The Lim Ka Thong Makerspace, located on the 9th floor of the Henry Sy Sr. Building in UP Manila, was inaugurated last December 5, 2022. The new space for the SIBOL was just in time for its 3rd anniversary since it was founded in December 2019. There are 4 areas in SIBOL: (1) Skills Lab Nursery; (2) Invention Lab Greenhouse; (3) meeting rooms; and (4) administrative office.
January 31, 2023 — “Today is a very special day because the inauguration of this new home of the Surgical Innovation and Biotechnology Laboratory (SIBOL) is really a dream come true,” UP Manila Chancellor Dr. Carmencita D. Padilla said in welcoming the attendees. Chancellor Padilla expressed appreciation to those who made this happen as she recounted the lessons learned from UP SIBOL’s co-investigators when the focus was changed into something more medical in nature as per funding agency’s advice.
The Lim Ka Thong Makerspace, located on the 9th floor of the Henry Sy Sr. Building in UP Manila, was inaugurated last December 5, 2022. The new space for the SIBOL was just in time for its 3rd anniversary since it was founded in December 2019. There are 4 areas in SIBOL: (1) Skills Lab Nursery; (2) Invention Lab Greenhouse; (3) meeting rooms; and (4) administrative office.
Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for the Lim Ka Thong Makerspace
SIBOL also showcased its latest work on health. Dr. Charlotte M. Chiong, dean of the UP Manila College of Medicine, said that the pandemic became UP SIBOL’s silver lining to accelerate innovation. UP SIBOL’s shift to a COVID Task Force led to innovations.
Mr. Philip Lim, son of the donor Lim Ka Thong for whom the facility was named, shared how he grew up seeing his father helping and ready with a helping hand. For them, the facility is a place where people can share their problems and work together to provide practical and economical solutions.
Dr. Prospero C. Naval, Jr., Program Coordinator of UP SIBOL and a Professor at the Dept. of Computer Science, UP Dili-man, gave his keynote presentation, “Artificial Intelligence Applications in Medicine”, that pointed the way to a promising future when AI technology is used for healthcare.
Dr. Philip B. Fullante presented UP SIBOl’s devices and prototypes. The latest works shown featured disinfection devices (Sanipod; CleanIntubate; HyperUV; Negative Pressure Room; Aerosafe, Personal Protective Equipment; Power Air-Purifying Respirator; Reusable Facemask; and Coverall), telehealth devices (My Bot Ensuring Safety and Health in Isolated Environments or my B.E.S.H.I.E.; RxBox Telemetry for COVID; Echo On Sight; and E-Steth), and a support device for pregnant and obese patients called Prone Pillow Plus.
Other innovations in the product development stages were also mentioned. These were: iFix (design and fabrication of an external fixator); OR Petals (OR Programmable Electronically Targeted Light System; iBlood (estimation of surgical blood loss during surgical operations); Abacast (biodegradable orthopaedic cast); Kuchi (Operative mouth retractor for oral and transoral surgical procedures); and HeLe Phase 2 (the continuing product development of the Hearing for Life project to create a newborn hearing screening device to increase the rate of newborn hearing screening in the Philippines).
Haziel May C. Natorilla | Published in the UP Manila Healthscape Issue No. 47 (January 2023)
