Emy Ruth Gianan, Angelo Acedera, News, Communication Management Office
Two separate teams comprised of PUP students nab top spots in the ASEAN Data Science Explorers 2022 National Finals, as announced in a virtual ceremony last August 28. Prince Jewel Federe, a fourth year Computer Science student, is the other half of Team Paradocs, champions of this year’s competition. Bea Jane Lazona and John Adrian Adona, both fourth year Statistics students, secured the 2nd runner-up spot in the national finals.
Every year, the ASEAN-DSE competition invites students from a variety of ASEAN member states who compete to present solutions to problems confronting our nations. Among other winners for the ASEAN-DSE 2022 are students from the University of the Philippines and Ateneo De Manila University. The winners were chosen based on their capacity to develop the most comprehensive solution that solves the socio-economic issues facing ASEAN and is informed by data insights.
Solving the world’s biggest development challenges Students are asked to develop data-driven solutions to challenges that hinder the Southeast Asian region from achieving the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs). Federe’s Team Paradocs centered their winning concept on establishing vermiculture hubs and community gardens to produce sustainable food.
“Vermiculture hubs: these hubs will house worms, who will take care of leftover food and other organic waste in the community. When feeding those worms, they will produce vermicast. If you don’t know, vermicast is the best alternative to our fertilizer, arguably even better than compost. So, the community garden will feed the people, and their leftovers will be processed by worms, and the vermicast they produce will be returned to the community garden as fertilizer alternatives,” Federe explained in an email interview.
For Lazona and Adona’s Team Facts and Stats, it is vital to address plastic pollution because it continues to threaten the marine ecosystem and human health. They developed Plasticoon, a plastic waste management app which helps people earn money by recycling plastic waste without the hassle.
“[Our project] aims to raise awareness of plastic pollution in the oceans via remodeling their perspective on the idea of plastic as another source of income by donating plastic waste for the sake of recycling,” Lazona expounded in an email interview.
Both projects are currently in beta phase.
Joining competitions and finding value in data Both teams underwent crucial preparation to claim a coveted spot in the national finals. When Bea Jane and John Adrian of Facts and Stats cleared the initial phase of the competition, they took every opportunity to scrutinize and re-evaluate their storyboard.
“We let our friends critique it and asked for help from the PH Ambassador for tips on presenting our storyboard. After gaining confidence from our output, my partner and I practiced presenting several times and tried to answer the possible questions that judges might ask,” Lazona shared, adding that their coach, Prof. Kenneth Nuguid of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, carefully assisted their team through valuable insights to improve their storyboard.
Prince also shared his experience for the competition: “When formulating our plan, we had two things in our mind: it has to be sustainable and attainable. It won’t work if we’re just thinking of grand solutions—we had to ask ourselves: ‘can it be done?’”
Our award-winning students believe in the hard-earned value of competition. They see these as platforms to empower young thinkers and cultivate a culture of learning among peers and experts. They also shared that data is a powerful tool to make significant and positive changes in human lives and our societies today.
“Don’t be afraid to learn and try new things. So please join the competition and see where it leads you. And hey! Data is beautiful because that’s how our world communicates to us in a language we understand. It tells us why things are the way they are. Knowing them will make us appreciate the world better. It’s also all about what you will do with that information. Will you let it stagnate in your head? Or will you go out there and change the world?” Federe exclaimed.
For Bea Jane: “You don’t need to be in the field of statistics like us to join this competition. All you need is curiosity, creativity, and determination for you to create an innovative and sustainable solution for the current ASEAN region’s social issues. Lastly, have fun and enjoy the process.”
Team Paradocs is qualified to compete in the regional finals, which will be held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on October 10-12, 2022.
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