Filipino robotics engineer Rodrigo Jamisola Jr. is helping the Philippines build underwater research drones intended for surveys of the Pasig River, the Philippine Rise, and the Verde Island Passage.
Engineer Jamisola, the engineer-academician who helped Botswana in the development of their military drone as an associate professor at Botswana International University of Science and Technology, has been tapped by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Balik Scientist Program to return to the country and help two state universities build autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs).
Jamisola, a Mechanical Engineering graduate of the University of the Philippines Diliman, was asked to work with engineering faculties of Rizal Technological University (RTU) and Batangas State University (BatSU) to come up with a research and development proposal for funding by DOST.
Being in charge of the research he expressed his confidence in both projects. Noting that the underwater drone projects require a lot of research, patience, and ingenuity, Dr. Rodrigo Jamisola Jr. who studied Robotics at De La Salle University, Colorado State University, and the National University of Singapore, told media, “It can be done” and that “we will develop it from scratch.”
RTU in Mandaluyong City has to design and build an AUV that can conduct a survey of the Pasig River and at the same time capable of conducting deep-open ocean surveys on the Philippine Rise.
BatSU, on the other hand, is tasked to develop an AUV that can operate in then open ocean and face the challenge of exploring and conducting surveys on the rich marine biodiversity in the Verde Island Passage.
Dr. Rodrigo Jamisola Jr., now the President and CEO of Philippines-based Jamisola Research and Development, is one of the overseas-based scientists eyed by the DOST to convince to come home to the Philippines.
Another Balik Scientist, Case Western Reserve University professor Dr. Rigoberto Advincula, helped the Philippines build its state-of-the-art 3D printing facility.
Balik Scientist awardee Dr. Jane Gerardo-Abaya now leads the International Atomic Energy Agency in Austria.
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