A study mission team from UPLB visited University of California Berkeley (UCB), UC Davis (UCD), and Texas A&M University (TAMU) in the United States from Jan. 13 to 24 to develop partnerships to strengthen the innovation and entrepreneurship programs of the university.

The study mission team was composed of Chancellor Fernando Sanchez, Jr., Vice Chancellor for Research and Development Rex Demafelis and Development Management Officer Jose Marie Abilay of the Technology Transfer and Business Development Office.

At UC Berkeley, the team visited the Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology (SCET) under the Berkeley Engineering, and met SCET officers and faculty members, attended sessions of the 2020 Spring BMOE Bootcamp, and visited CITRIS Foundry and SkyDeck.

CITRIS Foundry is UCB’s deeptech innovation hub that specializes in helping founders make the leap from science to startup while Skydeck is its premier startup accelerator and incubator program.

The team also sat in actual classes, secured guidance on global partnerships, and discussed potential future collaborations and MOU signing with UCB.

In a visit to UCD, the team met with key officials  involved in innovation and entrepreneurship programs, visited innovation institutions and innovation/incubator facilities, and discussed future collaborations and partnership arrangements including a review of the coverage and effectivity of an existing UPLB-UCD MOU.

The team was also able to meet with UPLB alumni now working and based in UCD. 

At Texas A&M University, the team met with  key officials  involved in innovation and entrepreneurship and visited the TAMU Engineering Complex, makerspaces/fablab, as well as other innovation facilities.

UPLB and TAMU officials also discussed future collaborations and incorporation of  innovation and entrepreneurship partnership and the soft-landing and co-incubation for startups into an existing MOU between the two universities.  

The study mission team arranged to meet with Engr. Dado Banatao, Filipino philanthropist and entrepreneur, and his PhilDev Management Team in Palo Alto, to discuss future collaborations.

The team also paid a courtesy visit on Jan 16 to the Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco where Chancellor Sanchez, representing UPLB, signed the Spark*Connect*Empower Partnership Agreement with the former represented by Consul General Henry S. Bersuto, Jr.

The MOU commits UPLB to be a key partner in the startup initiative activities headed by the SFO Consulate office that will spark love for their Filipino heritage and culture, connect them with like-minded networks and individuals, and empower then to take action for the betterment of the country.   

Chancellor Sanchez and Vice Chancellor Demafelis also met with Dr. Joy Javelosa, Philippine Agricultural Attache  in Washington DC, to draw a plan and timetable for the UPLB Internationalization Program in North America for year 2020.

According to the team, the very much appreciated assistance from the Philippine Embassy and its consular offices thru Dr. Javelosa resulted in a partnership between UPLB Internationalization Program in North America and the Philippine Embassy and its consular offices, a partnership that resulted in some  initial fruitful outcomes for 2019.

The study mission was funded by DOST-PCIEERD through the Technology Business Incubation(TBI) 4.0 project that is being implemented by the UPLB Technology Transfer and Business Development Office (TTBDO).

The DOST-PCIEERD-funded 2-year project is entitled: “TBI 4.0: DOST-Startup Innovation and Business Opportunity Linkage (SIBOL) Labs.”

Being the unit mandated to manage the UPLB TBI facilities, the TTBDO arranged the study mission to selected US universities that have strong and unique innovation and entrepreneurship programs, which is a key component of its TBI capacity building efforts to attain TBI 4.0 rating. (by Dr. Rex Demafelis and Engr. Jose Marie Abilay)