Congratulations, Hector Guballa (Pisay '71A)

Note: This piece of information was shared to me via e-mail (10/13/07, 10:30 p.m.) by Ciel (Dr. Cielito Habito), president of the Philippine Science High School National Alumni Association (PSHSNAA) and the PSHS Alumni Association (PSHSAA) and fellow Ateneo faculty member. Hector and I were both former officers of the PSHS Foundation.

Guballa Appointed Director for Development at Ateneo de Manila University

(Source: http://www.ateneo.edu)

Mr . Hector P. Guballa (AB Economics 1975, ADMU) has been appointed Director for Development of the Office of University Development and Alumni Relations (OUDAR) effective September 24, 2007.

Guballa comes to the Ateneo with extensive business experience. Most recently, he was with San Miguel Corporation (1999-2007) where his last position was president and general manager of Cosmos Bottling Corporation (2002-2007).

He also had extensive experience in the East Asian Region, notably in Hong Kong and Korea, as marketing director for SC Johnson Hong Kong and Korea Johnson Co. (1981-1991).

In April 2007, he took early retirement from San Miguel Corporation and joined the Ateneo John Gokongwei School of Management, teaching Strategic Management and is a member of the Board of Directors of the JGSOM Business Resources Center. Guballa is married to Cathy Babao-Guballa (BSBM 1986).

In a memorandum to the community, university President Bienvenido F. Nebres, SJ, said "We believe that Mr. Guballa brings to this position both great expertise and extensive experience and a deep love and commitment to the Ateneo. ... We look forward to his leadership at this critical juncture in the Ateneo de Manila’s life as we enter the final countdown for our 150th anniversary, our Sesquicentennial in December 2009. "

Congratulations, Hector!

Cheers,

Raffy

The Pisay '77 Blogger

10/13/07

Congratulations, Dr. Catherine Vistro-Yu

(Photo caption: WOMEN POWER: (Left to right, standing) Elizabeth Lee, Hilly Anne Maria Roa-Quiaoit, Alyssa Peleo-Alampay, Philippine Daily Inquirer president Alexandra “Sandy” Prieto-Romualdez, Eva Ma. Cutiongco-de la Paz; (2nd row) Catherine Vistro-Yu, Ma. Corazon de Ungria (3rd row) Glecy Cruz-Atienza, Maria Ressa and Dina Ocampo. RODEL ROTONI. From Philippine Daily Inquirer)

I read on the Philippine Daily Daily Inquirer today (10/12/07) that my colleague in the Mathematics Department of Ateneo de Manila University, Dr. Catherine "Cathy" Vistro-Yu, is one of the recipients of this year's Ten Outstanding Women in the Nations's Service (TOWNS).

(See: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view_article.php?article_id=93973 )

[startofquote]

Cathy was cited for raising the standards of the “deteriorating” teaching of math in the country. “We teachers get flak for the poor achievements of students in math. But both [female] and male teachers are really working to create a framework, which is a big step in standardizing math teaching,” she said.

[endofquote]

Cathy is actively involved in mathematics education. She is President of the Philippine Council for Mathematics Teachers Educators (MATHTED).

Congratulations, Cathy!

Cheers,

Raffy
10/12/07

SIPNAYAN 2007: Inter-School Math Contest in Ateneo

Note: Last Saturday (9/22/07) I watched Sipnayan 2007 -- a math contest for grade school students. The event was organized by the Ateneo Mathematical Society (AMS). One of the contestants is my godchild, Chloe, who represented St. Theresa's College (Grade School Department). Although St. Theresa's College did not make it to the semi-final round, Chloe (who is only a grade five student) had a great time and a valuable experience.

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The math contest was attended by several leading schools in Metro Manila. The Contest Judges are Ms. Debbie Marie Bautista, Mr. Enrico Paolo Bugarin, and Mr. Christian Robert Canlas, who are all faculty and staff members of the Ateneo Mathematics Department.

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Congratulations to the Ateneo Mathematical Society (AMS) for successfully organizing Sipnayan 2007!

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Cheers,

Raffy

9/25/07

Ateneo Celadon's Confucius Awards

(Photo caption: With colleagues from the Mathematics Department of Ateneo and some students during Celadon's Dice Game, 9/21/07).

Last night (9/21/02) I attended the Annual Faculty Appreciation and Dice Game held at the Manny V. Pangilinan Center for Student Leadership (MVP CSL) Roofdeck of the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU). The event was organized by Celadon, the official Filipino Chinese organization of ADMU. I participated in the event together with some of my colleagues from the Mathematics Department.

One of the highlights of the evening was the Confucious Awards. Several of my Math Department colleagues were nominated and many won awards. The winners include Dr. Queena Lee-Chua, Ramil Bataller, and Timothy Teng. Timothy won the Male Crush Ng Bayan Award :)

Another highlight was the song numbers from the Blue Repertory. The group sang popular Broadway songs to the delight of the audience.

Yet another highlight was the Dice Game. It was fun and everyone won minor prizes.

Thanks to the Ateneo Celadon for a wonderful and enjoyable night!

Cheers,

Raffy

9/22/07

Innovation With Dr. Greg Tangonan

Today (8/21/07) I attended a meeting on industry-academe collaboration. One of the topics in the meeting is Innovation, with Dr. Gregory "Greg" Tangonan as the speaker. Dr. Tangonan is a co-faculty member at the School of Science and Engineering of Ateneo de Manila University.

Below are some information on Dr. Tangonan found in the UP-Ayala Technology-Business Incubator website ( http://www.up-ayalatbi.org/events.asp ).

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Gregory Tangonan, PhD

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

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"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. Dr. Tangonan Laboratory 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.

After 31 years with HRL Laboratories, Dr. Tangonan retired from HRL Laboratories to pursue new interests. 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 graduating engineering and science students. 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.

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. "

The Ateneo community and all Filipinos can truly be proud of Dr. Greg Tangonan, his achievements, and his contributions to science and techonology.

Raffy

8/21/07 in Quezon City