Philippines’ young innovators to advance at 3M’s innovation pitching competition, DOST officials served as judges
DOST Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña and Assistant Secretary Leah J. Buendia were invited by 3M Philippines, Inc. to serve as judges at the Country-Level Semi-Finals of the 3M Inspire Challenge held virtually on 24 August 2021.
The 3M Inspire Challenge is an inaugural competition that aims to hunt for/inspire great ideas in Innovation, Sustainability, and Technology while supporting the next generation of great leaders, thinkers, and creators and will run from 23 April to 21 September 2021. The competition is open to students from all courses of study in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, and Vietnam.
The Challenge is divided into two stages. The first stage or country-level semi-finals will be a competition among local teams and the winner will be awarded the title “Country Champion” with a cash prize amounting to USD 1,000 and internship offerings at local 3M offices. The second stage or the regional-level finals will be a face-off among the Country Champions. The winning team will be crowned as the “Regional Champion” and will receive a USD 2,000 cash prize.
In the Country-level Semi-finals in the Philippines, Team “3MPHANT” from the University of the Philippines Diliman bagged the award with their Hyacinth-esized Packaging which is a non-toxic, pro-marine-life compostable plastic made from water hyacinth. Team 3MPHANT faced-off against two teams: Team XVR from Ateneo de Davao University and Team Ad Astra from Ateneo de Manila University.
Team 3MPHANT will advance to the second stage and is set to compete against other winning teams from Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore.
Seeing the young generation of teams compete, Secretary de la Peña is hopeful of a bright future for the Philippines’ science, technology, and innovation. “Fuel your creativity, do not stop innovating, and keep on inspiring and being inspired,” the DOST Secretary told the students in his welcome remarks.
Reggie Pulumbarit, the Country Leader of 3M Philippines, Inc. thanked both Secretary de la Peña and Assistant Secretary Buendia for accepting their invitation. He mentioned
that their participation as judges and the questions they raised during the live panel would also serve as guidance to the teams as they head on to their next venture – may it be to the Regional-Level Finals for Team 3MPHANT or to other competitions and studies for all of the teams. (By Karen Lou Mabagos, DOST- ITCU)
