University
of Southeastern Philippines
Bo.
Obrero Campus, Davao City
TRAVEL
REPORT
September
8-12, 2014
Seminar Overview
The Information Technology and Computer Science students
of the University of Southeastern Philippines, Institute of Computing were
given the opportunity to travel to the capital of the Philippines, Manila, for
their Educational Tour for the fulfillment of the subject Field Trip and
Seminars 2014. The trip was scheduled to visit five companies and two schools
including one seminar which is the biggest congress for Filipino youth, Y4IT.
The batch went to Accenture Inc., IBM at Ayala Technohub,
PLDT Innolab, Ideaspace Inc. Hub, then at Toshiba Storage Device. Two schools
were also visited namely Ateneo de Manila University - Dept. of Information
System and Computer Science and University of the Philippines - Dept. of
Computer Science.
The trip was overall fun and educational. I’m just “kind
of” not really that impressed since most of the topics presented by the
companies didn’t really interest me.
DAY 1
Today I went on a seminar to...
Today, September 8, 2014, was the first day of
our trip and my first experience to fly I mean to ride an airplane. That
experience doesn’t stand out much though but oh well let’s focus on the more trivial
things. Today I went on a seminar to Accenture Inc. located at Eastwood City
and at IBM located at Ayala Technohub, Quezon City.
What I learned?
To be
perfectly honest, this is the first time I’ve heard of this company, referring
to Accenture. I didn’t really know what to expect but I kind of learned
something about their company. They started out as a BPO company but since then
their industry grew and branched out to different businesses, from management
consulting to technology services and outsourcing. They also introduced to us
Data Analytics which is in demand right now in the IT industry and in fact
they’re pushing forward their research on Data Analytics and they are actually
continually hiring experts on this subject. I didn’t really listen that much
though because I wasn’t really that interested, sorry. In the afternoon, we
went to IBM located at Ayala Technohub, Quezon City. IBM was established in
1937 here in the Philippines. It has evolved to become the leader in
information technology, providing hardware, software and IT-enabled services to
clients. IBM is also known for the quality of its products and services. IBM
was instrumental in the country’s National Innovation Strategy, known as
“FILIPINNOVATION”. IBM goal is also to develop smart cities, also known as
Smarter Planet strategy to transform banking, healthcare, telecommunications,
transportation, retail, distribution and public safety here in the Philippines.
The speaker showed us their server room and some of their technological
innovations. IBM developed Watson, an artificially intelligent computer system
capable of answering questions posed in natural language who also defeated the
“Jeopardy”, a popular quiz/game show in the western countries, champions. IBM
is great in developing these artificially intelligent computer systems. IBM
also introduced to us Bluemix, IBM’s cloud platform. With this developers,
programmers or whoever you are can build and run applications straight from the
cloud. This is what we call Platform as a Service. Overall IBM and Accenture
gave us students more knowledge about technological innovations and yeah
especially IBM.
What I like?
To be really perfectly
honest I really like Accenture’s... snack. They provided is with an amazing,
jaw-dropping snack and that made it really memorable. Thank you for such an
awesome snack Accenture, you will always be remembered.
The trip to
IBM was actually really satisfying. I like everything I saw in there. I really
am interested with AIs so Watson was a plus for me. They also showed us their
new technological innovations including Bluemix and showed us how it works.
What I dislike?
I don’t really
have any dislikes from this trip but I just have to say that I found
Accenture’s seminar pretty boring. Well, as I said, it’s because I wasn’t
interested in the topic but lecture was fine and people who are inclined with
the subject can really learn from it.
DAY 2
Today I went on a seminar to...
PLDT Innolab located at Mandaluyong City and at
Ideaspace Foundation located at Dela Rosa St., Makati City.
What I learned?
On day two,
the first company we visited was the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company
(PLDT) Innolab which is located at Mandaluyong City. There were a lot of things
I learned upon visiting the said company. PLDT is the largest
telecommunications company here in the Philippines. PLDT’s President and CEO is
Napoleon L. Nazareno and PLDT’s Chairman is Manuel V. Pangilinan a.k.a. MVP.
PLDT was established on November 28, 1928, by an act of the Philippine
legislature. By 1930s, PLDT had an expansive fixed-line network in the
Philippines. On World War II, PLDT’s operations were interrupted. Even though
the company was struck by a major disaster, it recovered very quickly that its
telephone subscribers outpaced the number of subscribers before the war began.
Another of their milestone was the establishment of the country’s first
cellular telephone network in 1987. Cellular phones then were bulky and
installed only in cars. With this new service, people were able to communicate
while outside or on the go. Intelligent payphones, which can accept coins of
several denominations, were also introduced. As PLDT’s products and services
continued to evolve, the Company began upgrading its network in 2005 to the
Next Generation Network, a broad term for certain emerging computer network
architectures and technologies. I learned how PLDT used their technologies from
old telephones to cellphones, wired lines to wireless, and from time to time
making their technological upgrade. PLDT also showed us how they manage their
company and how they started their business. They became rich just by selling
wires and connected these wires from one place to another. The business grew
and now, PLDT is the largest telecommunication company here in the Philippines.
After that flashback, they toured us around the PLDT Innolab building. They
have a lot of new technological innovations or ideas like the one for
advertising, I forgot the name, but it was like a replacement for billboards
which uses videos instead of one single picture and it can be updated by the
advertiser through the cloud. After this they lectured about networks, history
of networks, history of communication, and other subjects related to networks.
In Ideaspace
Hub, I really learned a lot or, instead of learning, Ideaspace gave me an
outlook, or should I say, an inspiration to start my own innovative business.
They presented to us those start-up companies they funded and are now very
successful. Most of it, if not all, started out with a very simple idea to
address or resolve a certain kind of problem. I know there’s still a lot of
problems out there that needs to be addressed and from those problems we can
come up with an innovative solution or something beyond those lines. But the
real question here is not what problem should we solve but on how we should
solve problem.
What I like?
PLDT showed us
a lot of their technological innovations and that’s what I really like. Not
only that both the speakers of PLDT and Ideaspace were very accommodating and
cheerful that it brightens the gray clouds outside. The Ideaspace even gave us each
a T-Shirt! And the print of that shirt gives an illusion that it glows in the
camera! We also met one of the CEO of the funded start-up company of Ideaspace
and he also shared his experience with us.
What I dislike?
The speaker
from PLDT who lectured us about networking was kind of boring. I’m sorry I have
to say that.
DAY 3
Today I went on a seminar
to...
The first day
of Youth Congress for Information Technology (Y4IT) which was held at SMX
Convention Center, Pasay City.
What I learned?
For the entire duration of the day, we were inside the SMX convention. We
were able to hear different words of inspiration from different professional
and talented speakers who also shared their experiences and even gave us tips
and strategies on how to build our own successful businesses. One speaker, the
first speaker namely Cocoy Dayoa, Chief Technology Officer of Lab Rats Technica
Digital Consulting, shared how he built a digital business from Php. 900.00
capital. One speaker there was also amazed on how Filipinos have great and
bright ideas and that they don’t just imprison it as an idea but also makes
that one idea a reality. I think it’s because of how ambitious we are but I
think that is still a good thing. Some also shared that if ever opportunities
arises, don’t make regrettable decisions and go for it but you should also
consider your field of expertise and if that’s really what you want. One
speaker also shared that we must also know how to take risks and manage it
because it where everything starts and that it where we could come up or
realize and discover a lot things. It will teach us because our own experience
will teach us. Don’t worry about downfalls just yet, you are only starting. The
ladder is still quite sturdy and you can still make it on top. We must accept
our responsibilities with courage and think of every possible outputs your
actions might cause.
I also like one speaker from there. He likes anime
(just like me lol) but that’s not the case. He mentioned about cross-platforms
and how it will benefit you when starting to develop your own software and the
like. He also mentioned it downsides like the app might run slower if it is
coded in cross-platform environment but the pros are still a lot more than its
cons. What really amazed me is the app their team developed. It was about
capturing a 2D picture using your phone’s camera then it will detect that
certain object and makes 3D model out of it. It was really amazing I must say.
I also learned a few from the exhibits. One exhibit
there was about a phone application wherein you can use your phone as a hotel
key, a plane ticket, to call a taxi, and everything that concerns travels. It
will manage everything for you like the booking processes and it was really
amazing! You just need to bring your phone and you can go through a lot of
places without worrying where to book a hotel, plane schedules, and the like.
Microsoft also offered its Microsoft Virtual Academy (MVA) which provides free
online IT training and learning of Windows, Microsoft Technologies through
course designed by Windows experts.
What I like?
They were not
kidding when they said it was the biggest IT congress in the Philippines. So
many people, different schools, different IT industry personalities gathered
from all throughout the Philippines.
What I
like about the seminar on Y4iT is the new knowledge I gained shared by the
successful ladies and gentlemen. They shared their experiences and gave us
students inspirations for us to work hard and achieve our goals. I also like
the booths where companies showed their new innovations and products.
What I dislike?
There were two
separate venues for the exhibits and the seminar proper from which if you go
outside and visit different booths and exhibits you won’t be able to listen to
the speakers and it really is a pain deciding whether to listen inside or have
fun outside. I also never got a chance to listen to a lot of different speakers
because I got trapped from the fun activities outside like the stamp collecting
which end up kind of useless.
DAY 4
Today I went on a seminar
to...
Toshiba
Storage Device which is located at Canlubang, Laguna.
What I learned?
The Toshiba Company
is the leading provider of HDD and SSD storage devices. Their goal is to be the
number one manufacturing company of storage devices. The company is a fast growing
and fully expanding manufacturing company engaged in the production of
cutting-edge storage devices. They are certified in various international
standards – ISO 9001 (Quality Management System), ISO 14001 (Environmental
Management System), OHSAS 18001 (Occupational Health and Safety Management
System), and SA 8000 (Social Accountability Management System). Toshiba Company
stays true to their motto, “Committed to People. Committed to the Future.” The
company contributes to the society, not just through their revenues, but
through its various Corporate Social Responsibilities activities that are related
to the environment (such as tree planting and stuffs like that), education and
community-development.
Their facility
is very big. They are very strict and disciplined especially towards
cleanliness. They forbade us to step inside their facility wearing just our
shoes. We must wear the provided shoe covers before stepping inside. Cameras
are also not allowed in the facility. They lectured about a little bit of their
history and how they manage their business. Their employees are very welcoming.
It is their tradition to always greet whoever the meet or pass by. Some of
their employees came from Davao and some of them were actually graduates/alumni
of USeP so we have no difficulty in communicating. They used our dialect
language in explaining complicated things in order for us to understand better.
I’ve learned a
lot in Toshiba not just those technical stuffs they told us during our tour but
also discipline. I think that’s the most important lesson I’ve learned while
visiting Toshiba.
What I like?
I really like
how disciplined the employees there were. The facility was really clean and
tidy even though you don’t see any janitors come by every now and then. They
are really strict in cleanliness and strictly values the safety of their
employees. What I really like about Toshiba is that they’re so Japanese. I mean
the customs or tradition they follow there are so Japanese-like and yes I
really like that because I’m a fan of the Japanese culture. Greeting every
person we met was kind of refreshing and, I gotta say it was fun. We even met
several Japanese along our way and greeted them ohayou-gozaimasu!
We didn’t only
visit Toshiba for today but we also had a side-trip to People’s Park in the Sky
in Tagaytay and to Enchanted Kingdom and that really made this day very
memorable. The view of Tagaytay high up was really refreshing. Here, we also
got buy souvenirs and stuffs as pasalubong to our dear ones in Davao. It was
fun at best. The most memorable side-trip was the visit to Enchanted Kingdom!
Ride all you can! The extreme rides were terrifyingly enjoyable especially the
Space Shuttle and Drop Zero. It was nerve wracking and it felt like my soul
just separated from my body. Overall it was definitely very much enjoyable and
we got to relieve our stress from loads of school stuff.
What I dislike?
I really don’t
have any complaints for this day except for the no cameras allowed in Toshiba
but it was still understandable. They also did not receive our token of
appreciation because it was not allowed and that was saddening but oh well
rules are rules.
Regarding the
side-trips, well, we may have visited Tagaytay’s famous People’s Park but it
was really cut short so it was dissatisfying. Enchanted Kingdom, on the other
hand, was really enjoyable but I kind of regretted I didn’t get to ride all of
the extreme rides but oh well maybe next time, if there’s ever gonna be.
DAY 5
Today I went on a seminar
to...
Ateneo de
Manila University, Dept. of Information System and Computer Science and
University of the Philippines, Dept. of Computer Science.
What I learned?
Ateneo de
Manila University, Dept. of Information System and Computer Science really has
a lot of “toys”, as they say. When I said toys, I mean gadgets. But before that
let’s first have a brief discussion on what really happened on that beautiful
day in AdMU.
It first
started out boring and, well, still ended up boring but I got really amazed in
their curriculum. First was that they have game development. From what I have
observed most of their projects are “game-development”-driven. Their pool of
gadgets were also evident on how game-driven they are because most of their
“toys” was mainly for gaming. They also showed us samples of their projects and
thesis titles which doesn’t really stand out but it was still okay for
reference. One project they presented to us was the series of mini-games that
uses the full capabilities or features of the leap motion-sensing controller.
Leap is just like Kinect and has the same features only that it’s cheaper. The
games were fun at best but I think it will get real boring fast due to its game
mechanics being too repetitive. I still kind of was amaze because we never get
a chance here in our school to develop something fun like that. It was really
an eye and heart opener and it really woke me up from my deep slumber. In that
moment I knew that game development really is for me and someday I also want to
make a blockbuster game that will be loved by many and a game that will always
stay in the gamers’ heart.
The Ateneo Laboratory for the Learning Sciences is also interested in
quantitative analysis of student interactions with computer-based learning
environments to derive new insights about how students learn best. These drove
them to make an AI that will assess the students’ needs by determining their
facial expressions while taking the tests then taking appropriate measures to
accommodate the students’ needs in order to help them understand and learn
better. In line with this, because I am also interested in Artificial
Intelligence, I was actually eager to ask the speaker some questions. My
friend, whom I asked to probe for me, questioned on how far are their research
towards AI are coming along. We got a vague answer and I actually did not
understand what the speaker said but when she answered I can see or feel that
she actually knows her stuff and is very knowledgeable in AI. Because I did not
get what I wanted to hear, I tried to ask a different question which is “Is it
possible to create an Artificially Intelligent Computer that is also
Emotionally Intelligent?” Then again she started talking about the algorithms
and whatnot of incorporating emotions in an AI. You should set your own rules,
from what I understand, like an “if-else” statement to define and shape your
AI’s emotion. For example if your AI is a crybaby then you should program it to
cry at simplest things like getting scold at, if your AI is strong-willed then
it should, obviously, not cry and move on. I didn’t actually pay too much
attention to her lecture but at least I learned something from her discussion. Overall
it was kind of boring but it was somewhat educational.
After AdMU we went to UP Diliman, Dept. of Computer Science. The UP
campus was humongous. Their parking lot was already our entire campus. When we
arrived, the one who put up with us was very accommodating. They have seven
research laboratories there each with different people with different
specializations. The seven research laboratories are namely Algorithms and
Complexity Lab (ACL), Computer Security Group (CSG), Computer Vision and
Machine Intelligence Group (CVMIG), Network and Distributed Systems Group
(NDSG), Scientific Computing Laboratory (SCL), Service Science and Software
Engineering Laboratory (S3), and Web Science Group (WSG). We got to interact
with our fellow students who presented their different projects and thesis
titles. I’m only going to discuss the labs that I found interesting and
memorable. The first lab we visited was the Computer Vision and Machine
Intelligence Laboratory. The first project/thesis presented was interesting.
There project is somehow similar to a Sphygmomanometer but
what they are trying to do is to compare to patients pulse/heart beat to their
wide collection/database of heartbeats and will try to accurately tell just
from the patients’ heartbeat if he/she has complication/s or diseases. Next, we
went ahead to their Algorithms and Complexity Laboratory. I was amazed at the
students there. Why? They don’t actually do the coding but they develop/create
computations and algorithms that will be use in a program. That’s not all, they
do the computations with only pen and paper and that actually what amazed me.
In the Network and Distributed Systems Laboratory, one project there was quite
interesting. Their projects aims to connect people, even when offline, using
the Wi-Fi of phones. How does it work? In a Wi-Fi environment, you need to
connect to a certain or centralized hotspot in order to connect to other
phones. This what they are trying to break. They are trying to connect every
phone something like a Wi-Fi to Wi-Fi connection. So, if you are already
connected via the Wi-Fi if the other phone, you can already connect to other
phones that are connected to the same phone. Just think of it like chain of
connections. That’s pretty amazing right? But you know what, I actually thought
of this system but in my case I thought of making a social networking app that
uses Bluetooth with the same system as the one described. In the Service
Science and Software Engineering Laboratory, from what I remembered, they are
trying to make an interactive Virtual Learning Environment. Their project was
more like a virtual classroom where you can raise your hand for a question or
answer if your professor has a question.
That’s all that I’ve remembered or at least was
interested in from visiting UP Diliman, Dept. of Computer Science. Overall it
was fun and very educational. They presented a lot of topics that could give us
an idea on the Capstone Project, for IT students, and Thesis, for CS students,
titles that we will make for our last requirement to graduate.
What I like?
I like mostly
everything about this day. It was very educational and at the same time still
fun. This day helped me decide what I really want for my future, what I really
want to do, and what I really want to be. This day gave so much inspiration and
motivation. I personally want to quit and pursue my dreams but it would a waste
especially that I’m already in my 4th year. I just have to endure a
little more then I will be able to do what I want. I’ll be free as a bird, free
as the flowing water, and I’ll do everything I want but of course, at the same
time, I would want to start my own software/game development company.
We also got to
interact with our fellow students who share the same interests as us and it
really is a different feeling if a fellow student speaks in front of you
because of “as a student if he/she can do something like that then I believe I
can also do the same” idea.
This is like
the best day for me and this actually led me to think how does USePians, or
ICeans, compete with the students as advanced as them? Well I don’t know
actually but…. soar high Iceans!
What I dislike?
I don’t have much dislikes in this trip except for the fact that the
speaker from Ateneo de Manila University was quite boring but still though I
learned something from her.
Also, the fact that this is the last day and after
this were already leaving Manila, is kind of saddening. I’m going to miss this
experience and will never forget it, obviously.
APPENDIX
What can I recommend for the improvement of the
advance seminar program of USEP?
Field Trip and
Seminars (FTS) is a really good way to experience and learn new things. It
allows partakers to learn something through observations and the like. It
builds up your self-confidence, social skills, team building and cooperation to
others. It will let the students engage in a more memorable and meaningful
learning experiences that they will not experience inside a regular classroom.
Studying inside a classroom doesn’t have much impact unlike experiencing it
yourself while having fun. The trip was really successful, almost perfect. Why
almost? Because the trip also had its flaws that needs to be improved or
addressed. The first thing I would like to point out is that the financial
needs of the program in the curriculum. To make the trip successful, the very
first priority to consider is our financial needs. Based on our president’s
experience, she really had a headache managing everything especially the money
part. She had to convince different agencies to reconsider and promised to pay
on a later date than the deadline because the current funds didn’t make the
quota. We may have Models A-C to choose from, A being the most expensive trip
and C being the cheapest. We chose model A because we know we can benefit from
it more than the other two models. One bad experience we also encountered
before the trip was that it was almost cancelled. The FTS is part of our
curriculum so they should have pushed it through instead of halting it. One
thing is certain is that in order for your class to have a very successful
field trip, you need to plan thoroughly. Manage everything, visualize every
possible risks and make a counter plan for it. Plan ahead of time to lessen
your expenses. It would also be best if the University would take the
initiative to find sponsors to lower the cost since the program is a course and
is offered in various degrees in the University, a course that is required and needed
for a student to be able to graduate and not just a trip for fun or occasional.
The University is well aware of the financial status of its students.
My advice to those who will take their advance
seminar program in the near future.
My advice to
those who will take up their field trip and seminar in the future is to prepare
mentally, physically, and of course financially. Because the trip is really
expensive, they also need to consider their financial status. If you think you
don’t have the money to pay for those expense yet, it is much better to wait. Also,
when taking the trip and a seminar is currently on the go, don’t hesitate to
ask some questions even the simplest one. Lastly, enjoy the trip as much as
possible and make it a memorable one!
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