EM-TECH Symposium - March 15, 2014

March 15 would be the last day for the Symposium Series. It really was a great experience since it was my first time to actually conduct a seminar. It really is hard especially if things are not going according to plan but over-all it was a good experience.

The first speaker for the day was Mr. Ferdie Cacdac and he elaborated about the Fire Suppression System and Construction Technologies. His topic was right on queue since the month of March is considered to be Fire Prevention Month and I hope that people are aware about the chaos that fire may literally bring. Mr. Cacdac basically tackled about the existing products that his organization offers in preventing fire to most likely happen. Unfortunately, the talk only lasted for about 20 minutes and I really would like to know more about future devices which could immediately respond in case that fire begins to scatter within the area.

The next speaker for the day was Mr. Lee Mojado which is also our ENTARCH professor. He then discussed about what Big Data is and how does Hewlett Packard handle the voluminous amount of data. With reference to what Big Data is, it involves millions and billions of Data. Because of this situation, Hewlett Packard developed the HAVEn solution in managing the huge amount of data that exists. I can’t imagine how HP handles Big Data and I am somehow confused with the difference between what Big Data is compared to Data Warehousing. Over-all it was a nice talk since it gave me a glimpse on what should I expect from the real world as I step out from the university.

As for the next speaker, Ms. Lea Capati discussed her current project with the collaboration with Indra Philippines which is the organization that she currently works for. The topic that I was very interested was when she started to talk about the Traffic Management System that has been implemented by Indra Philippines. In my opinion, I am not aware that such a traffic management system already existed here in the Philippines, specifically in Metro Manila. Most of my friends rely on twitter to access information about the volume of traffic in specific places. I really am not that satisfied with the said traffic management system in Metro Manila. Maybe they could at least add more features that would make their target audience believe that the developed traffic management system could really eliminate or reduce the problems in managing traffic.

The last talk for the last symposium day was ended by Mr. Jason Acidre by tackling about what “Inbound Marketing Technology through SEO” is. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization which states that several search engines post the most up-to-date results in correlation to the keyword entered by the user. In my opinion I think that marketing all over the internet is quite a hard thing to do since you are not that familiar with the number of competitors that you are dealing with since the internet is really big. Moreover, I really want to know the standards that are considered by several search engines in presenting information about the most updated result or the most relevant information regarding the keyword entered on the search engine.

EM-TECH Symposium - March 7, 2014

The first symposium that I've attended revolves around the "Surface Plasmon Resonance" concept. Dr. Carmen Tan discussed about the said concept and I really had a hard time to somehow understand the topic which she tackled about since I really am not that good with Physics. In addition, she also tackled about several chemical elements which were too deep for me.  But over-all it was a nice seminar since it gave me a glimpse of how physics is applied in the outside world. Maybe next time she could again give us a talk about how information technology could help the individuals that are inclined in the world of Chemistry and Physics to help society.

The next speaker for the day was Dr. Marian Cumagun and elaborated how the concept of technology is used in enhancing your skin that could make you look and feel better. As the speaker presented the different technologies that she currently uses in terms of enhancing an individual’s look, I somehow was curious if there are side-effects that could happen once the procedure in enhancing your appearance is finished. According to some articles that I've read, there are indeed situations that happen where in the appearance of an individual looked worse after the treatment. In addition, I really would like to know if the technologies mentioned by the speaker are safe or not but talking about emerging technologies I guess that it really is quite fascinating to see a device that could actually enhance the appearance of an individual but I just hope that its safe for them to actually test or use it on a living human being.

The last speaker for the day was Dr. Gil Nonato. He then discussed about Nanotechnology in the health industry. Regarding Nanotechnology being applied to the domain of heath, it is usually applied on flat surfaces to decrease the UV rays that affects our skin. In addition, Dr. Nonato mentioned that if having all the resources in terms of financial and material resources, it is possible for them to apply nanotechnology towards bigger flat surfaces such as glass walls which are usually seen on fast-food establishments. If his idea would push through then the possibility of earning lots of money would be quite high. Maybe Dr. Nonato could bring his experiment towards a level where in the society could actually benefit with his experiment.

EM-TECH Symposium - March 8, 2014

Last week, I was given the opportunity to attend a number of seminars about enhancing health through technologies. I really am not that familiar with the concept of technology and how is it applied towards a different domain. In my opinion, the word technology is usually associated with the business world since the idea of technology is applied to eliminate or reduce the problems present in an organization. The seminar wasn't that boring and as a matter of fact, I really learned a lot about how flexible technology is and how can it be applied towards a different domain such as the health industry.

The first speaker for the morning discussed about the Latest Concepts regarding Oral Health Care. Honestly, I really am quite scared to go to the Dentist due to the equipment used through out the cleaning process and because of that situation I thought that those were the “concepts” that would be discussed within the day. However I was wrong, Dr. San Andres introduced Re-mineralization which returns the minerals to the tooth.  This concept is quite new to me since I am only familiar with the concept of Root Canal since I already have experience that painful procedure. Maybe the concept of information technology could be used to determine which areas should Dental Organizations focus on in giving out free dental check-ups.

The next speaker  was Dr. Eric Punzalan and he basically tackled the topic  “A Heathy Chemi-physical Solution”. Before the talk started, my batch-mate first introduced Dr. Punzalan by giving us a brief introduction about him and I must say that Mr. Punzalan is a man that literally knows a lot with reference to the field which he is a part of due to his credentials. If I’m not mistaken, he also had the opportunity to study in abroad. As the talk continued, he then discussed a sample x-ray and MRI output and then talked about how the tool evolved overtime. It was good that he discussed how these technologies tend to evolve but I wish he somehow gave more concrete examples on what these tools look like and how do they even more function 10 to 20 years from now.

After the talk by Dr. Eric Punzalan, the next speaker that's assigned to give a talk was Dr. Jerome Palaganas. He basically talked about the Future of Health. This topic is somehow interesting since when we talk about the Future of Heath, there are many ways on how would you interpret and perceive the topic even more in such a big industry like the Health industry, In addition, Dr. Palaganas gave me an idea about how information technology can be applied to the Health Industry. The talk was very informative since it I could use what I've learned during the talk in proposing what I want to do in when I start doing my thesis proposal.

As you've noticed, the first half focused on the heath industry. However, the second half of the symposium then focuses on the corporate world and the emerging technologies in the business industries were also enumerated during the second half of the symposium.

The second half of the symposium was started by Michael Garcia. Mr. Garcia talked about what Data Warehousing is. According to him, Data Warehousing is like a very big repository where data could be stored and manipulated depending on the data that the users need. The topic was quite familiar since we already took a subject about an overview or an introduction about databases. I guess what Mr. Garcia is doing is really quite hard since it really is a difficult task in manipulating and accessing the data stored upon in a database even more if the volume of data present in the database is quite huge. Over-all it was quite a good topic since almost everyone could relate to it.

Following the talk of Mr. Garcia was Ms. Cecille Ang which introduced to us the SWEEP card. It’s quite similar with the Bebapay Card but several features were added. It’s like your wallet and debit card are combined in a single card. You could actually withdraw money from the card and even use the card for paying such products or services offered by a certain establishment as long as the said establishment considers the card as a mode of payment. I like the topic and she even distributed a sample of the said SWEEP card to everyone who attended the talk. Unfortunately I was wishing that the speaker focused on how transactions are made with the card instead of marketing the said product.

The last speaker for the day was Mr. Celmer Santos. Mr. Santos then discussed about the concept of RFID and how is it applied. Fortunately, the video that he presented was helpful in terms of giving us a bigger picture of the idea that he wishes to present towards his target audience.Because of the talk, maybe the concept of RFID could be applied in various situations where in monitoring an object or even several objects is difficult to do. Over-all it was a good talk. I wish that he presented more examples where the concept of RFID could be applied.

Goodbye High School and Hello College

               When I was in high school I was so eager to graduate and enter college but now that things have changed, I was so damn wrong for saying that particular line. I really miss those precious moments when I used to hang out with my friends and do nothing. Usually those simple moments were the moments that I remember the most and I really don’t know why. So much for that, college is really a different world when you compare it with high school. It’s of course a lot harder because of the difficult subjects that it offers and the intense pressure that it brings. But don’t let the pressure get all over you, here are some tips that I hope could help you in your college life.

            ~ Choose your friends wisely, they can either bring you up or bring you down so CHOOSE YOUR FRIENDS WISELY.

            ~ Get high on grades, not on drugs. Avoid vices, learn how to say no.

                   ~ Spend your time on studying rather than doing something unproductive. An average student needs to study to cope up with his/her class, time management is the key.

                   ~ You don’t have to be the same person you were in high school.  Shock every single one of them that your silence doesn’t mean you’re gone and doing nothing. Come back with a bang, prove to them that you’re still one of the best.

                   ~ Know your limits. Don’t do something stupid that can put you in great danger in terms of academic means. Remember, what goes around comes back around.

                   ~ Popularity isn’t everything. Rather than making friends all night long, study hard and make your Mama proud, my friend.

                   ~ Don’t be in a hurry when it comes to relationships.

                   ~ Try to avoid Facebook and other social networking sites. It can affect your study habits that can lead you to procrastination which may result to cramming.

                   ~ If you have nothing else to do, try to rest so you’re all pumped up for the next day. Refrain from staying up late at night, if there is no need to do so.  Sleep is very important.

                   ~ Some colleges offer tutoring sessions for free so why don’t you give it a try and enroll with the said session. It can somehow help you in terms of academic performance.

                   ~ Take down notes and, duh, of course, listen to your professor.  Don’t rely on the notes of your seatmate.  Sometimes, writing notes yourself helps your brain remember the salient points of the lesson. 

                   ~ Lastly, if possible, avoid cramming. Merely memorizing your lessons does not help build stock knowledge.

First Day of School

                   Yes guys, it really quite sucks to somehow realize that summer is about end, but I guess all good things must come to an end.  Your remarkable journey towards success is about to start. It’s time to say bye-bye to face book and say hi to our damn books. There are certain situations where in you can’t sleep at night before the first day of school starts, maybe it’s because of excitement or maybe it’s because of sadness. But don’t worry here are some tips that could somehow help you during your first day of school.

                * Start the school year right! Behave and listen to your professor while he/she is explaining the rules and regulations when it comes to his/her subject. You’re old enough to differentiate what is wrong from what is right.

                * Make a first good impression about yourself; remember it only takes a few seconds to make a particular impression out of you.

                 * Just wear simple and decent clothes; you really don’t need to wear stylish and expensive clothes. What matters the most is your personality and not on how you look, remember “personality wins the game”.

                  * If possible, seat near the front to have a clear view of everything. Studies have shown that students who sit near the front of the classroom do better in terms of academic performance.

                  * As soon as you get your course outline for that particular subject, try to study in advance, there are certain professors that are so good when it comes to surprise quizzes so good luck and better study in advance!

                  * Prepare all the needed materials the night before you go to school to avoid last minute adjustments.

                  * Know your schedule, be knowledgeable about where is your next class located for that particular day. You really don’t want to spend your time passing by the corridors finding your next class.

                  * Lastly, come on dude have fun and enjoy your high school/college life, no one would probably hate you for just being you. If you’re a new student, don’t be shy, have confidence and make new friends.

It starts today

                   Hi guys, first of all thanks for stopping by and viewing my blog and welcome to Balt Influence, my personal blog site.  Why personal? Because for a start, it’s going to be my very first online commentary page containing themes and topics which interest me the most.  As the acronym BI connotes, I’m sure my readers will be more than curious what good can this site offer. Well, as I’m passionate about being different, BI aims to promote the good and bright side of being true to yourself and simply change the very common belief that ‘in is good’ whereas ‘different is bad’.  Well, that’s it for a start. Reactions, suggestions, thoughts and ideas from my family, friends and critics in the university are most welcome.  Hope this site will be a means to share with the world my thoughts, your viewpoints, our insights and come up with practical and inspiring attitudes on who, what, where, when, how and why we want to be in the future.