Vizcayano inventor bags national design award for 'wonder chair'

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines – A professor of Nueva Vizcaya State University (NVSU) won first place in the industrial design category of a recent government-sponsored national invention contest for his one-of-a-kind, three-in-one wooden utility chair.

Dr. Romulfo Sanchez, 52, an industrial education professor at NVSU, won for his wonder chair that can also be converted into a ladder and ironing stand. 

The invention contest was spearheaded by the Department of Science and Technology-Technology Application Promotion Institute (DOST-TAPI).

“This invention has been the fruit of hard work… many trials and errors… a result of various technical courses earned from (the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority),” Sanchez said.

For winning first place in the competition, Sanchez received P100,000 cash, a trophy and a certificate of membership in the World Intellectual Property Organization, all courtesy of the DOST. 

Sanchez, who specializes in woodwork and cabinet making and other industrial education courses, got into the national level of the invention tilt after winning in the regional level last year, where he got a cash prize of P25,000. 

“It took a long period of conceptualization and when I finally formulated this new device, (the DOST) advised me to check with its Intellectual Property Office if someone had already patented a similar design. Luckily, no one did,” he said. 

Sanchez then had his invention patented with the IPO Philippines in 2010 under his name and that of NVSU. 

“Actually, the idea for the three-in-one chair is still developing in my head, as many are suggesting further ideas for its additional functions, among them a possible high chair for children, a potty chair for the sick, or even a massage chair,” he said.

With no mass production yet, Sanchez said he is now manufacturing the multi-purpose chair made-to-order at P2,500 per piece. 

“We have been thinking if we indeed go into mass production that possibly we can sell it with completely knocked-down parts,” Sanchez said. 

Sanchez admitted that the price could go higher depending on the type of material used.

“I used gmelina in my design. Of course, if the material to be used would be mahogany or narra, it would be more expensive,” he said. 

He said his invention could also be made of durable plastic or even metal parts. 

As of now, Sanchez said his invention has patent No. 3-2010-00643 as a utility chair, patent No. 3-2010-00644 as an ironing table, and patent No. 3-2010-00645 as a ladder.

Born in adjoining Solano town, Sanchez has been with the NVSU (formerly the Nueva Vizcaya State Institute of Technology) since he graduated there with Bachelor of Science in Industrial Education in 1981.

He got his Master of Arts in Teaching in 1989 from the then Nueva Vizcaya State Polytechnic College (now NVSU Bambang campus), and his doctorate at the Technological University of the Philippines in Manila.