ComE 522 - IERC 2010

Post your reactions here on the January 14, 2010 International Engineering Research Conference.

To qualify for the 3 seminar credit, please post your reaction for at least 3 sessions that you attended.

SRP Transportation Planning

This is a study carried out by Engr. Lynn Gloria A. Madrona, an Assistant Professor of the Civil Engineering Department of San Jose Recoletos. It revolves around the 302 hectare parcel of land named the South Road Properties (SRP) which is situated in the southern part of Cebu and is owned by the Cebu City Government. For about 10 years now, the SRP is still waiting for development to commence in terms of commercial and industrial in order to provide more job opportunities to Cebuanos so as economic stability that it could grant to the city.

With all these planned areas of development, a transportation planning has to be conducted in order for people to have easier and comfortable access to the place. The bus rapid transit (BRT) has been extensively considered in the study. It is believed to be the answer to traffic congestion and pollution that the city is experiencing at present. BRT system has been widely used by other countries and is proven to be really effective in regulating traffic problems. As for our own version of BRT in srp, there were different routes presented that are available for use. The estimated amount for the fare is fairly affordable. BRT is said to be a system, therefore it does not only offer buses for transportation but pedestrian walkways as well to encourage people to just walk instead of using their cars. Bicycle lanes as well will be made available for the purpose of introducing non-motorized mode of transportation.

The said proposal truly is a great way to advance our economy and boost up our way of living. But in the light of preserving our nature, the project could jeopardize our fast diminishing resources. However with proper and thorough study and balance of things, the pros and cons of this project can go hand in hand for the betterment of our society.

Flowchart Translator and Code Generator with GUI-IDE: "A visual programming tool for IT/Eng'g Educators Teaching Programming Logic and Design using Flowcharts"


This topic is presented by Mr. Anthony G. Undang from Cebu Institute of Technology, College of Computer Studies. This study happens to be his thesis to complete his masters’ degree on the same University. The study introduces a flowchart translator and code generator (FTCG) incorporated with a graphical user interface development environment. FTCG is a visual programming tool which allows creation of program Flowchart and its execution. The system is capable of converting the Flowchart into a real executable code using a particular programming language. During the presentation, the by-product of the translation was expressed in C programming language.

FTCG is purposely developed for both the students and instructors to make use of. With this tool, students will only have to analyze the problem, generate the corresponding flowchart, test its behaviour and finally generate the running code. Clearly, this system wants students to devout more time on analysis, problem solving process and less worry on the program code and syntax.

Instructors as well can utilize the system in teaching fundamental concepts in programming. They can now do away with the hassle of manually illustrating a flowchart and tracing its behaviour. And in this way, instructors can best present mapping between flowchart symbols.

As a programmer, one crucial skill that must be acquired is the problem solving skills or the ability to formulate effective algorithms to provide solution to a given scenario. Programming myopia is strongly discouraged among programmers; we are encouraged to be language independent as much as possible. All these things are covered by the said system, however, there is still a downside, which is if the students will abuse and misuse the tool leading to dependencies and laziness in coding programs by themselves. Nevertheless, I am optimistic, that with proper discipline and utilization, the FTCG can be of great benefit to us.

Model for an Efficient Conduct of Indoor Air Quality Assessment


The speaker for this topic unfortunately did not make it on the conference due to some inevitable shortcomings. But the moderator of the session on the other hand, made a presentation which also relates to indoor air quality assessment. The study focused on a public school somewhere in Cebu City. The classrooms are not very spacious, and considering the number of students per classroom, the air circulation within the classrooms is not that good. The mere composition and structure of the classroom itself doesn’t cater into good indoor air quality and the situation was even aggravated when a certain building construction was built right behind the school building. The wall of the said construction went all the way to the school’s roof thus covering the entire window of every classrooms and further impeding air to pass through and circulate within the vicinity.

According to this study, poor indoor air quality in schools can have adverse health effects for students and staff. Exposure to poor Indoor Air Quality can result in illness, including nausea, eye and skin irritation, headaches, vomiting, and can trigger asthma attacks. Poor indoor air quality can also hinder students and teachers from performing well, specifically on tasks requiring concentration and memory. Some of the symptoms mentioned earlier were observed to some students utilizing the classrooms.

Since there’s no way to stop the ongoing construction, the study made few recommendations to the school so as to regulate and improve indoor air quality in classrooms. One is to secure more electric fan every classroom so as to increase classroom ventilation. Another is to provide decorative divider on the walls of the constructed building so it would be possible for air to pass through the walls and to the classrooms.

Inevitably, the environment is a one factor that contributes to the state or wellness of an individual. It is essential to keep our environment as amiable as possible so that a person can perform his best at anything and everything.

#1

Rodrigo C. Talingting Jr.

Model for an Efficient Conduct of Indoor Air Quality Assessment

A study made by Dr. Eppie Estanislao-Clark of De La Salle University. The study aims to find
a faster way of taking indoor environmental quality without sacrificing the reliability of the
results.

The researcher used a primary school as the basis of his study. He conducted the experiments
through gathering of information, using of surveys and extended monitoring of the different
facilities inside the school.

The researcher was not able to make it to the conference the reason of which is unknown
to me. For his absence, one of the coordinator subsituted for him instead.

Poor air quality can have a very negative effect to people especially to those childrens in
school. Also, poor air quality affects the condition of the children while they are studying.
It makes them uncomfortable due to the room having a very hot and humid atmosphere.

#2

Rodrigo C. Talingting Jr.

SRP Transportation Planning

For me the SRP Transportation Planning study presented last January 14 - 21 was the most interesting
one on the International Engineering Research Conference held in the CAFA Theatre of the University
of San Carlos. The reason of which was because of the involvement of the local government which is the
government of Cebu City and also it improves the transportation service of Cebu City.

The study is about the 302 hectare reclaimed land in the South Road Properties which is owned by the
Cebu City governement. The property will be develop using the best urban planing practices and trends
used by other big cities around the world.

The transportation plan that was propse was the use of the Bus Rapid Transit or BRT system in which
the bus has its own dedicated road. It makes the travel from one place to another faster and much
easier compare to the current transportation we have. Also, the BRT system is more environment
friendly compare to the current public transportation like the public utility vehicles (PUV) or jeepneys.

Vincent Han Lester S. Quirit
BS CompE DSD

IERC 2010


SRP Transportation Planning

This is a study is presented by Engr. Lynn Gloria A. Madrona, a professor of San Jose Recoletos Civil Engineering Department. It’s about developing the 302 hectare part of the South Road Properties (SRP) which is located in the southern part of Cebu, owned by the government of Cebu City.
The development of this project will provide job opportunities not only for Cebuanos but also for neighboring province. And this study might ensure economic stability of the city and for the country. With this proposed plan of developing the SRP, a plan for transportation is also to be considered. To provide easy access to the place. The BRT or the Bus Rapid Transit is the proposed plan for the transportation. Bus Rapid Transit provides solution to traffic congestion and it is widely used by other countries. So developing the SRP with BRT, it would be very effective in regulating traffic problems. In the study, the BRT is estimated to be affordable to people. BRT does only provide access to vehicles but also it has walkways and other methods to help minimize pollution in our environment.
The study of developing SRP with BRT is one of the great ways to boost our economy, not just here in Cebu but the country. Each field or aspects must be considered ensuring the safety of the people, resources and our environment.


Flowchart Translator and Code Generator with GUI-IDE


This study is presented by Mr. Anthony G. Undang from Cebu Institute of Technology, College of Computer Studies and this study is his master’s degree thesis. The study is about a flowchart translator and code generator with a graphical user interface development environment. This is a teaching tool that translates flowcharts into executable codes. These may be an effective way of teaching programming languages.
The study wants students to focus on analysis and problem solving processes and not worrying on the executable code but in my own opinion this might not help on students who are irresponsible. But nonetheless, this is up to those students to understand the flowchart and know how it is coded. And also this teaching tool may help instructors map between flowchart symbols, an effective way of teaching.
It is important for a programmer to know how to properly analyze, solve problems and to make a flowchart to have an effective plan or a clearer view of what the system is. And this study helps programmers make effective development with a less time for debugging.


Model for an Efficient Conduct of Indoor Air Quality Assessment
by: Eppie Estanislao-Clark, De La Salle University, Philippines

Unfortunately the speaker of this study did not make it on the conference so the moderator presented the study. The study is about conducting an efficient way to ensure indoor air quality. There were many factors that needed to be considered like the classrooms are not very spacious for the students, the air circulation and also air pollution affecting our environment. According to the study, having a poor indoor air quality affects students and staff. Affecting their health (like nausea, eye and skin irritation, vomiting, headaches), how they interact to other students and how they study. These may result to low performance.
There were recommendations to the school in order to improve indoor air quality by increasing their ventilation like for example, adding electric fans, building a proper ventilation that allows air to pass.
In my own opinion, the developing of this schools with proper ventilation to have an improve indoor quality depends on the government (for public schools). Because the government is required to provide education, and these involves building schools. But it’s not just building it to have a place to teach but there are things that needed to be considered because even though you have classrooms without proper ventilation it will affect students, affecting their learning. So it’s useless or pointless to have rooms but the doesn’t learn.

Jayag, Alfred Ray D.
BSCOMPE SE

Pulsed Arc Electrohydraulic Discharge (PAED) Plasma Treatment of
Polluted Lake Water

Pulse Arc Electrohydraulic Discharge uses discharge pulse arc plasma that can generate irradiation of UV, shock wave and active radical chemical reaction that can remove bacteria, pathogens, and chemical contaminant.

This is a very useful technology for restoration of polluted body of water that is sadly abundant in the Philippine environment due to commercialization, industrialization and even residential area caused significant destruction of our rivers. This advancement can be used to treat rivers and lakes in our nation such as the Pasig river.

Since it is still in the experimental and development stage. We can only hope for the deployment of such technology which is very useful for any country whose water sources are contaminated by chemicals and waste water like ours.


Wet ESP for the Collection of Submicron Particles, Mist and Air Toxics

This electrostatic precipitator is a particle collector that uses electrical charge to collect particle in the air. Due to strong electrical field generation, this process can collect more than 99% of toxic gas and acid mist.

Its applications range from metal and steel industry, chemical industry and others. This can be used to clean exhaust from factories or any industries that emits small particles in the atmosphere. Such of these specific industries is in paper making where large volumes of steam is generated, metal smelting where impurities are scrubbed of the metals and acid plants.

By the number of its applications, it is indeed a very useful new way of filtering fine particles or for control of organic and acidic mists. It is also suitable for corrosive application in gas cleaning.


Flowchart Translator and Code Generator with GUI-IDE (FTCG)

The topics that I really interest me most is the flowchart translator and code generator which is a visual tool for flowchart credibility checking and code generation based on the flowchart. The software had a good Graphical User Interface which comprises of drag and drop and is very simple in design. It can execute the flowchart like a binary file or step by step like a debugger. Although limited, it can generate a clean and formatted running code provided with a correct flow chart.

This is indeed very helpful as a teaching aid especially in flowchart making. It can be made as a checker for flowchart in activities wherein the current procedure is for the teacher to analyze each flowchart which is time consuming and prone to error. Its ability to execute a flowchart like a compiled binary program is its greatest function, since you can already had a view for the actual result of your program even in the planning stage thus you can immediately detect any errors in the designed flowchart.

Flowchart is an important yet mostly ignored by students in programming since as of the present, flowchart is just considered as a requirement for the class rather than an important process for making a program since student doesn't have a concrete proof that their flowchart is error free and may not even follow their created flowchart. With the help of this technology, a student can already know if the flowchart is functional or not, and can verify their code by comparing it to the code generated by the software.

#3

Rodrigo C. Talingting Jr.

An establishment of an infiltration monitoring system along a hillslope at the University of
San Carlos, Talamban campus, Cebu City, Philippines

A study made by Erwin Calo, a Ph.D. student of Kagoshima University. A monitoring system that investigates
infiltration behavior of a natural hill slope during a rainfall.

Their study aims to estrablish where the pore-water pressure and water content are present within the
slope.

Because of landslides and other soil type erosion this study will be very benefeticial to those
affected, that includes buildings or establishments near or on a hillslope.

They used numerous field instruments: a tipping bucket rain gauge to measure measure rainfall, a pulse
generator logger for recording the rainfall data and tensiometers for measurement of pore-water pressure.

Arnold V. Roso
BSCOMPE DSD

Flowchart Translator and Code Generator with GUI-IDE

This study is presented by Engr. Anthony Undang from Cebu Institute of Technology (CIT). This presentation is related to teachers which used as a teaching aid for students and also for students in order to make their studies easier.

The presentation was about a GUI-IDE which translates flowcharts to executable code in which makes teaching of programming languages more effective. The presented project was not really performing very well. It had some bugs or errors which cause it to not work well. But the concept and his objective in making the project was good.
As a student, I also had a hard time understanding or making flowcharts and experience some difficulties in implementing or converting it to codes. With this tool, this can help make my work much easier. Using such is really a great help but it depends only on how we use it just because most of the students nowadays are looking for tools just only to make their homework or assignments without learning or understanding on what they do.


SRP Transportation Planning

This is a study is presented by Engr. Lynn Gloria A. Madrona, a professor of San Jose Recoletos Civil Engineering Department which talks about developing the 302 hectare part of the South Road Properties (SRP) which is located in the southern part of Cebu and this study will help improve the transportation service of Cebu City.

South Road Properties is owned by the Cebu City government which will be develop using the best urban planing practices and trends used by other big cities around the world. The transportation plan that was proposed was the use of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system in which the bus travels from one place to another faster and much easier compare to the current transportation we have and also to provide easy access to the place. The development of this project will provide job opportunities not only for Cebuanos but also for neighboring province and this study might ensure economic stability of the city and for the country.


Pulsed Arc Electrohydraulic Discharge (PAED) Plasma Treatment of Polluted Lake Water

Pulsed Arc Electrohydraulic Discharge (PAED) Plasma Treatment is used for the restoration of polluted body of water. Polluted water at which is abundant in our country and the environment especially the rivers and seas. People and other industries cause the pollution in which developing such will be a great help. This advancement can be used to treat rivers and lakes in our country. It uses discharge pulse arc plasma that can generate irradiation of UV, shock wave and active radical chemical reaction that can remove bacteria, pathogens, and chemical contaminant. Since it is still in the experimental and development stage, we can only hope for the deployment of such technology which is very useful for any country whose water sources are contaminated by chemicals and waste water like ours.

Return Period of Tropical Cyclone Phenomena as Design Criteria for Structures in the Philippines:

This is a study by Engr. Eduardo Walag that deals with structures. Engr. Walag is from University of San Carlos’ Water Resources Center. Although it is aimed at Civil Engineering students and professionals, I’ve taken interest in this talk since it will still affect us indirectly. According to his study building codes are patterned according to the cycle of typhoons or cyclones that ravage the country over a known period as well as the usual paths these calamities may take. According to him, the building code on the affected areas should be revised because cyclone patterns have changed recently making these more frequent. These frequent cyclones will cause buildings to deteriorate over a shorter period of time effectively reducing its lifespan and probably the need for rebuilding.

However, what he emphasized is the changing of the lifespan of every constructed building to compensate with more frequent cyclones. This design criterion overlooks another criterion that concerns itself with the effect of earthquakes. One requirement for construction of buildings to withstand cyclones is for it to be concrete. However, concrete structures are also more vulnerable to earthquakes most of which is unpredictable. This criterion should also be emphasized.

But his suggestions are well founded that those must be incorporated to our cities’ building codes not only to those cities that are frequently battered with cyclones. Because as his studies point out, the weather pattern has changed over time. That would only mean that it will continue to change and sooner or later, cyclones will start to take paths over cities supposedly safe from these calamities.

Flowchart Translator and Code Generator with GUI-IDE:


This study is presented by Mr. Anthony G. Undang from Cebu Institute of Technology, College of Computer Studies and this study is his master’s degree thesis. The study is about a flowchart translator and code generator with a graphical user interface development environment. This is a teaching tool that translates flowcharts into executable codes. These may be an effective way of teaching programming languages.
The study wants students to focus on analysis and problem solving processes and not worrying on the executable code but in my own opinion this might not help on students who are irresponsible. But nonetheless, this is up to those students to understand the flowchart and know how it is coded. And also this teaching tool may help instructors map between flowchart symbols, an effective way of teaching.
It is important for a programmer to know how to properly analyze, solve problems and to make a flowchart to have an effective plan or a clearer view of what the system is. And this study helps programmers make effective development with a less time for debugging.

Wet ESP for the Collection of Submicron Particles, Mist and Air Toxics

This electrostatic precipitator is a particle collector that uses electrical charge to collect particle in the air. Due to strong electrical field generation, this process can collect more than 99% of toxic gas and acid mist.

Its applications range from metal and steel industry, chemical industry and others. This can be used to clean exhaust from factories or any industries that emits small particles in the atmosphere. Such of these specific industries is in paper making where large volumes of steam is generated, metal smelting where impurities are scrubbed of the metals and acid plants.

By the number of its applications, it is indeed a very useful new way of filtering fine particles or for control of organic and acidic mists. It is also suitable for corrosive application in gas cleaning.

Robert Abarabar III
BSCOMPE-DSD

First Session
Flowchart Translator and Code Generator with GUI-IDE (FTCG):
“A Visual Teaching Tool for IT/Eng’g Educators Teaching Programming Logic and Design using Flowcharts “

The study is about a flowchart translator and code generator with a GUI development environment by Anthony G. Undang. It is a visual programming tool that creates and executes program flowcharts and is also capable of translating a program flowchart into a particular program language. But at present it is only capable of transforming into a C language.

Some programmers nowadays when making a program, doesn’t mind in making a flowchart and starts coding without the logic and systematic flow of the program. Flowcharting is used to describe algorithms and logic format of a computer program. It is very useful that programmers use it for logical and systematic flow of a given program. It also minimizes the complexity of the program flow. For the software, there are advantageous and disadvantageous effects to the user. It is advantageous to people who are starting to learn programming, for it boosts their learning but also disadvantageous because people may rely and may be dependent on it.

What he showed at the conference was yet a beta version but it inspired the minds of the students those who attended in the session to create such a program more or less similar to his study.



Second Session
Speech Enhancement using 4-element Microphone Array Beamforming Combined with Blind Signal Separation
by Rodrigo C. Muñoz, Jr. and Nilo T. Bugtai

For such a long time, speech enhancement of noisy speech in real world environments has been studied. It is applicable to speech communication systems that include automatic speech recognition, speech compression and acoustic echo cancellation.
Blind signal separation provides better performance over the beamforming techniques in terms of the number of microphones, speech quality, and interference reduction.

But in a blind speech separation in a noisy room, the received signal would be a reverberant and mixed version of sound sources and the restoration of the sound sources.

A demo of the speakers, cancellation of echoes and elimination of other noises was played during the session. The project was successful but was only tested in a car in which there are only two people speaking at a time and also the exact position of the persons speaking is fixed and not just anywhere in the car. The project was successful in a way that someone would be speaking in a mobile phone attached to the car and eliminate any noise rather than the one speaking on the phone.



Third Session
Development of a small portable wave tank for an educational activity in coastal safety training program for tourists or children
By Kazunori Hosotani, Yasuhiro Haruna, Yuya Ohyama, Ryuichiro Nishi

Accidents happen to public seashore facilities for leisure every year in Japan. That’s why educational activities are important to inform people about dangerous currents at seashores. Because of this, a project was developed that would implement a tank that could generate a rip current of 10cm/s and clear visible patterns.

A study of the water level and the tank was performed for the safety of the people who come to public seashores.

A portable wave tank was used for coastal safety training programs for tourists or children, has been developed with its performance was investigated. The results indicated wave-breaking shape and point in agreement with theory but however, some characteristics were not well in agreement with small wave theory. Therefore, the wave tank has some limited use for demonstration or qualitative expression of flow generated by simple mechanisms of a wave.

Villegas, Raymond Joseph
BS CompE CN


1)SRP Transport Planning

This is a study by Engr. Lynn Gloria Madrona, a Civil Engineer from University of San Jose - Recoletos. It is a conceptualized project proposal for the development of 302 hectare land of South Road Properties which was a masterplan project of the Cebu City Government.

The transport plan for SRP is by using Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) as a mode of mass transportation. Green technology was taken to consideration by putting bicycle lanes to the said bus route which was called "The Boulevard". The use of CNG bus is also an implication of such technology which is more greener and environment-friendly.

This proposal is truly a need not only in SRP but throughout the metropolis to uplift the mode of mass transportation in our society. This proposal will also be the answer to traffic congestion in our city by forcing the citizens to leave their cars on garage and ride for a much convenient BRT.

2)Flowchat Translator and Code Generator with GUI-IDE

This is a study by Mr. Anthony G. Undang from the College of Computer Studies of Cebu Institute of Technology as his Master's Degree thesis.

This study was all about the use of flowchart translator and code generator with graphical user interface development environment which is a teaching tool for translating flowchats into executable codes. He believes that with this program, flowchart translation and generation of executable codes will ease the burden the students in creating projects and programs. This program was visioned to improve the analytical and problem-solving skills of the students and not worrying the code generation.

With this study, it will help the programmers easily generate codes by creating only the flowchart. It will also help the instructors in teaching flowcharting, which is essential in programming. The downside of this is that, the students would depend on this and would not learn basic programming.

3)Speech Enhancement using 4-element Microphone Array Beamforming Combined with Blind Signal Separation

This is a study by Rodrigo C. Muñoz, Jr. and Nilo T. Bugtai. which is all about speech enhancement using 4-element microphone array beamforming combined with blind signal separation.

This study was made to develop speech enhancement of microphones within the car. The microphones in our cellphones presently uses 2-element microphone array. With this study, they were able to develop speech enhancement by using 4-element array microphone.

It is useful in improving communication by enhancing speech and minimizing noises which is present in our cars. This would probably minimize car accidents by introducing hands-free technology with an improved quality of speech.

The speakers on the first day of the seminar were about properties and materials in creating technologies. The first speaker, who was Jerome B. Taboada from Cebu Institute of Technology in the Philippines, was dealing with elucidating the role of α-Fe and Cementite phases in the synthesis of carbon nanotubes. The topic was about carbon nanotubes (CNTs) which are allotropes of carbon with a cylindrical nanostructure. Those cylindrical carbon molecules have novel properties that make them potentially useful in many applications in nanotechnology, electronics, optics and other fields of materials science and alternative energy technologies particularly in solar cells, fuel cells, biotech containers, and hydrogen storage. However, although the syntheses of CNTs are well studied, the growth mechanism of catalytically synthesized carbon nanotubes is probably one of the subjects of high interest in literature. Generally, it is accepted that the reactants decompose on the active surface sites of catalytic nanoparticles allowing the carbon to diffuse through the bulk of the metal particle. Nevertheless, there has been considerable debate as to the actual chemical state of the catalyst under reaction conditions. In the study, Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy is used to elucidate the iron phase-evolution on Fe/SiO2 catalyst under reduction and reaction conditions during the synthesis of CNTs at elevated temperatures (873 – 1073 K). By identifying the initial state of the catalyst after reduction at high temperatures and the nature of iron carbides formed during reaction, the role of these species in the growth mechanism of CNTs can be substantiated. The second speaker, who was John Ryan C. Dizon from Peninsula State University in the Philippines, was dealing about the Electromechanical Properties Assessment of High Temperature Superconductors. The topic being discussed has two parts; the first one was the current state of global research, development, demonstration and commercialization of high temperature superconductor technologies, effect of mechanical strain on the performance of superconductors, and conductor mechanical requirements for practical device applications. The second part was about Mechanical Test / Reliability Assessment Procedure. The third speaker, who was Marlon James Dedicatoria from Andong National University in Korea, was dealing with Bending and Uniaxial Strain Characteristics of the Transport Property in Lap-Jointed Coated Conductor Tapes. The topic was about the bending strain characteristics of the transport property in lap-jointed IBAD/MOCVD-YBCO coated conductor tapes have been evaluated under the easy and hard bending mode. Bending strain is induced to the tape by using the GFRP mandrel which was used in the VAMAS Round Robin test for BSCCO tapes. Under easy bending test, it is found that no critical current, Ic, degradation occurred up to the minimum bending radius and under hard bending test the occurrence of the local buckling caused degradation of Ic. The influence of uniaxial tension has also been performed and the lap jointed tapes showed almost the same value of critical stress and strain limits where the onset of the crack is supposedly initiated. The three speakers were from the morning session of the seminar, the core topic of the sessions matter was about properties and materials in building new technology eras.
The afternoon session was about the indoor and built environment / transportation. And the first speaker, who was Eppie Estanislao-Clark from the De La Salle University in the Philippines, was dealing about a Model for an Efficient Conduct of Indoor Air Quality Assessment. He stated that studies from the US and Europe show that persons in industrialized nations spend over 90% of their time indoors, therefore monitoring the indoor environment quality is important n order to maintain a healthy, safe and efficient working environment. The concentrations of many pollutants indoors exceed those outdoors. The research was conducted to find ways by which indoor environmental quality in offices and/or buildings could be conducted at a shorter time and still lead to reliable results. The findings were based on the analysis of the researchers’ approaches in the conduct of indoor air quality assessment in five cases: a primary school, a school building, training and conference centre, a warehouse, furniture house as part of their work in Ezone Consulting. The researchers followed a flexible procedure involving information gathering, walkthrough survey and extended monitoring for the different facilities. A model for a more efficient and reliable conduct of indoor air quality assessment was presented. The second speaker, who was David Sanchez, was dealing about Green Building Basics. He talked about Climate Change and Green Building. That climate change is already happening and represents one of the greatest environmental, social and economic threats facing the planet. It is causing many parts of the world to experience new highs in their temperature and warmer water near the oceans surface gives rise to frequent big hurricanes, and record storms typhoons with greater force. Typhoon Ondoy and Peping had caused horrendous destruction in Philippines never seen before. Then the third speaker, who was Lynn Gloria A. Madrona from the University of San Jose - Recoletos in the Philippines, was dealing with SRP Transportation Planning. She explained about the South Road Properties (SRP), owned by the Cebu City Government, is a 302-hectare reclaimed land situated in the southern part of the city. For more than ten years now, the said parcel of land has been waiting for development to commence in order to provide more job opportunities to the Cebuanos and at the same time to endow the city with additional economic stability. This development has to be undertaken according to the best urban planning practices and trends used by other cities around the world. At the same time, transportation planning has to be conducted to provide access for people and goods to the planned areas of development. This study aimed to forecast the need for transportation inside SRP using density scenarios. A dimensioning tool was prepared in order to estimate the transport demand of person-trips coming in and going out of SRP. Using the environment as the priority criteria in the planning process, this study came up with a conceptual transportation plan for SRP. In order to provide for sustainable development, “clean” transportation systems and technologies have been chosen to be utilized in this endeavor. Thus, the bus rapid transit (BRT) system has been discussed extensively in this study in order to inform the general public that the BRT is the answer to the problems of traffic congestion and pollution that the city is experiencing at the present. The afternoon session ended in the third speakers’ topic, the afternoon session was stressing the indoor and built environment and transportation.
On the second days’ topic was about construction methods and design. It was the morning sessions’ theme. The first speaker, who was Hung-Ming Chen from National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, was dealing about network for synchronous design collaboration of multidisciplinary teams in construction engineering. His topic was about Internet-based mode for inter-disciplinary design collaboration in the development of a multidisciplinary model which integrates a 3D model with multidisciplinary design data as its attributes. The network allows geographically separated design teams to work simultaneously on a single shared multidisciplinary model, using distributed system to achieve design integration and conflict resolution. The members of various design teams can be connected together via the Internet to work in the same virtual design space, where they can see the progress of other teams' work and cooperate in real-time. All design data is centrally maintained in a database to provide secure and systematic data management. This network allows for efficient inter-disciplinary work in the development of multidisciplinary models. The network has two levels. Disciplinary teams are linked in a client-server configuration; within teams, individual team members are linked in a P2P network. Suitable access rules are imposed to maintain the integrity of the system. Then the second speaker, who was Min-Yuan Cheng, Ph.D. from the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, was dealing about geographic location and natural environment expose Taiwan to an elevated risk of natural disasters that severely damage human life, property and national infrastructure. Currently most disaster information is handled through distributed systems maintained by different management agencies. Gleaning critical information from disparate websites is a difficult and labor intensive task that makes consolidating disaster information impractical. Lack of such integration delays alert notification from being disseminated to relevant administrative agencies and travelers in a timely manner, stalling necessary decision making and magnifying the disaster. To achieve effective information integration, this study developed a data exchange platform to integrate and exchange data between distributed systems using software agent techniques. After preliminary analysis of collected disaster data, agents are programmed to automatically inform all administrative agencies via various communication channels to implement traffic control on risky bridges in order to prevent danger to travelers and minimize the disaster scope. And the third speaker, who was I-Tung Yang from the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, was dealing about Multiobjective Simulation Optimization for Bridge Maintenance Planning. It was about Determining the optimal maintenance plan is essential for successful bridge management. The optimization objectives are defined in the forms of minimizing life-cycle cost and maximizing performance indicators. Previous bridge maintenance models assumed the process of bridge deterioration and the estimate of maintenance cost are deterministic, i.e., known with full certainty. This assumption, however, is often invalid with estimates over a long time horizon of bridge life. In this study, we consider the risks associated with bridge deterioration and maintenance cost in determining the optimal maintenance plan. The decision variables include the strategic choice of essential maintenance (such as silane treatment and cathodic protection), and the intervals between periodic maintenance. An epsilon-constrained Particle Swarm Optimization algorithm is used to approximate the tradeoff between life-cycle cost and performance indicators. During stochastic search for optimal solutions, Monte-Carlo simulation is used to assess the impact of risks on the objective values, at an acceptance level of reliability. The proposed model can facilitate the decision makers to select the compromised maintenance plan with a group of alternative choices, each of which leads to a different level of performance and life-cycle cost. An example is used to demonstrate the performance of the proposed model.
There were lots of things that had been discussed during the sessions, different shared knowledge from different smart men who also came from different places.

Carol Eve Clave

Flowchart Translator and Code Generator with GUI-IDE: "A Visual Programming Tool for IT/Eng'g Educators Teaching Programming Logic and Design using Flowcharts"


Engr. Anthony Undang from Cebu Institute of Technology talked about his master's Thesis. Everyone was interested because it was directly related to us compE students... It’s easy to use because of his some techniques in making flowchart that can generate code itself...Though there was some bug on his translator... It was nice idea to use it as a teaching tool.

However the problem on his translator is when a student uses this as a tool where irresponsible in studying code with itself they use this to generate assignment programming solutions.

Carol Eve Clave

SRP Transport Planning

Engr. Lynn Gloria A. Madrona, an Assistant Professor of the Civil Engineering Department of San Jose Recoletos. Presented A movement is the relocation of a force and materiel to desired areas of operations. To accomplish a movement plans are developed and movement operations are conducted in order for people to have easier and comfortable access to the place. Cebu City’s plan to adopt the bus rapid transit (BRT) system excites supporters and likewise raise the eyebrows of skeptics.
Several questions are asked. Is this just another solution that later become a problem? Will this only introduce a newly dressed-up buses that look novel at the start but still clog city streets? Will this system displace jeepney drivers and operators? Is BRT better that light rail transit (LRT) or metro rail transit (MRT)? Is this by far the best mass transport system for Cebu?
There are proposals to establish LRT system in Cebu City and whole metro Cebu but the city government is considering bus rapid transit system.
BRT system where proven to be really effective in regulating traffic problems. So Cebu were starting developing transportation into a better way.
Successful movement planning requires knowledge of the unit’s movement responsibilities, an understanding of the total movement process, and an intellectual appreciation of the link between movement and employment. A vibrant, integrated mixed use urban environment, that will be a showcase for Cebu and attract national and international investment in commercial, residential, tourist and high value, clean industries, and a showcase for “green” technology and efficient public transport. The provision of attractive open space and public areas for the enjoyment of locals is a vital component of the project.

SRP Transportaion Planning

A study about the SRP Transportation Planning was presented by Engr. Lynn Gloria A. Madrona, an Assist Professor of the Civil Engineering Department of the University of San Jose Recoletos. This study caught my attention,this study focused on how to develop the said place for a more convenient transportation and for employment purposes and easier access to the place. It primary purpose of developing the place is to attract national and international investment in commercial, and as have mentioned the more efficient public transport which seemed to be one of the problems of people who travel far from their place who experiences heavy traffic.
Actually, there were projects being implemented by the government to help commuters travel comfortably without experiencing and adding to the heavy traffic. This projects were proven to be effective and did help prevent passengers from getting stranded at a particular place at a very long period of time, and did help also in lessening the air pollution carried by the gasses emitted by different cars.

Flowchart Translator and Code Generator with GUI-IDE (FTCG):
“A Visual Teaching Tool for IT/Eng’g Educators Teaching Programming Logic and Design using Flowcharts

The study about Flowchart Translator and Code Generator with GUI-IDE FTCG was presented by Engr. Anthony G. Undang. The study was about a flowchart translator that generates code at a particular program language which is a very helpful teaching tool for those programmers who wants to make use of their time wisely. As we know that flowcharts are first to be created before doing the code. It shows the whole flow of what we are doing and with it we could determine whether we really understand what we are doing. In line with this study, it can help them develop a system at a shorter period of time because they can already see the outcome of their plan at the planning stage and find out earlier whether they’re on the right track. This is really a big help especially to students who are in the field of programming who find it really difficult in converting their flowcharts into codes.
The presented project was not that perfect or fully functional, but still it can give an idea to students or anyone who is creating flowcharts and developing flowcharts from it. This is a big help especially when students are under time pressure, this tool can help them easily understand the flow of what they are doing. It can help consume time correctly, since it can help them develop a system with a shorter period of time in debugging.

Gladessa Bongcaron

1. SRP Transport Planning
This issue is being presented by Engr. Lynn Gloria A. Madrona, it connotes an issue about the wide road project named the SRP (South Road Properties). For some time now, SRP remains as it is, underdeveloped with a few institutions at hand. It is big land that needs to be developed by having buildings and infrastructures that will lead to more jobs and opportunities for a lot of jobless Filipinos.
With all the planning that has been made, there is this certain issue about transportation that will be beneficial for everyone. It will save time and energy. This proposed project is called the BRT (Bus Rapid Transit). This is supposed to be an answer to the increasing population if motor and vehicles that causes traffic and thus wastes time for us. Through this, it will be much easy for any one. It gives everyone an opportunity to be saved from traffic, like the vehicles, bikes, and also pedestrian lanes for the people who prefer to walk, because it is a system which involves a lot of things. It is very time saving and very affordable for anyone.
This project is a much greater opportunity for SRP especially the city itself. It will really help us boost our economy by giving opportunities to a lot of people. Through this, a lot of people will improve their way of living by working well and earning their own salaries. But in terms of nature, there may be some things that might be taken for granted. But before doing this proposed project, it needs further studying for it be not only beneficial for the people, but also good for nature itself.

Gladessa Bongcaron


2. Flowchart Translator and Code Generator with GUI-IDE (FTCG):“A Visual Teaching Tool for IT/Eng’g Educators Teaching Programming Logic and Design using Flowcharts”

This study is presented by Mr. Anthony G. Undang from Cebu Institute of Technology, College of Computer Studies and this study is his master’s degree thesis. It is about flowchart translator and code generator. The application is easy to use since it has an environment of a graphical user interface development. This application is a powerful tool in teaching programming-related courses. Teachers won’t have to do the hard code method of teaching programming since the application only requires flowchart with correct algorithm and then executes a code based from the flowchart that is inputted. In this way teaching programming to students won’t be much of a problem.

A good programmer doesn’t mean you know all the syntax of programming languages but how you analyze the problem and how you can come up with a good algorithm. This is what the application is all about.