AT LEAST 170 participants from both public and private sectors throughout Northern Mindanao are set to compete in the 2019 Regional Invention Contest and Exhibits (Rice) on November 11 to 13 at Robinsons Place, Valencia City in Bukidnon.
Engineer Romela Ratilla, assistant regional director of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), said it is the first time that they received more than a hundred entries for Rice.
The Rice is a nationwide biennial activity conducted in different regions to recognize Filipino inventions, innovations and researches.
It is a national policy to give priority to invention and its utilization on the country’s productive systems and national life, the DOST said.
The activity, through the Technology Application and Promotion Institute, aims to set a climate that is conductive to invention and innovation, and give encouragement and support to inventors who are creative and resourceful.
DOST, for its part, also strives to imbue inventors with a deep sense of nationalism, and maximize their capability and productivity through incentives and other forms of assistance.
The Rice has five categories to be participated by college and high school students, namely: Outstanding Invention (Tuklas Award), Outstanding Utility Model, Outstanding Industrial Design, Outstanding Creative Research (Likha Award), and Outstanding Creative research (Sibol Award).
The first place winners of each category, Ratilla said, will receive P60,000 cash prize. They will also represent Northern Mindanao in the National Invention Contest and Exhibits in 2020.