and traffic conflicts such as slow vehicle-same direction, lane change, and rear-end,and
total number of road crashes.

2021 PROFESSORIAL CHAIR AND TEACHING &RESEARCH AWARD - BOOK OF ABSTRACTS

INSTITUTE OF CIVIL ENGINEERING 57

KARL B. N. VERGEL
Professorial Chair

Karl B. N. Vergel is a Professor of the Transportation Engineering Group of the Institute of Civil Engineering, College of
Engineering of the University of the Philippines. His research field is on transportation and the environment, and
transportation energy and is a research and extension fellow of the National Center for Transportation Studies.

ESTIMATION OF TRANSPORTATION ENERGY DEMAND OF THE PHILIPPINES
In the years 2000-2016, the sector with the largest share of total final energy consumption in the Philippines
is transportation with an average share of 34.2%. The study aims to estimate the baseline transportation
energy demand of road, maritime, air and rail transportation modes using the bottom-up approach. Through
the bottom-up approach and utilizing available local transportation activity and international fuel/energy
efficiency from secondary data sources coupled with primary road transportation activity and fuel efficiency
and railway operations survey data, the baseline transportation energy demand of the Philippines is estimated
to be 12,956.1 kTOE in 2016. Transportation energy demand is dominated by road transportation at 92.1%,
followed by maritime and air transportation with equal shares of 3.9% and lastly, rail transportation with a
share of 0.1%. Finally, the collection and keeping of certain data that are critical in the estimation of the
transportation energy demand are recommended.

2021 PROFESSORIAL CHAIR AND TEACHING &RESEARCH AWARD - BOOK OF ABSTRACTS

58 UP DILIMAN - COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
2021 PROFESSORIAL CHAIR AND TEACHING &RESEARCH AWARD - BOOK OF ABSTRACTS



60 UP DILIMAN - COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

MYRON T. ALCANZARE
Don Felipe Say and Theresa Chua Say
Professorial Chair

Assistant Professor Myron T. Alcanzare obtained his MS Chemical Engineering degree last 2018 and graduated cum
laude when he finished BS Chemical Engineering last 2012; both degrees from UP Diliman. Assistant Professor
Alcanzare is a member of the Laboratory of Electrochemical Engineering (LEE) of the department. His research interests
include renewable energy systems and chemical etching. Currently, he is the department’s network administrator.

A COMPARATIVE TECHNO-ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF DIFFERENT DESALINATION
TECHNOLOGIES IN OFF-GRID ISLANDS

Freshwater in off-grid islands is sourced from rain, groundwater, or mainland imports, which are unreliable,
limited, and expensive, respectively. Sustainable freshwater generation from desalination of abundant
seawater is another alternative worth exploring. Model-based techno-economic simulations have focused on
reverse osmosis desalination due to its low energy consumption and decreasing costs. However, reverse
osmosis requires frequent and costly membrane replacement. Other desalination technologies have
advantages such as less stringent feedwater requirements, but detailed studies are yet to be done. In this
work, a techno-economic comparison of multi-effect distillation, multi-stage flash, mechanical vapor
compression, and reverse osmosis coupled with solar photovoltaic-lithium ion-diesel hybrid system was
performed by comparing power flows to study the interaction between energy and desalination components.
Optimization with projected costs were then performed to investigate future trends. Lastly, we used stochastic
generation and demand profiles to infer uncertainties in energy and desalination unit sizing. Reverse osmosis
is favorable due to low energy and water costs, as well as possible compatibility with renewable energy
systems. Multi-effect distillation and multi-stage flash may also be advantageous for low-risk applications due
to system robustness.

2021 PROFESSORIAL CHAIR AND TEACHING &RESEARCH AWARD - BOOK OF ABSTRACTS

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING 61

JULIE ANNE DEL ROSARIO
Lodevina B. Reyes Professorial Chair

Dr. Julie Anne D. del Rosario is the Assistant Chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering. She obtained her PhD in
Chemical Engineering from UP Diliman last 2018. She took up MS Environmental Science and Engineering in Gwangju
Institute of Science and Technology in South Korea. She also graduated cum laude when she finished BS Chemical
Engineering in UP Diliman last 2010. Dr. del Rosario is the head of Laboratory of Electrochemical Engineering (LEE)
and is currently working on electrochemical, energy, and environmental engineering as well as energy storage
(batteries and fuel cells).

LINEAR PROGRAMMING MODEL FOR THE OPTIMIZATION OF THE BIODIESEL SUPPLY CHAIN
IN THE MINDANAO ISLAND OF THE PHILIPPINES

In the Philippines, the Biofuels Act of 2006 mandates the use of biofuels made from indigenous sources such
as coconut, but biodiesel is still less preferred by consumers over conventional fuel due to the higher prices
attributed to logistical expenses in production. This work proposes a linear programming model to reduce the
overall cost of biodiesel by minimizing the transportation cost in the Mindanao cluster biodiesel supply chain.
Two case studies were done to gauge the impact of varying the supply allocation and biodiesel blend on the
supply chain. The optimal supply allocation, transportation cost, and carbon footprint of each scenario were
determined. The first case considered a specified percentage of supply from oil millers. The second case
focused on future scenarios with increased biodiesel blend. A new facility locator feature was also added as
an extension of the program. The developed model showed high reproducibility using easily accessible
programming tools such as Microsoft Excel and Python and may be used as base framework for other
scenarios.

2021 PROFESSORIAL CHAIR AND TEACHING &RESEARCH AWARD - BOOK OF ABSTRACTS

62 UP DILIMAN - COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

MARLON L. MOPON, JR.
Cesar Buenaventura Professorial Chair

Assistant Professor Marlon L. Mopon obtained his MS Chemical Engineering degree last 2019 and graduated cum laude
when he finished BS Chemical Engineering last 2015; both degrees from UP Diliman. Assistant Professor Mopon is a
member of the Laboratory of Electrochemical Engineering (LEE) of the department and is currently doing research on
electrochemical engineering.

CORROSION BEHAVIOR OF AA 1100 ANODIZED IN GALLIC-SULFURIC ACID SOLUTION
Sulfuric acid anodization is one of the common methods used to improve corrosion resistance of aluminum
alloys. Organic acids can be added to the sulfuric acid electrolyte in order to improve the properties of the
anodized aluminum produced. In this study, the use of gallic acid as an additive to the sulfuric acid anodization
of AA 1100 was explored. The effect of varying anodization current density and gallic acid concentration on
the properties of anodized aluminum samples was observed using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy,
linear polarization, and scanning electron microscopy. It was observed that the corrosion resistance of
samples anodized in gallic-sulfuric acid solution at 10 mA·cm-2 is lower than samples anodized in sulfuric
acid. It was also observed that higher anodization current density can lead to lower corrosion resistances for
aluminum samples anodized in gallic-sulfuric acid solution. However, samples anodized at 5 mA·cm-2 and at a
gallic acid concentration of 5 g-L-1 showed better corrosion performance than the samples anodized in
sulfuric acid only. This suggests that the use of low amounts of gallic acid as an additive for sulfuric acid
anodization can lead to better corrosion resistances for anodized aluminum.

2021 PROFESSORIAL CHAIR AND TEACHING &RESEARCH AWARD - BOOK OF ABSTRACTS

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING 63

JOEY D. OCON
Federico Puno 1 Professorial Chair For
Energy

Dr. Joey D. Ocon is the Chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering. He obtained his PhD in Environmental Science
and Engineering from Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology in South Korea last 2015. He obtained his MS
Chemical Engineering degree last 2011 and graduated cum laude when he finished BS Chemical Engineering last 2008;
both degrees from UP Diliman.

Dr. Ocon has been a visiting professor/scientist in the following academic institutions: Department of Civil and
Environmental Engineering of the University of California Berkeley, USA; Department of Precision Science and
Technology, Osaka University in Osaka, Japan; School of Engineering, Monash University in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia;
Thermal and Electrochemical Energy Laboratory (TEEL) of the School of Engineering of University of California Merced,
USA; and Reiner Lemoine Institut (RLI) in Berlin, Germany.

COMPARATIVE ASSESSMENT OF SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC-WIND HYBRID ENERGY SYSTEMS:
A CASE FOR PHILIPPINE OFF-GRID ISLANDS

Geographic isolation limits energy access in remote Philippine islands. Among the few islands electrified, most
are powered by diesel, a costly and unsustainable electricity source. Efforts on energy access should
therefore consider affordable and sustainable renewable energy (RE) technologies. In this study, we simulated
solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind power integration in 147 diesel-powered Philippine off-grid areas. Different
configurations of solar PV, wind turbines, lithium-ion batteries, and diesel generators were evaluated based on
levelized electricity costs and RE shares. The simulations show that solar PV should be utilized in all areas
considered and wind power in 132 areas to guarantee reliable and continuous energy access with minimal
costs. The hybrid energy systems have an average electricity cost of USD 0.227/kWh, an average RE share of
58.58 %, and a total annual savings of 108 million USD. The sensitivity analysis also shows that dependence
on solar and wind power in Philippine off-grid islands is robust against uncertainties in component costs and
electricity demand. With the promising off-grid solar PV and wind power potential in the country, policies that
support RE-based hybrid grids should be implemented to address the trilemma of energy security, equity, and
sustainability.

2021 PROFESSORIAL CHAIR AND TEACHING &RESEARCH AWARD - BOOK OF ABSTRACTS

64 UP DILIMAN - COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

ANALIZA P. ROLLON
Oscar Lopez Professorial Chair

Dr. Analiza P. Rollon is a full professor of the Department of Chemical Engineering. She obtained her PhD in
Environmental Technology from Wageningen University, Netherlands in 1999. She also took up her MS Environmental
Science and Technology in the same university in 1993. On the other hand, she had her MS Chemical Engineering in
1992 and BS Chemical Engineering in 1985, both from UP Diliman. Dr. Rollon is the head of the Environmental Process
and Engineering Laboratory and is currently working on environmental processes, wastewater treatment,
diagnostics, and materials. Currently, she is serving as the Environmental Engineering Program Coordinator of the
College of Engineering in UP Diliman.

BISMUTH FILM-COATED GOLD ULTRAMICROELECTRODE ARRAY FOR SIMULTANEOUS
QUANTIFICATION OF PB(II) AND CD(II) BY SQUARE WAVE ANODIC STRIPPING
VOLTAMMETRY

The widespread presence of heavy metals in drinking water sources arises as a major health concern,
particularly in developing countries. The development of low-cost and reliable detection techniques is
identified as a societal need to provide affordable water quality control. Herein, a bismuth film-coated gold
ultramicroelectrode array (BF-UMEA) was used for the detection of Pb(II) and Cd(II) in water samples via
square wave anodic stripping voltammetry (SWASV). Experimental parameters such as deposition time, Bi(III)
concentration, acetate buffer concentration, pH, square wave frequency, amplitude, and step potential were
all varied to determine their effects on the current peak intensities of the target metal ions. Ten-fold excess in
the concentration of interferences was found to cause a decrease in the stripping peak areas of Cd(II) and Pb
(II) in the following order of magnitude: benzene < NaCl < Ni(II) < Cu(II). Using Box–Behnken design, the
optimum SWASV parameters that provided maximum current peak areas were 14.76 Hz (frequency), 50.10
Mv (amplitude), and 8.76 mV (step potential). The limits of detection of the as-prepared BF-UMEA were 5 and
7 µg L-1 for Pb(II) and Cd(II), respectively. These results demonstrate the potential use of a BF-UMEA in
SWASV for the trace quantification of Pb(II) and Cd(II) in water samples

2021 PROFESSORIAL CHAIR AND TEACHING &RESEARCH AWARD - BOOK OF ABSTRACTS

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING 65

TERENCE P. TUMOLVA
Dr. Magdaleno B. Albarracin Jr. UP Centennial
Professorial Chair in Engineering

Dr. Terence P. Tumolva is a full professor of the Department of Chemical Engineering. He obtained his DEngg degree in
Chemical Engineering from Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan in 2011. He gained his MS Chemical Engineering
degree last 2006 and finished his BS Chemical Engineering last 2003, both degrees from UP Diliman. Dr.Tumolva is the
head of Green Materials Laboratory and is currently working on natural fiber-reinforced polymer (NFRP) composites,
chemical recycling of plastic wastes, bio-adhesives, hydrogel-based medical devices, and agricultural hydrogels.

SOLVENT PERFORMANCE TESTING OF NaCMC/HPC/NaAlg HYDROGELS FORAGRICULTURAL
APPLICATIONS

The Philippines is Physically cross-linked NaCMC/HPC/NaAlghydrogel beads were subjected to several
performance tests to determine theirability to mitigate the immediate impacts of drought and
theireffectiveness to control nutrient release in soil. The testsshowedthat the beads havea water absorption
capacity of 2438%, indicating superabsorbent capability. Reusability tests showed that they are capable of at
least six cycles of swelling/deswelling with a net decrease in swelling from 331% to 170%.Nutrient release
studies were done using a multistage diffusion model to examinetheireffectiveness in controlledrelease. Soil
amendment studies showed that a 2.65%increase in the maximum water holding capacity isobtained per 0.1%
of hydrogelsin soil. Furthermore, phytotoxicity studies showed that the germination indicesof representative
vegetable cropsplanted in hydrogel-treated soil are above well above thethreshold for phytotoxicity limit.
Lastly, the hydrogels also showed potential as a growing substrate in soilless cultivation.

2021 PROFESSORIAL CHAIR AND TEACHING &RESEARCH AWARD - BOOK OF ABSTRACTS

66 UP DILIMAN - COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

MARK DANIEL G. DE LUNA
UP KEM Global – Dr. Luz Salonga

Dr. Mark Daniel G. De Luna is a full professor of the Department of Chemical Engineering. He obtained his PhD in
Environmental Engineering from UP Diliman in 2011. He also had his MS Environmental Engineering degree last 2007
and finished his BS Chemical Engineering last 2001, both degrees from UP Diliman. Currently he is under the
Environmental Process Engineering Laboratory.

ELECTROCHEMICALLY-DRIVEN REGENERATION OF IRON (II) ENHANCES FENTON
ABATEMENT OF PESTICIDE CARTAP

Cartap is a carbamate insecticide intended to protect crops such as rice, tea, and sugarcane. Cartap in the
environment presents a serious threat to non-target organisms through direct exposure or via
biomagnification. Electro-assisted Fenton technology taps the potential of Fenton reagents to degrade cartap.
Electrochemical reduction of iron accelerates catalyst regeneration. Cartap degradation was first investigated
by varying reaction pH, as well as the initial H2O2 and Fe2+ dosage, followed by optimization studies using
central composite design. Parametric results indicate the highest cartap removal of 98.10% was achieved at
1.6 pH, 3.0 mM Fe2+, and 40 mM H2O2 at I = 1.0 A and t = 30 min. These results notoriously surpass
conventional Fenton that only achieved 53.8% cartap removal under similar conditions. The hybridization of
Fenton process through electrochemical regeneration enhances removal and increases degradation kinetic
up to a pseudo-first-order rate constant value of 21.30 × 10–4 s-1. Effects of coexisting inorganic salts PO43–,
NO3–, and Cl– at 1 mM and 10 mM concentrations were investigated. These results demonstrate that Fenton
electrification as process intensification alternative can enhance the performance and competitiveness of
conventional Fenton by ensuring higher availability of iron catalyst while minimizing sludge production.

2021 PROFESSORIAL CHAIR AND TEACHING &RESEARCH AWARD - BOOK OF ABSTRACTS

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING 67

JHUD MIKHAIL ABERILLA
Benjamin Chua Professorial Chair

Dr. Jhud Mikhail Aberilla obtained his PhD in Environment and Sustainable Technology from the University of
Manchester, UK last 2020. He took up MSc Chemical Engineering in the National University of Singapore last 2015
and graduated summa cum laude when he finished BS Chemical Engineering in UP Diliman last 2011. He recently
founded and serves as the head of the Sustainable Production and Responsible Consumption Laboratory. Currently, he
is working on life cycle sustainability assessment, systems modeling and decision analysis, and engineering education
and policy.

SYNERGISTIC GENERATION OF ENERGY AND WATER IN REMOTE COMMUNITIES:
ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OF CURRENT SITUATION AND FUTURE

SCENARIOS
Improving access to energy and water in remote communities is an important step towards sustainable
development. However, integrated sustainability studies at the community or household scale are rare
compared to industrial or national studies. Thus, this paper presents an integrated approach to the
development and evaluation of energy and water supply systems in remote communities in developing
countries. Termed here “synergistic generation” (“synergen”), the approach considers simultaneously
electricity, heat for cooking and water supply to determine their environmental and economic sustainability on
a life cycle basis. Life cycle assessment and life cycle costing are used for this purpose. Both the current
situation and future scenarios to 2030 are considered for a representative remote community. The life cycle
costs of the current energy and water supply are estimated at 2944 USD/household per year, most of which
(91%) is due to bottled water. The latter is also the main cause of current environmental impacts (62%),
followed by cooking fuels (33%) and electricity (5%). If business as usual (BAU) continues to 2030, air
pollution and eutrophication could be reduced by >40% but other 14 impacts would increase by 2–63% on the
current situation due to higher dependence on diesel for electricity generation and bottled water. For the
same reason, BAU also has 82% higher life cycle costs (5364 USD/household•yr) than at present. Assuming
full supply self-sufficiency (Independent scenario) leads to a >12% reduction in all impact categories, except
terrestrial ecotoxicity, which increases by 5% – both trends are due to utilisation of waste biomass for cooking.
The life cycle costs are reduced by 92% (231 USD/household•yr), mainly due to the phasing out of bottled
water. However, capital costs are 21% higher due to the need for multiple renewable energy installations.
Pursuing moderate rather than full independence of supply (Transition scenario) would reduce most impacts
and costs below those of the current situation. Overall, the Transition and Independent scenarios have lower
impacts than at present in almost all environmental categories as well as lower life cycle costs. These findings
demonstrate the environmental and economic feasibility of energy and water independence in remote
communities as well as highlighting the likely trade-offs that should be considered during the transition.

2021 PROFESSORIAL CHAIR AND TEACHING &RESEARCH AWARD - BOOK OF ABSTRACTS

68 UP DILIMAN - COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

BRYAN G. ALAMANI
Lagman Family Professorial Chair in
Engineering

Dr. Bryan G. Alamani obtained his PhD in Chemical Engineering from University of Houston in 2018. He gained his MS
Chemical Engineering degree last 2012 and finished his BS Chemical Engineering last 2008, both degrees from UP
Diliman. Dr. Alamani is the head of Bioprocess Engineering Laboratory and is currently working on crystallization and
bio-inspired engineering, bioengineering, energy and environmental engineering, and engineering education. He is also
the head of the department’s Chemical Engineering Analytical Laboratory (CEAL).

ZINC IONS MODIFY CALCIUM OXALATE GROWTH BY DISTINCT TRANSFORMATION OF
CRYSTAL SURFACE TERMINATION

Calcium oxalate crystals are ubiquitous minerals in biogenic, geological, and synthetic systems. It has been
shown that the most naturally abundant form of these crystals, calcium oxalate monohydrate (COM), grows
via a classical pathway that can be regulated by crystal growth modifiers. One of the most important
occurrences of COM is during human kidney stone disease where the role of zinc in pathological stone
formation is not fully understood. There are conflicting claims in the literature that zinc functions either as a
promoter or inhibitor of COM stone formation. Here, we examine the role of zinc ions in COM crystal growth
using a combination of experimental and modeling techniques to elucidate ion−crystal interactions at
macroscopic to atomic length scales. From this, we show that zinc reduces the rate of crystal growth and also
induces morphological transformations via the introduction of intergrowths that can potentially accelerate
crystal growth. Density functional theory calculations indicate high energetic barriers for zinc incorporation in
COM crystals, suggesting that changes in crystal growth are related to zinc interactions with COM crystal
surfaces. This was confirmed by in situ atomic force microscopy measurements showing a unique ability of
zinc ions to truncate the height of layers on the (100) face, which concomitantly affects both the morphology
of surface features and the kinetics of layered growth. Collectively, our study suggests that the role of zinc in
pathological crystallization is potentially bimodal, consistent with opposing theories in the literature.

2021 PROFESSORIAL CHAIR AND TEACHING &RESEARCH AWARD - BOOK OF ABSTRACTS

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING 69

FLORENCIO C. BALLESTEROS, JR.
Maynilad Professorial Chair

Dr. Florencio C. Ballesteros, Jr. is a full professor of the Department of Chemical Engineering. He obtained his PhD in
Environmental Science from New Jersey Institute of Technology, USA in 2008. He took up his MS Environmental
Engineering in the University of Illinois, USA in 1998 and finished his BS Chemical Engineering degree in 1982 from St.
Louis University. Dr. Ballesteros is a member of the Environmental Process and Engineering Laboratory and is currently
working on hazardous waste management and biological treatment. He is also currently serving as the College of
Engineering Associate Dean for Instruction.

NUTRIENT REMOVAL AND BIOMASS PRODUCTION BY IMMOBILIZED CHLORELLA VULGARIS
Immobilized cells of Chlorella vulgaris in alginate– chitosan matrix achieved faster growth rates and produced
more biomass than their free cell counterpart in synthetic aquaculture wastewater. Higher (89.8%) nitrate-N
removal was achieved by immobilized cells than by the free cells (45.9%). Phosphate-P removal was both
high at 98.9 and 99.5% by immobilized and free cells, respectively. The alginate–chitosan matrix was found
suitable for growth, nutrient removal, and biomass production in synthetic aquaculture wastewater.

2021 PROFESSORIAL CHAIR AND TEACHING &RESEARCH AWARD - BOOK OF ABSTRACTS

70 UP DILIMAN - COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

MARJORIE L. BAYNOSA
Maynilad Professorial Chair

Marjorie L. Baynosa obtained her PhD in Chemical Engineering from Yeungnam University, South Korea in 2019. She
had her MS Chemical Engineering degree last 2012 and graduated cum laude, BS Chemical Engineering last 2006, both
degrees from UP Diliman. Baynosa is a member of the Environmental Process Engineering Laboratory and the
Advanced Materials and Organic Synthesis Laboratory. She is currently working on catalysis/photocatalysis, water/
wastewater treatment, and electrochemical sensors.

SPHERE-LIKE Ni3S4/NiS2/MoOx COMPOSITE MODIFIED GLASSY CARBON ELECTRODE FOR
THE ELECTROCATALYTIC DETERMINATION OF D-PENICILLAMINE

This article describes the synthesis of Ni3S4/NiS2/MoOx composite as an electrode material for the
electrocatalytic sensor for D-penicillamine (D-PA). The detection of D-PA is important in biodiagnostics and
therapeutic dosage control. The present study compared the performance of Ni3S4/NiS2/GC and Ni3S4/NiS2/
MoOx/GC electrodes for the electrocatalytic detection of D-PA. The nickel sulfide phases containing MoOx
demonstrated two-fold higher catalytic current response than the controlled one (Ni3S4/NiS2/GC). The
excellent performance of the Ni3S4/NiS2/MoOx/GC electrode is confirmed by electrochemical parameters,
such as electrochemical charge transfer resistance (133 Ω), diffusion coefficient (3.569 × 10-6 cm2 s-1), and
catalytic rate constant (7.415 × 105 M-1 s-1). The Ni3S4/NiS2/MoOx/GC electrode exhibited wide concentration
detection of D-PA from 5 to 796 μM with high sensitivity (0.08 μA μM-1), lowlimit of detection (0.26 μM), and
good interference tolerance ability. The proposed electrodewas also successfully utilized towards D-PA
detection in human urine samples,wherein good recovery ranges (105.6 and 103.5%) were obtained.

2021 PROFESSORIAL CHAIR AND TEACHING &RESEARCH AWARD - BOOK OF ABSTRACTS

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING 71

RIZALINDA L. DE LEON
Apolonio and Lorna Yson Professorial Chair in
Chemical Engineering

Dr. Rizalinda L. De Leon is a full professor of the Department of Chemical Engineering. She obtained her PhD in
Chemical Engineering from UP Diliman last 2006. She had her MS Energy Engineering in 1998 and BS
Chemical Engineering in 1982, both also from UP Diliman. Dr. de Leon is the head of the Fuel, Energy, and Thermal
Systems Laboratory and is currently working on production processes for biorefineries focusing on hydrogen, bio-
oil, bioethanol, platform chemicals, as well as the technical and HSSE aspects of LNG regulations, and tools for energy/
environment technology assessment.

RATIONALIZING THE REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS OF THE PHILIPPINE DOWNSTREAM
NATURAL GAS INDUSTRY

Opening up opportunities for the importation of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the Philippines for the first time
necessitated the promulgation of rules and regulations via a Department of Energy circular to govern LNG
importation and related activities. Per the circular, the review and evaluation of the technical, health, safety,
security, and environmental considerations of LNG project applications to construct and operate LNG facilities
involves an inter-agency monitoring and inspection team. A database of regulatory agency requirements and
processes was generated through Interviews and data mining. Comparative analysis with global LNG codes
and standards revealed gaps in the agency regulatory policies particular to LNG systems, while a value-
stream analysis exposed redundancies and bottlenecks in the permitting requirements and processes. Based
on the issues uncovered, some policy recommendations were proposed and evaluated for their qualitative
cost-and-benefits and likelihood of implementation. Fifteen issues were identified and 54 agency-specific
recommendations are proposed which can be categorized into three overarching proposals: (1) For
concerned agencies to adopt, integrate, and/or localize LNG and other relevant global codes, standards, and
best practices into their regulations and processes; (2) To rationalize processes, functions, and jurisdictions
both for inter- and intra-agency regulations including local government units, and; (3) To develop and provide
harmonized checklists, report templates, guide, information and submission modalities.

2021 PROFESSORIAL CHAIR AND TEACHING &RESEARCH AWARD - BOOK OF ABSTRACTS

72 UP DILIMAN - COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

ARTHUR A. GONZALES, III
Edgardo Pacheco Professorial Chair

Dr. Arthur A. Gonzales III obtained his PhD in Chemical Engineering from Northeastern University, USA in 2018. He
gained his MS Chemical Engineering degree last 2011 and finished his BS Chemical Engineering last 2005, both degrees
from UP Diliman. Dr. Gonzales founded and is the head of Molecular Modelling Laboratory and is currently working on
molecular modeling, nanomaterials design and characterization, structure-based drug discovery and design, and
pollution control and mitigation. He is also the Deputy Director of UPD HRDO.

VIRTUAL SCREENING OF 1,103 PHYTOCHEMICALS FROM ENDEMIC PLANTS OF THE
PHILIPPINES FOR THE INHIBITION OF THE MAIN PROTEASE OF SARS-COV-2

As of this writing, there are more than 25 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, with almost 850,000 deaths.
And the numbers are still rising. It has also wrought incalculable damage to people’s livelihoods and the world
economy at large. The source of this pandemic is the virus known as SARS-CoV-2. It is now one of the most
researched topics in pharmacological studies today. Although Remdesivir has been approved as a treatment
for COVID-19 in Europe and authorized to be used in the US for severe cases, there is still no widely available
drug that has been developed for the treatment of the disease. The lack of a cure is driving researchers to
search for drug candidates through computational studies involving the screening of large number of
compounds. Of note are works looking into the simulations with the main protease of SARS-CoV-2, the 3C-
like protease (3CLpro), as the target protein. Some efforts are geared towards repurposing phytochemicals
against the virus. The Philippines is well situated for this as it is one of the most ecologically diverse countries
in the world and is home to thousands of species of plants with untapped pharmaceutical potential. In this
study, phytochemicals from plants endemic to the Philippines are computationally screened to find potential
inhibitors of 3CLpro. Five natural compounds: aurantiamide from Acalypha indica (Euphorbioceae),
aurantiamide acetate from Baphicacanthus cusia root, isoliquiritigenin from Helianthus annuus (Asteraceae),
luteone from Paseolus vulgaris (the common bean), and apigenin from grape pomace were found to possess
strong and stable interactions with 3CLpro in silico, as well as good drug-like absorption, distribution,
metabolism, excretion, and toxicity characteristics based on molecular descriptors. Pre-clinical experiments
against SARS-CoV-2 involving these compounds are highly recommended. To directly compare the results of
this study to those of other researchers, the same screening protocol was applied to 14 reference
compounds. The recommended compounds from this study were found to be comparable to the reference
compounds, based on estimated binding energies and stability of the complex with 3CLpro. It was also
observed that Remdesivir interacts strongly with the 3CLpro, suggesting another mechanism of action for this
drug. These findings could help explain the success of this drug in early clinical trials.

2021 PROFESSORIAL CHAIR AND TEACHING &RESEARCH AWARD - BOOK OF ABSTRACTS

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING 73

MIGUEL FRANCIS M. REMOLONA
Elzar Lorenzana Simon DIEOR Golden Jubilee
Professorial Chair in Arttificial Intelligence

Dr. Miguel Francis M. Remolona obtained his PhD in Chemical Engineering from Columbia University, USA in 2018. He
gained his MS Chemical Engineering degree last 2011 and finished his BS Chemical Engineering last 2009, both
degrees from UP Diliman. Dr. Remolona founded and is the head of Chemical Engineering Intelligence Laboratory and
currently working on natural language processing, knowledge management focusing on ontology design/use,
ontology population, machine learning, and applications of ML/AI in Chemical Engineering. He is also the Graduate
Program Coordinator of the department.

EVALUATION OF RECURRENT NEURAL NETWORKS (RNN) FOR USE IN STRUCTURE-BASED
DRUG DISCOVERY

In structure-based drug discovery (SBDD), viable ligands may be identified through the use of virtual
screening, which involves molecular docking simulations wherein the predicted binding affinity of a ligand-
target pair is expressed through scoring functions (SFs). The exhaustive calculations needed to obtain
accurate results and the ever-increasing size of databases, however, poses a hurdle to the efficient discovery
of new ligands. Machine learning (ML) presents a solution to this abundance of data available for drug
discovery. ML SFs have been on the rise in recent years due to their non-parametric approach and improved
utilization of data, and this study developed a model that correlated the binding affinity of a given ligand and
the SF through the use of a recurrent neural network (RNN). A dataset of 1,533 molecules (including variants)
and their Schrödinger GlideScores for five stable protein configurations was collated and used to train the
neural network (NN). Mol2vec (Jaeger, et al., 2018), an ML implementation for converting molecules into
vector representations, converted the input for use in the model. The model was trained using various
hyperparameters, namely padding length, trainability of an embedding layer, and the RNN used (either simple
RNN, long-short term memory network (LSTM), or Bi-LSTM). Trained models for all three NN types exhibited
an accuracy of at least ~0.5. The optimal hyperparameters found were a padding length of 200, a non-binding
result replacement value of -100, and allowing the embedding layer to be trainable. The performance of the
models imply that binding affinity prediction is possible; high mean squared error values were attributed to the
treatment of non-binding result values.

2021 PROFESSORIAL CHAIR AND TEACHING &RESEARCH AWARD - BOOK OF ABSTRACTS

74 UP DILIMAN - COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

KRISTIAN JULY R. YAP
Maynilad Professorial Chair

Assistant Professor Kristian July R. Yap obtained his MS Chemical Engineering degree last 2014 and graduated magna
cum laude when he finished BS Chemical Engineering last 2009, both degrees from UP Diliman. Assistant Professor Yap
is a member of the Fuels, Energy and Thermal Systems Laboratory and is currently working on microfluidics,
waste management, and pollution control.

EVALUATION OF ANION EXCHANGE MEMBRANE (AEM) FUNCTIONAL GROUPS AND
INVESTIGATION OF TEMPERATURE EFFECTS ON AEM WATER ELECTROLYZER (AEMWE)

PERFORMANCE FOR HYDROGEN PRODUCTION
Hydrogen has been identified as an alternative energy carrier, and its synergy with renewable energy is
particularly advantageous, as excess electrical energy can be chemically stored in hydrogen to balance the
discrepancy between energy demand and production. Water electrolysis is a reliable process involving the
electrolytic decomposition of water to produce hydrogen of high purity. Among the several technologies that
have been developed for electrolysis, anion exchange membrane water electrolysis (AEMWE) is investigated
with an attempt of addressing the anion exchange membrane’s (AEM’s) low chemical stability by choosing a
suitable functional group based on its stabilities and performance. From related literature, the selected AEM
functional groups for evaluation were imidazolium, piperidinium, and quaternary ammonium. The effect of
these membranes on AEMWE performance was predicted through simulations at two (2) operating
temperatures: 20°C and 80°C. The properties evaluated were the Young’s modulus, tensile strength, ion
exchange capacity, swelling ratio, water uptake, and ionic conductivity. Evaluation results classified the
functional groups based on chemical stability, mechanical stability, alkaline stability, among others, and
ranked them using radar charts in determining which had the best combination of properties. These AEM’s
ionic conductivities were then incorporated in a numerical simulation of AEMWE using MATLAB at 20°C and
80°C. The simulation results verify the evaluation results and show the increase in efficiency at higher
temperatures, thus recommending the piperidinium functional group as the most suitable functional group to
address AEM’s low chemical stability.

2021 PROFESSORIAL CHAIR AND TEACHING &RESEARCH AWARD - BOOK OF ABSTRACTS

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING 75

BEMBOY NINO F. SUBOSA
Chua Liong and Loreta Dy Professorial Chair

Assistant Professor Bemboy Nino F. Subosa obtained his MS Chemical Engineering degree last 2017 and graduated
magna cum laude when he finished BS Chemical Engineering last 2012, both degrees from UP Diliman. Assistant
Professor Subosa is a member of the Process Systems Engineering Laboratory and currently working on process
simulation, process intensification, and engineering education.

UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES DILIMAN CHEMICAL ENGINEERING PLANT DESIGN
COURSE: ADDRESSING STUDENT OUTCOMES ON ENGINEERING DESIGN

The BS Chemical Engineering program of the University of the Philippines Diliman offers two senior-level
capstone courses on chemical engineering design. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of the
courses pre-pandemic in achieving their indicated course objectives/outcomes, as well as in addressing the
selected student outcomes on engineering design. Congruences between lecture and laboratory component
deliverables with the course outcomes, as well as the rubrics were summarized. Students’ feedback on the
extent of their learning experience and their perception on the extent of how the course and student
outcomes were achieved, were also presented.

2021 PROFESSORIAL CHAIR AND TEACHING &RESEARCH AWARD - BOOK OF ABSTRACTS

76 UP DILIMAN - COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

KARL EZRA S. PILARIO
Hydro Resources Contractors Professorial
Chair

Dr. Karl Ezra S. Pilario obtained his PhD in Energy and Power from Cranfield University, United Kingdom in 2020. He
gained his MS Chemical Engineering degree last 2015 and graduated summa cum laude in BS Chemical Engineering
last 2012, both degrees from UP Diliman. Dr. Pilario is the head of Process Systems Engineering Laboratory and
currently working on process data analytics, machine learning, fault detection and diagnosis, and
system identification.

LOW-DIMENSIONAL CLUSTERING OF GC-MS CHROMATOGRAPHICDATA USING DYNAMIC
TIME WARPING KERNELS

The chemometric analysis of chromatographic data is commonly used for discriminating propolis based on
their geographical origin. A few traditional machine learning methods for this purpose include principal
component analysis and hierarchical clustering. When viewed as a time series, the key discriminatory features
in chromatographic dataare the peaks, which should have similar location patterns for the propolis of the
same origin. However, the peaks between same-origin samples are not always exactly aligned. Without proper
alignment, samples from the same origin may be perceived by the clustering method to be very different. In
this paper, we propose a novel dynamic time warping kernel principal component analysis (DTW-KPCA)
method for the chemometric discrimination of bee propolisvia their sample chromatographic data. The
proposed method uses a Gaussian dynamic time warping kernel to measure the similarity between
chromatographic time series which incorporates time series alignment. Results show a better clustering of
propolis samples compared to the currently usedmethods. Hence the proposed method enables a more
reliable clustering as to the origin of propolis samples.

2021 PROFESSORIAL CHAIR AND TEACHING &RESEARCH AWARD - BOOK OF ABSTRACTS

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING 77

JEM VALERIE D. PEREZ
Robert Cheng/Uratex Professorial Chair

Dr. Jem Valerie D. Perez obtained her PhD in Chemical Engineering from UP Diliman in 2016. She gained her MS
Chemical Engineering degree last 2012 and graduated magna cum laude in BS Chemical Engineering last 2009,
both degrees from UP Diliman. Dr. Perez is the head of Nanotechnology Research Laboratory and is currently working
on functionalized nanomaterials, nanocomposites, nanotubes, nanofibers, nanosensors, and design optimization for
water treatment applications.

THE “STAGOMÉ” LATTICE: THE MISSING MEMBER OF THE STAR-KAGOMÉ FAMILY
Transition metal-based compounds with new two-dimensional, triangle-based topology are rare but are of
considerable interest because of their unusual magnetic properties. Here we report the synthesis of [(CH3)
2NH2]2[CoII5(OH)2(HCOO)6(SO4)2]−2H2O with the CoII ions forming a “stagomé” lattice, a previously unknown
topology intermediate between an octa-kagomé and a star lattice in terms of number of vertices shared per
triangle. Magnetic and heat capacity measurements suggest that the CoII-based compound possesses a
canted antiferromagnetic order below 8.7 K. The discovery of the stagomé-lattice compound completes the
star-kagomé family of triangle-based lattices.

2021 PROFESSORIAL CHAIR AND TEACHING &RESEARCH AWARD - BOOK OF ABSTRACTS

78 UP DILIMAN - COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

JAY R T. ADOLACION
Marubeni Professorial Chair

Asst. Prof. Jay R T. Adolacion is currently the Pilot Plant and Instructional Laboratory head at the Department of
Chemical Engineering. He received his PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Houston, U.S.A. in 2018, and
his MS and BS in chemical engineering from the University of the Philippines Diliman in 2013 and 2007, respectively. He
is now affiliated with the Bioprocess Engineering Laboratory, with research interests in phage display and
bioinformatics.

DESIGNED IMPROVEMENT TO T-CELL IMMUNOTHERAPY BY MULTIDIMENSIONAL SINGLE
CELL PROFILING

Background: Adoptive cell therapy based on the infusion of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells has
shown remarkable efficacy for the treatment of hematologic malignancies. The primary mechanism of action
of these infused T cells is the direct killing of tumor cells expressing the cognate antigen. However,
understanding why only some T cells are capable of killing, and identifying mechanisms that can improve
killing has remained elusive.
Methods: To identify molecular and cellular mechanisms that can improve T-cell killing, we utilized integrated
high-throughput single-cell functional profiling by microscopy, followed by robotic retrieval and transcriptional
profiling. Results With the aid of mathematical modeling we demonstrate that non-killer CAR T cells comprise
a heterogeneous population that arise from failure in each of the discrete steps leading to the killing.
Differential transcriptional single-cell profiling of killers and non-killers identified CD137 as an inducible
costimulatory molecule upregulated on killer T cells. Our single-cell profiling results directly demonstrate that
inducible CD137 is feature of killer (and serial killer) T cells and this marks a different subset compared with
the CD107apos (degranulating) subset of CAR T cells. Ligation of the induced CD137 with CD137 ligand
(CD137L) leads to younger CD19 CAR T cells with sustained killing and lower exhaustion. We genetically
modified CAR T cells to co-express CD137L, in trans, and this lead to a profound improvement in anti-tumor
efficacy in leukemia and refractory ovarian cancer models in mice.
Conclusions: Broadly, our results illustrate that while non-killer T-cells are reflective of population
heterogeneity, integrated single-cell profiling can enable identification of mechanisms that can enhance the
function/proliferation of killer T cells leading to direct anti-tumor benefit.

2021 PROFESSORIAL CHAIR AND TEACHING &RESEARCH AWARD - BOOK OF ABSTRACTS



80 UP DILIMAN - COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

KELVIN C. BUÑO
Atty. Raul C. Villanueva Professorial Chair

Kelvin Cui Buño is an Assistant Professor of the Department of Computer Science at the University of the Philippines
Diliman since 2012. He obtained his Bachelor of Science in Computer Science in 2009 and Master of Science in Computer
Science in 2011, both from the University of the Philippines.
Working under the Algorithms and Complexity Laboratory of the department, Kelvin's field of specialization includes
Formal Languages and Automata Theory. His primary research interests are Membrane Computing, Distributed
Computation, and Communication Complexity.

SOLVING THE SUBSET SUM PROBLEM USING DISTRIBUTED TISSUE-LIKE P SYSTEMS WITH
CELL DIVISION

The Subset Sum Problem is a decision problem where given a multiset of integers, a decision must be made
on whether a subset of said set can be found where the sum of its elements is equal to a target value, or not.
This problem is NP-Complete. Membrane computing is one of the ways used to approach these problems,
using a computing model commonly referred to as P systems. In this work, we solve the Subset Sum Problem
using dP systems where the components are tissue P systems with cell division. Compared to non-distributed
solutions, our 2-component solution can generate candidate solutions twice as fast, but computation time is
increased with respect to the target value described above. Communication costs were also analyzed and
measured.

2021 PROFESSORIAL CHAIR AND TEACHING &RESEARCH AWARD - BOOK OF ABSTRACTS

DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE 81

FRANCIS GEORGE C. CABARLE
Dean Ruben A. Garcia Professorial Chair

Francis George C. Cabarle received his PhD in Computer Science in 2015 from the University of the Philippines Diliman,
where he is currently an associate professor. From 2016 until present he is the head of the Algorithms and Complexity
research laboratory (aclab.dcs.upd.edu.ph/members/francis)
He was a visiting researcher with the Research Group on Natural Computing at the University of Seville, Spain from
2014 to 2015, and did postdoctoral research with colleagues at Xiamen University, China from 2016 to 2019. His
research interests include the intersections of bio-inspired computing, computability, and parallel computing.

SOME NORMAL FORMS OF SPIKING NEURAL P SYSTEMS AND VARIANTS
Spiking Neural P Systems (SN P Systems) are membrane computing systems that are abstracted from the
behavior of spiking neurons, or brain cells. These systems take advantage of various mechanisms, such as the
ability of neurons to forget, the ability of neurons to create and remove synapses, and many others. Some
variants of SN P Systems are (1) SN P Systems with Structural Plasticity, which include the ability to create
and delete synapses, and (2) SN P Systems with Rules on Synapses, which associates rules with synapses
instead of with neurons. The main results of this work show that for SN P Systems, having only one type of
regular expression in the whole system in sufficient for universality. Moreover, for the two variants of SN P
Systems mentioned above, having a maximum of one rule per neuron and one regular expression in the
system is sufficient for universality. For normal forms with such parameters, e.g. number of rules per neuron,
types of regular expressions in the system, our universality results are optimal. We also show some
optimisations on the types of neurons in a system, involving the removal of some unbounded neurons in
favour of simpler and bounded neurons.

2021 PROFESSORIAL CHAIR AND TEACHING &RESEARCH AWARD - BOOK OF ABSTRACTS

82 UP DILIMAN - COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

CARLO RAQUEL
David B. Sycip Professorial Chair

Carlo R. Raquel is an Assistant Professor of the Department of Computer Science, University of the Philippines Diliman.
He is a member of the Computer Vision and Machine Intelligence Laboratory (CVMIG) in his department. His research
interests include multi-objective optimization, evolutionary computation, and machine learning. He obtained his
degrees in Master of Science and Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the University of the Philippines. He is
currently a PhD Computer Science student.

HYBRID DERIVATIVE-FREE AND GRADIENT-BASED APPROACHES FOR MULTI-OBJECTIVE
REINFORCEMENT LEARNING

Multi-objective Reinforcement Learning (MORL) combines the concepts of multi-objective optimization (MO)
and Reinforcement Learning (RL) to develop algorithms to learn Pareto optimal policies. Derivative-free
optimization and gradient-based algorithms are popular approaches in policy search. Derivative free
optimization methods are stable but not sample efficient. Gradient-based methods are efficient learners but
are sensitive to hyperparameter values and does not provide good convergence properties. This paper
explores the hybridization of these two approaches to take advantage of their benefits.

2021 PROFESSORIAL CHAIR AND TEACHING &RESEARCH AWARD - BOOK OF ABSTRACTS