Mapua inaugurates Smart lab

MANILA, Philippines - The Mapua Institute of Technology is beefing up its already formidable engineering program by adding a teaching facility for its Electronics Engineering (EE) students.

A wireless laboratory was recently inaugurated in the campus, a result of a partnership between Mapua and Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) under the Smart Wireless Engineering Education Program (SWEEP).

SWEEP is an initiative that Smart launched in 2003 to help schools raise the level of technology and engineering education in the country, particularly in the field of ECE.

Mapua president Dr. Reynaldo Vea thanked Smart for augmenting the university’s capability to deliver an education “immediately relevant to industry needs”.

The lab, he said, will be beneficial to Mapua particularly because it has adopted an outcome-based learning in line with its ABET accreditation. ABET (formerly referred to as the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) is a federation of 25 professional and technical societies in the US in the fields of engineering, computing, applied science and technology.

By gaining ABET accreditation, Mapua assures that a degree program meets US quality standards established by professionals themselves. This makes students more marketable not only to firms domestically, but even outside the country.

The lab houses cellular equipment including a live base station that will enable the students to study and conduct exercises on the different aspects of cellular networks. SWEEP also provides for a continuing education program handled by Smart engineers and industry experts that cover lectures on the latest technologies and wireless developments as well as on-the-job training and faculty immersion.

School of Electrical, Electronics and Computer Engineering (EECE) Dean Dr. Felicito Caluyo said that the wireless lab will provide both faculty and students with hands-on experience in cellular networks and wireless technologies.

Those taking up Electronics Engineering (formerly ECE), will be able to relate the concepts given during lectures with actual scenarios using the equipment, added EE department chair Alejandro Ballado Jr.

Mapua has arguably one of the strongest engineering programs in the country, with a consistently strong showing at professional licensure examinations.