AyalaTBI’s TechBootCamp
We received quite a number of inquiries about the TechBootCamp. If you didn’t hear about it, the AyalaTBI had its third run last year on November 22, 29 and December 6 at the TechnoHub-AyalaTBI along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City.
Entitled “From Upstarts to Startups,” the TechBootCamp was exclusively designed for the University of the Philippines (UP) System and was open only to teams of UP students, faculty members, and alumni from the different UP constituent units nationwide.
Post mentoring is currently on-going and winning teams will receive funding from the UP Diliman Foundation and the UP Diliman Office of the Chancellor. (The TBC served as a mechanism for selecting the pilot incubating businesses for pre-incubation at the National Engineering Center facility of the UP College of Engineering)
Last year’s panel of expert technologists and venture capitalists were: Arie Bernardo, Principal, WTP Capital, LLC; Chan Miranda, President and CEO, E-Apply, Inc.; Dondi Mapa, Process Director, Dell International Services; Dan Pagulayan, Executive Director, ICCP Venture Partners; David Cruz III, President, Neugent Technologies; Ed Isidro, President and Founder, Philippine Venture Capital Investment Group; Dickie Gonzalez, President, Philippine Emerging Startups Open; Boy Teodoro, Head, Innovation Development Division of Globe; Paco Sandejas, Managing Director, Narra Venture Partners; Troy Borja, President, Systema Corporation; Greg Tangonan, Director, Ateneo Innovation Center; Bill Luz, Executive Vice President, Ayala Foundation; Harvey Libarnes, Head, Incubation Program, Globe; Chito Oreta, Managing Director, Ayala Corporation; Michi Barcelon, Senior Manager, Ayala Foundation; Paul Inventado, Assistant Professor, De La Salle University; Chicho Mantaring, Head, Philippine Design and Engineering, Integrated Microelectronics, Inc.; and Ricky Jacinto, Managing Director, Ayala Corporation.
TechBootCamp is conducted by AyalaTBI in partnership with Brain Gain Network and the Philippine Emerging Startups Open.
Stay tuned.
Inauguration Video of UP-Ayala Land TechnoHUb
The TechnoHUb is home to AyalaTBI’s new technology business incubator, where twelve tech startups now hold office.
The TechnoHUb is expected to set the standard for all future S & T parks in the country and to be on a par with the leading research universities abroad, such as the Tsukuba Science City at University of Tsukuba; the Singapore Science Park at the National University of Singapore; Haidan Science Park at the University of Beijing; Silicon Valley at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California; and Route 128 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
A .tiff is worth a thousand text: AyalaTBI gets spanking new logos
The past couple of weeks we eagerly anticipated the new logos for Kape + Teknolohiya and TechBootCamp, two of our main projects at AyalaTBI.
This upgrade in our look symbolizes the new developments and challenges we face at AyalaTBI as we raise the bar in our programs to contribute to raising our global competitiveness in a big way.
Our flagship project, the TechBootCamp, promises to be more ambitious as it improves it scalability and replicability in order to create more jobs for skilled and talented Filipinos and ensure brain gain.
We are improving on our technology forums by progressing into more pressing issues our country faces, such as renewable energy and biodiversity, because we believe in the role of science and technology in national development.
We have three additional incubators in Luzon and the Visayas, and soon, we will expand our base of operations to the TechnoHub-AyalaTBI inside UP-Ayala Land TechnoHub, which is envisioned to be on a par with the leading S&T parks all over the world.
You may have seen it while driving down Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City. This additional station will serve as the gateway to AyalaTBI’s broader network of incubators.
Finally, even our communication materials have gotten a facelift.
With all these new and exciting things happening at AyalaTBI, we saw it fit to mark the times with a spanking new look.
The new look of AyalaTBI represents characteristics that we value both in a company and in technology—straightforward, innovative and agile. A simple graphic that is immediately recognizable, iconic of the technology landscape we move in, becomes necessary in the logo designs.
Our people and our partners are some of the brightest, most open-minded individuals in the field of technology entrepreneurship. We want the new logos to capture their in-depth knowledge, the clarity of their expertise, and their quiet intensity for their advocacies. Hence, clean lines and stark simplicity mark the design.
Most importantly, we want the logos to show a bit of sense of humor. Because, hey, innovation is about breaking new ground and the work is an uphill climb—we can all use a good dose of it, right?
We have been lucky to find a group of design mavericks from Ideals Creatives (thanks Dan, Marielle, and Rhea!) who believed in what we do and who were up to the task of creating a new look that will embody all these! It has been great learning experience working with them.
So, finally, here are the two new logos:
David G. Byro
Environmental Scientist, Office of Environmental Innovation, Environmental Assessment and Innovation Division,US Environmental Protection Agency
(David Byro will be working in the Philippines from September 28 – December 18. The U.S. Embassy is pleased to organize his schedule and offer his skills to different Philippine government agencies, private enterprise, educational institutions, and interested non-government organizations. You may contact him in Manila: c/o Economic Section, US Embassy, Manila, Roxas Boulevard, City of Manila. Telephone: 301-2000 extn 5242, Email: byrodg@state.gov (pre 12/18/08) ; byro.david@epa.gov (post 12/18/08)
Relevant Experience
Developed in-country experience in conservation of marine resources while putting B.S. degree in Biological Oceanography to practice as a fisheries volunteer in the Philippines from 1981 – 1983.
Published paper on fisheries project in Bais City, Negros Oriental. Fluent in Bisayan (Cebuano) and basic Pilipino.
Served as dive master and scientific diver on intermittent marine and fresh water research projects.
Expertise in the transfer of EPA’s innovative environmental technologies programs (Environmental Technology Verification/Small Business Innovation Research) and will assist in exploring alternative energy options.
Developed and operated the first regional Business Assistance Center in the US including the creation of a strong network of industry, state, local and third party business assistance providers to facilitate collaborative projects with industry. The Business Assistance Center’s focus is to provide compliance assistance, promote pollution prevention and encourage the development of innovative environmental technologies
Current Areas of Expertise:
- development and operation of Business Assistance Center, focused on improving environmental compliance in the private small business sector through collaborative industry partnerships.
- multi-media regulatory and technical assistance and innovative technology development
-dive master and scientific diver on intermittent marine and fresh water research projects
Previous Professional International Experience:
1981 – 1983 Philippines Fisheries Peace Corps Volunteer
June 1995 Philippines Project scoping for EPA’s and USAID’s US Asian Environmental Partnership
project on the Butuanon River
Education:
Drexel University/US EPA Continuing Education, Philadelphia, PA,Aquatic Toxicology and Groundwater Hydrology courses 1986-1987
Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL, B.S. Biological Oceanography 1977-1979
University of Hartford, West Hartford, CT, Study toward a B.S. Biology
Publications:
Reviving the Bais City Oyster Industry, ICLARM Newsletter, July 1983, Metro Manila, Philippines.
Philippines Oyster Project Opens Way for Small-Scale Farms, Fish Farming International, February 1983, London.
Areawide Implementation of Groundwater Institutional Controls at Superfund Sites, U.S. EPA, July 1991, Washington, D.C
Other Qualifications:
Scholarship: Earned academic Kopplemann scholarship (1976-1979).
Languages: Fluent in Cebuano (Scored 4.0 out of possible 5.0 in Peace Corps exam).
Certifications: 40 Hour Health and Safety/HAZWOPER ; Lead Auditor ISO14001 Environmental Management Systems; SCUBA/Dive Master; CPR; First Aid; AED
Getting It On With Innovation
Innovation, in some ways, is like the most stunning person in the room. People know he or she is there and want to make a move, but the fear of falling flat on one’s face (after costing you a lot of money) is also as palpable, even paralyzing.
And the latest article on innovation in the New York Times makes one’s approach even more daunting, and seem reckless even.
Innovation, according to the article, “by its very nature…is inefficient.” But we all know that when times are hard, that life vest we put on is called Efficiency.
This is what’s frightening but invigorating with innovation—how it turns our beloved business beliefs and practices on their heads. Our post-capitalist age has drastically changed how we must perceive and understand our lives, our society and the marketplace to survive.
The article also proposes two types of settings a leader must cultivate side by side in the workplace when times are hard. There is the “factory farm,” which is governed by our much-beloved efficiency measures, and also the “greenhouses and experimental gardens,” where risky investments are cultivated.
However, we must remember that cultivating such a division also poses a risk to the company when the designated innovators decide to take root in some other company.
There seems no cut-and-dried means of guaranteeing our investments in innovation will pay off, that we won’t fall flat on our faces. Thousands of print and online pages continue to be devoted to discussing innovation (this blog included), which tell us that while it is hot—and with good reason—a lot of people still get cold feet and need a good nudge towards it.
Even articles that advocate its immediate adoption refuse to be prescriptive, often showing binary arguments.
But at the same time, innovation gurus are also given to pithy statements that work like business mantras we hang on our walls, such as “Efficiency is for bean counters,” says Howard Lieberman of the Silicon Valley Innovation Institute in the same article. “Creativity doesn’t care about economic downturns.”
It is no neat trick, no easy flip, this innovation business. It is no mere application we install without question and then leave to run by itself.
Innovation is a concept, it is a mind-shift, it fosters a corporate culture that most of us think we can only read about and lust after from a distance.
Times change first before attitudes do. But those who choose to lie back or bury their heads in the ground are left reeling by the consequences of inaction.
Innovation demands that we pay attention and act now. Else we pay later.
What is telling about this article on innovation during a financial crisis is the insistence on balance, whether in terms of company values (e.g., balancing the risk that attends innovation with a questioning mindset) or targets (e.g., the short-term versus the long-term ones). This, at the very least, helps to demolish lingering biases against innovation as an imprudent business move during these tough times.
Gregory L. Tangonan, PhD
Director, Ateneo Innovation Center
Chairperson, Electronics and Semiconductors Panel, of the Congressional Commission on Science and Technology and Engineering (COMSTE)
President, Asia Pacific Technical Strategies
Retired Director of R&D, Hughes Research Laboratories (Los Angeles, CA);
Holder of 38 U.S. patents, author/co-author of more than 100 published papers;
Distinguished Inventor Awardee, Hughes Research Laboratories in 2000, 2001, and 2002
Professional Experience
Dr. Tangonan joined Hughes in 1971 after receiving the Howard Hughes Doctoral Fellowship for studies at the California Institute of Technology. During his doctoral studies, he performed research in superconductivity and amorphous metals at Cal Tech and participated in optical device research at Hughes Research Laboratory. Dr. Tangonan has pioneered integrated waveguide detectors, Bragg modulators in LiTaO3 and LiNbO3, and glass-based couplers for wavelength multiplexing and coupling. He has been instrumental in developing applications of optoelectronics in radar, optical networking, and analog systems.
Dr. Tangonan was promoted to Director of Research in Communications and Photonics reporting directly to the President of HRL Laboratories. His work at HRL focused on the exploitation of wireless technologies for broadband access to interactive services, laser communications, optoelectronic devices and subsystems for RF systems, and novel inter-networking systems. Dr. Tangonan was responsible for setting the Strategic Technical Investments of the Owners of HRL – Boeing, General Motors and Raytheon.
Present Status
After 31 years with HRL Laboratories, Dr. Tangonan retired from HRL Laboratories to pursue newinterests. During the last few years at HRL Dr. Tangonan became very interested in the business side of technology and is the President of his Asia Pacific Technical Strategies. The company pursues strategic research and development projects that can be translated into Intellectual Property assets or start-up companies.
Dr. Tangonan joined the Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines as Adjunct Professor in the Loyola School of Science and Engineering. He is responsible for research in the areas of biomedical engineering, wireless and optical communications and material science. He is very active in the development of Intellectual Property, and has, with several of the Ateneo faculty, filed U.S. Patents on their research.
In the last two years he has taught a class called Innovation and Technology to last year engineering and science undergraduates. This class delves into the global competitive environment, the role that innovation plays in determining success or failure in almost every industry today, and how Filipino innovators can become successful through strategic planning of technology development.
Publications /Awards
Dr. Tangonan is co-author of >100 published papers and presentations in the fields of fiber optics, integrated optics, laser spectroscopy and amorphous materials. Dr. Tangonan has 48 U.S. patents. He has presented numerous papers at international forums in optoelectronics. Dr. Tangonan is a member of the Optical Society of America, IEEE Lasers and Electro-Optics Society and Sigma Xi.
Dr. Tangonan has received several major awards for his work. Among them are two R&D 100 Awards for
New Products and Technologies. The first R&D 100 Award in 1994 was for Secure Fiber Optics Technology and the second R&D 100 Award was for Optical Networking Node Technology for All-Optical Switched Networks. Dr. Tangonan received several Published Paper- of-the-Year awards from HRL Laboratories. Dr. Tangonan received the Distinguished Inventor Award from HRL in 2000, 2001, and 2002.
Education
B.S. (Physics), Ateneo de Manila University Philippines, 1969;M.S. (Physics), California State University at Long Beach, 1971;M.S. (Applied Physics), California Institute of Technology, 1972; Ph.D. (Applied Physics), California Institute of Technology, 1975
