Pinoy students champion in Singapore engineering contest

MANILA, Philippines — Five Filipino students were declared champion in an engineering innovation competition in Singapore for their artificial intelligence or AI-enhanced aquaponics system.

The group is composed of students of the Batangas State University (BatSU) – Marc James Beltran, John Vincent Biscocho, Lawrence de Castro, Maria Nelly Magboo and Jerico Matibag. They received a cash prize equivalent to P330,000.

Alvin Alon, head of the BatSU Digital Transformation Center, was the mentor of the students.

The team’s AI-quaponics-360 was declared winner in the university category of the recently concluded Engineering Innovation Challenge (EIC) 2022.

The contest was organized by the Institution of Engineers Singapore and Science Centre Singapore, and supported by the city-state’s Ministry of Education.

The team developed a machine that is capable of monitoring and controlling the zoological and botanical components of the aquaponics system.

The contest was participated by students from other countries including those from the renowned National University of Singapore and National Technological University, which ranked second and third, respectively.

There were other BatSU students who joined the EIC 2022 and won merit awards for their entries.

BatSU president Tirso Ronquillo said the students gave much honor to the university, which was recently named National Engineering University.

He said the victory of the Team AI-quaponics-360 was unexpected.

“It’s overwhelming. I am so proud of our students for giving our country, our province, and our university this honor,” Ronquillo told The STAR over the phone.