The Department of Science and Technology Cordillera Administrative Region (DOST-CAR), in partnership with the DOST Technology Application and Promotion Institute (DOST-TAPI), will conduct the 2019 Regional Inventions Contest and Exhibits (RICE), simultaneously with the Regional Science and Technology Week (RSTW) Celebration, on November 19-20, 2019 at Bontoc, Mountain Province.
RICE is a biennial nationwide activity, open to both the private and public sector, conducted in different regions to recognize the indispensability of the Filipino inventors in the Philippine Society and in the landscape of national economic development. It also serves as the qualifying round to the National Inventions Contest and Exhibits (NICE) and is pursuant to Section 4 of Republic Act No. 7459, also known as the “Inventors and Invention Incentives Act of the Philippines.”
The contest has five (5) categories namely, Outstanding Invention (Tuklas Award); Outstanding Utility Model; Outstanding Industrial Design; Outstanding Creative Research (Likha Award); and Outstanding Student Creative Research (Sibol Award) for both high school and college students.
The regional contest was last conducted in 2017 at the Baguio Convention Center with the theme, “Science and Innovation for the People”. The event had 51 entries from the various higher education institutions (public and private), high schools and organizations in CAR of which two (2) won during the National Inventions Contest and Exhibits conducted in Pasay City last year. These are the Portable Unihoused Water Purification and Sterilization Apparatus by Engr. Rodrigo P. Duque which garnered first place recognition under the Outstanding Utility Model category and the Façade-Integrated Fog Collector: A Supplementary Residential Water by students from the Saint Louis University which won second place under the Sibol Award for College category.
This year, the RICE theme “Science For The People: Inventions and Innovations for Sustainable Development” coincides that of National Science and Technology Week which focuses on technologies that could help attain the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Inventors and innovators in the region are invited to join, not just for monetary gain but to also promote and share the excellence of the Cordillerans in science, technology and innovation (STI).
Interested individuals may visit the DOST-CAR Regional Office at Km. 6, La Trinidad, Benguet and look for Ms. Mae Lany Bangnan, or go to the nearest Provincial Science and Technology Centers or visit the DOST-TAPI website at www.tapi.dost.gov.ph for further information. You may also access the criteria and entries forms by downloading them from this link: https://bit.ly/2ksiw8x.
By Divina Gracia L. Castillo & Daisy Lou Quinio
