by Engr. Jeffrey Des B. Binwag, SEA Dean and University Instruction and Development Committee Head
Dr. Alexander Co Abad, a graduate of Batch 2002 of the Electronics Engineering Program of Saint Louis University (SLU), won second place in the prestigious Queen Mary UK Best PhD in Robotics Award after he presented his groundbreaking research on 14 September 2023 at the Towards Autonomous Robotic Systems (TAROS) Conference in Cambridge University, UK.
His thesis titled, “Fine-grained Haptics: Sensing and Actuating Haptic Primary Colors (Force, Vibration, and Temperature),” focuses on developing a revolutionary sensor with potential applications in telemedicine and telerobotics. His research was developed while he was enrolled in the Phd program of Liverpool Hope University (LHU).
Dr. Abad attributes his success to his Ph.D supervisor in LHU, Dr. Anuradha Ranasinghe, Director of Studies, Professor David Reid, and the support from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-ERDT) Foreign PhD Scholarship and Mme. Maillefer Study Program of De La Salle, Manila where he now works as an assistant professor.
Dr. Abad’s advice to aspiring inventors is, “Mangarap tayo! Hindi iyan kaya ng mga hayop o ng mga robot kahit pa ng mga advanced AI! We need to dream big and do our best to fulfill that dream! Noong elementary pa lang ako ay gusto ko na maging scientist gaya nina Newton, Edison, at Einstein. Pangarap ko makagawa ng munting bagay na makakatulong sa tao. Mag-aral tayo maigi at magsumikap para matupad ang ating mga pangarap.”
While he was a student in the BSECE program of Saint Louis University, he was a consistent dean’s lister and a member of the School of Engineering and Architecture Honor Society (SEAHS). He was also a member of the ECE quiz show team that was declared National Champion in the IECEP (Institute of Electronics Engineers of the Philippines) Quiz Show held in Cebu in December, 2001. He was a scholar under the SLU Special Scholarship Program.
Details of his inspiring win can be accessed online through the articles published by Liverpool Hope University, Cryptopolitan and ABS-CBN.
