CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) announced the winners of the recent 2015 Regional Invention Contest and Exhibit (RICE).
RICE is an annual event participated by local inventors to showcase their creations to the public and to companies who would want to adapt their prototypes.
DOST classified the 50 submitted inventions into different categories such as invention, utility model, industrial design, creative research and student creative research category for college and high school level.
In the invention category, the Multipurpose Mixer for Roasting, Mixing, and Removing Seed Coats of Grains of Jaime Esteban dominated while Pacifico Feliciano's Kalan di Uling topped Industrial Design Category.
Maria Christina Gragasin and Aileen Ligisan's Pharmaceutical Grade Pectin from Mango Peels obtained the Utility Model Category.
Genovevo Sebastian's A Process for Treatment of Industrial Wastes Pertaining to Inks, Dyes, Pigments, Paint, Resins, Latex, Adhesives and Organic Sludge, Percival Baba's Solar-Powered Road Marker were declared runner-ups.
The PhilMech Compact Cornmill of Michael Gragasin, Romualdo Martinez and Jayvee Illustrisimo won the Creative Research Category. Runner-ups are Briquetting Machine of John Ryan Dizon and Roman Lugtu's Self-Propelled Grain Collecting Machine.
In the College Level of Student Creative Research Categories, the Self-Propelled Grain Collecting Machine, Control System Trainer and Vegetable Bagoong were the top pick.
Meanwhile, the iFlood: Improvised Flood Alarm and Warning Device, ACSci 360 and In- Vitro Evaluation of Prebiotic Activity of "RaPaPoCa" Fruit Waste Pectin in Lactobacillus Acidophilus won the highschool level.
RICE is a twice-a-year event of the department where creative talent and ingenuity of local inventors and budding researchers are higlighted.
In the event, DOST educated the participants on their rights and the protection of their prototypes through the Intellectual Property (IP).
DOST Regional Director Victor Mariano, Asian Foundation Senior Officer Henry Grageda, De La Salle University professor Archie Maglayo, TAPI Director Edgar Garcia, DOST Area Manager Emmanuel Mendoza and DOST Deputy Director for Radiation Benjamin Magbanua attended the event.