Under the upbeat leadership of President Joey Gomez, the UP Alumni Engineers hosted the 2023 Homecoming at the UP Bahay Alumni on November 18, 2023. With a full house of over 300 attendees, Joey discussed the plans and programs of UPAE, under the tagline UP ENGG R.I.S.E.S. (Reconnects, Inspires, Supports, Empowers, Sustains).
UP President Angelo Jimenez gave a rallying message, as Chancellor Carlo Vistan also joined the festive occasion. The Ruby Jubilarians handed over their donation for the UPCOE College Fighting Fund.
Several UPERDFI members were honored, led by Dante M. Abando, CE 86, SVP and Construction Group Head of Ayala Land, Inc., and president of Makati Development Corporation (MDC), who was awarded as the Most Distinguished Alumnus for 2023. Dan elevated MDC to be one of the Philippines’ most-respected engineering, procurement, construction and construction management (EPCCM) by continuously introducing leading-edge technologies. Dan was UPAE President on 2019. MDC is currently in advanced discussions to modernize some UP ICE Laboratories.
Other UPERDFI members who were recognized were:
1. Roberto F. Batungbacal, ChE 88, for Professional Degree award in Chemical Engineering. Bobby retired as Regional Managing Director of Dow Chemicals Asia Pacific in early 2023, and is now a leading light in Philippine chemical industry, focusing on environmental concerns and sustainability. Under his support, Dow Chemicals funded a research project on plastics done by DMMME in 2017-19. He is a member of the UPERDFI Innovation Committee.
2. Cristy M. Tambo, GE 2002, for Professional Degree Award for Geodetic Engineering. Taking off from a solid field experience in geomatics, Cristy established Filsite Mapping Corporation in 2011, growing it into a 200-person regular workforce plus hundreds of project staff. Filsite has been sponsoring Thesis Support Grants for COE Seniors.
3. Raymund Arnold S. Alberto, GE 93, for National Achievement Award for Entrepreneurship. Known in industry as RASA, he set up the RASA Surveying and Realty in 1994. He has developed into a conglomerate of several companies engaged in geospatial engineering, making use of leading-edge tools and analytics and employing hundreds. Projects include those in China, Indonesia and Africa. RASA Surveying sponsors three professorial chairs in the field of GE/Geomatics, and is a staunch supporter of the Dept of Geodetic Engineering. He was a UPAE Awardee in GE in 2015.
