DOST-MIRDC Offers Continued Partnership with the Metalworking Industry
By Marlyn Ramones
Taguig, Metro Manila – The local metalworking industry celebrates another milestone as the Metalworking Industries Association of the Philippines (MIAP) holds its virtual 31st General Membership Meeting and Election on May 21, 2021. It is also during this event that the Department of Science and Technology – Metals Industry Research and Development Center (DOST-MIRDC) expressed its support and continued partnership with the MIAP and the local manufacturing sector.
Engr. Jonathan Q. Puerto, Deputy Executive Director for Technical Services, presented to the MIAP officials and members the DOST-MIRDC’s technologies, facilities, and programs. Among the facilities he mentioned are machining, casting, heat treatment, and surface engineering, to name a few.
Focusing on the theme of the event, ‘Sustainable Collaboration of Public and Private Stakeholders for Agro-Industrial Modernization in the New Normal,’ Engr. Puerto emphasized that the DOST-MIRDC packages its facilities and services as a ‘one-stop-shop that offers micro, small, and medium enterprises the technologies and business solutions they need.’
As an expression of support and partnership to the MIAP, Engr. Puerto encouraged MIAP members to take advantage of the Center’s facilities to further build competitive capabilities in the areas of conventional and precision machining, conventional and precision metal casting, and heat treatment and surface coating. These technologies are for the use of the industry, either through R&D collaborations or through facility-sharing arrangements.
Engr. Puerto further invited the MIAP members to also utilize the DOST-MIRDC’s Advanced Manufacturing Center (AMCen) as well as the Advanced Mechatronics, Robotics, and Industrial Automation Laboratory (AMERIAL) services to enable MSMEs to better face the challenges in the new normal.
Adult Ventilator Developed by DOST-MIRDC Set to Undergo Clinical Trial
By: Zalda R. Gayahan
The clinical trial for the OstreaVent II is the next step for this locally designed and developed ventilator for adults. It will be done at the Philippine General Hospital. At the moment, the team who will conduct the clinical trial is just waiting for the appropriate time when the PGH facility and medical workers are not too overwhelmed with Covid-19 cases.
Taking the lead in this research and development is the DOST-Metals Industry Research and Development Center in partnership with the Breath of Life Foundation, Inc.
OstreaVent II used the technology of its predecessor, the OstreaVent I, which is for infant use only. The project team embarked in R&D to design the OstreaVent II so that it will have the following features: it can be for both infant and adult use; it is both pressure- and volume controlled; it has a feature to measure tidal volume; and it has bacterial and viral filters.
After the completion of the OstreaVent II prototype in June 2020, it was subjected to a medical Device Inspection by the MedEquip. The University of the Philippines Manila Research Ethics Board (UPMREB) approved its Safety Trial Protocol in July 2020. In March this year, the OstreaVent II’s Medical Device Inspection Certificate was issued by the MedEquip and the Food and Drug Authority (FDA) granted the Certificate of Medical Device Listing to signify that the OstreaVent II may proceed with the clinical trial.
In April 2021, the Breath of Life Foundation formed the team that will implement the clinical trial for one month which, based on the Safety Trial Protocol, will involve 10 non-Covidpatients. The team will be headed by Dr. Manuel Jorge who heads the team of Adult Pulmonology Fellows at the UP-Philippine General Hospital.
After the clinical trial, five units of the OstreaVent II will be produced: four will be used for field testing, one will be used for further design improvements. If all activities will proceed as planned, licensing and production may begin by November this year.
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Activities to Improve LRT-1 Services to Go Full Swing in May
By: Zalda R. Gayahan
April 21, 2021 – The Department of Science and Technology-Metals Industry Research and Development Center (DOST-MIRDC) entered into a partnership with the Light Rail Manila Corporation (LRMC) with the shared goal of improving the services of the Light Rail Transit – Line 1 (LRT-1).
The LRMC sought the expertise of the DOST-MIRDC in the areas of fabrication of obsolete or difficult-to-source spare parts and conduct of structural repairs of light rail vehicles (LRVs). Even before the signing of the MOU, the LRMC and the DOST-MIRDC have already began the inspection of the LRVs. After the initial inspections, the DOST-MIRDC conducted preliminary analysis which gave the MIRDC team a better perspective of the technological interventions needed. Succeeding inspections are set to be conducted beginning in May, when hopefully the NCR will be placed in a less stringent community quarantine.
The LRMC expressed excitement and optimism in the partnership. The LRMC shared that they tried to look for a partner, either local or foreign, who will be able to help them address the technical issues with the LRVs. ‘We looked everywhere,’ says LRMC Chief Operating Officer, Enrico Benipayo, ‘but unfortunately…the interest of foreign companies is not really there.’
Engr. Robert O. Dizon, DOST-MIRDC’s Executive Director, imparted the agency’s appreciation of the partnership with the LRMC. Director Dizon said that the DOST-MIRDC’s services are open to the LRMC, to help create improvements for the LRT-1 and also to pursue the Center’s mandate of assisting the local metals, engineering, and allied industries. ‘We are optimistic that the establishment of a competitive railway industry will be one of the outcomes of this partnership,’ Dir. Dizon added.
