The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Lincoln Laboratory named three small planets after three Filipino students from Camarines Sur who won major prize in the 2018 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) held in Pennsylvania, USA.
The recognition for Eugene Rivera, Joscel Kent Manzanero and Keith Russel Cadores, who were then high school students from Camarines Sur National High School and now BS in Electronics Engineering students of Bicol State College of Applied Sciences and Technology (BISCAST), was given as reward for winning Second Place for their work in the design and development of the power harvesting and generating “Solar-Tracking Arduino-Rooted PV Panels” in the ISEF Energy: Physical category.
The Department of Education in the Philippines announced in April that the award-winning Filipino students each received a certificate identifying their very own minor planet and an orbital plot showing its current location. The MIT Lincoln Laboratory has been naming asteroids or minor planets discovered by their laboratory after high school students who excel at science competitions.
Minor Planet (34524) Eugenerivera was discovered by the MIT Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) Program.
The Filipino students represented the Philippines and won recognition as one of the Grand Award winners in the May 2018 Intel ISEF following their success in the 2018 National Science and Technology Fair (NSTF) which posted the MIT confirmation.
In 2003, a small planet originally identified as 13241 orbiting between Mars and Jupiter was named by MIT Lincoln Laboratory “Planet Biyo” after Dr. Josette Biyo, an international award-winning Filipino science teacher in Philippine Science High School-Western Visayas (PSHS-WV) in Iloilo City.
This year, the three Filipino students received the same recognition of being the inspiration in naming the heavenly bodies.
Send your congratulations for our young Filipino scientists whose names are now in the stars!
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