Immersion Blog #5 - Looking back :D #tip #dit #learningisfun

Looking back

May 21, 2017

This is my 5th and final blog for this DITCC-106 (Industry Immersion).

To start with, here is the blueprint of what was supposed to happen during this immersion.

Immersion Blueprint as approved by the mentor

My mentor and I followed diligently with the blueprint to make the most out of the limited time in this immersion.

• Week 4 of April - scouting of industry for immersion, endorsement of the letter for immersion and acceptance letter signed by mentor. Necessary software were downloaded and installed per requirement of the assigned mentor.
• Week 1 of May - Readings and a lot of readings for the review of literature for the research topic and start of the data gathering as well.
• Week 2 of May - Still on the reading and summarizing of the related literatures as well as doing the data testing of the abaca tissue culture.

Based on the blueprint, the 3rd week of May is for the final paper revision and to be submitted to my mentor.

Some of the corrections of my research paper

The final research paper is submitted to the research, development and extension department of the university. After the presentation in the last week of May, it will then be submitted to a computing conference and hoping for the best to be accepted.

Having a mentor who understands the direction of a DIT student is a very big help. Aside from his being very supportive, he shares also some of his learned lessons while he was still pursuing his doctorate degree.

I learned so much in this Industry Immersion under the guidance of my mentor Sir Rhod. For this coming week, May 22-26, the schedule in the blueprint is the making of the research compendium, immersion portfolio and of course finally, waiting of the course grade when all the requirements are submitted.

Praying for the best. To God be the glory!

Total contact hours: 40 hours

Dissertation Blog #1 - Looking forward for dissertation #dit #tip #learningisfun

May 18, 2017

A lot of people associates summer season with tv binging with the barkada, summer outing somewhere with beautiful sandy beaches, waking up late and soul searching. Well, it just so happen that this year, my summer is with a different high. And that is why I have my #learningisfun in my blog titles. 

This blog is still in connection with my immersion, but the focus is more on the upcoming dissertation. 

Before I enrolled in the DIT program, one of the requirements is to submit a dissertation concept. The dissertation concept that I submitted was not my own. It was more of a contribution from different individuals who were giving their all-out support for me to proceed with doctorate degree. 

Here are some things which made me decide on the topic for dissertation. 

1. The department head where I am connected is doing research on image processing so I thought, here is somebody who will be one of my guides.

2. Having a marine biologist sister has some perks when it comes to research topics suggestions. She suggested for researches that could help the marine biologists especially in the monitoring of marine sanctuary. 

3. When it comes to data gathering, having computer science students would come in handy. 

4. Having a DIT mentor whose area of research is on Artificial Intelligence and precision agriculture is surely a good idea. 

All these are the considerations why I am thinking of doing this dissertation concept. 

---> Machine Vision for Fish growth monitoring using Artificial Intelligence maybe SOM or Naive Bayes Algorithm. 

As soon as all the requirement for my immersion are submitted, I could now start on strengthening my dissertation concept. So help me God. 

Immersion blog #4 - Applying the theories I learned inside the classroom #dit #tip #learningisfun

May 13, 2017

This is my 4th blog entry. As a review, this blog is all about my immersion here in Southern Leyte State University (SLSU) - Main campus, Sogod, Southern Leyte. The blog talks about my experiences and learning while doing the immersion as a doctorate student of Technological Institute of the Philippines - Quezon City (TIP-QC) for the Doctor in Information Technology (DIT) program.

As I have mentioned in my previous blogs, Sir Rhod is my mentor. With his many responsibilities here in the main campus as well as with the external colleges, he is  a busy body day in and day out. However, before he goes out of his office for meetings or official business, he makes sure that I am still taken cared of while doing the immersion in the university. Thus, he introduced me to these persons whom I can ask for assistance whenever he is not around.

Mary Grace S. Monasterial

Mary Grace S. Monasterial - She is the clerk of the College of Engineering. Grace checks up on me from time to time to make sure that I have what I need while doing the tasks given to me.

Christopher Rebayla

Christopher Rebayla - This is Chris, a fresh graduate of BS in Information Technology major in programming.

Week 3 in the immersion blueprint is designated for data gathering and testing for the research in abaca tissue culture. Unfortunately, Sir Rhod has an official travel. However, he requested one of his students who assisted him before in his abaca research. Thus, Chris is here to help me in the data gathering and testing.

We discussed about Confusion Matrix, Naïve Bayesian, K-NN as well as how to do the training and testing of the abaca tissue culture. It is very fulfilling when you get to understand better how the theories you learned inside the classroom are being used in the actual application.

Ephraim L. Calope

Ephraim L. Calope - Meet the University Management Information System (MIS) Chief. Together with Sir Rhod, I was able to have a glimpse of their MIS server, computer laboratory server, internet cafe for students, and CISCO laboratories. Mr. Calope manages student records and university concerns. In terms of technical assistance, he is the person to call.

Veronica L. Reoma

Veronica L. Reoma -  Ms. Reoma, fondly called Ma’am NecNec, manages the Abaca Research Center and the Abaca Tissue Culture Laboratory. I was allowed to take some pictures of their specimens and laboratory equipment. When I need permission to get sample specimen for data gathering and testing of abaca tissue cultures, I go to Ma'am NecNec for help.

Also, Ms. Reoma hosts the SLSU hour aired every Wednesday. This is a one-hour radio timeslot as an institutional extension program aired over DYSL 104.7 FM. Sir Rhod and I were interviewed. The interview was aired May 10, 2017 @ 8 o'clock in the morning. The questions were about the research in abaca, why is there a need to do research in abaca, and questions about ICT and the role it plays in agriculture. I was so nervous during the interview but also exhilarated to be able to listen to your voice on air and impart a little bit of the research we are currently conducting.

Ludito V. Ramirez

Prof. Ludito V. Ramirez - Prof. Ramirez manages the SLSU Journal of Science, Technology and Engineering (SJET) and Journal of Educational and Human Resource Development (JEHRD). He is under the office of the Vice President for Research, Development and Extension. The VP for RDE is Francis Ann R. Sy, PhD. We visited the office of Prof. Ramirez since the output of this immersion is a publishable research paper. And so, Sir Rhod introduced me to Prof. Ramirez so that I will know what are the requirements and deadlines for the submission of the research paper for publication.

Marie Khul C. Langub

Marie Khul C. Langub - This lady here is the unit head of the Research and Development Program - Monitoring and Evaluation (RDP-ME). As the name of the program implies, she in charge of the monitoring and evaluation of researches conducted. I knew Ms. Marie Khul way back then when I used to be one of the Computer and Internet Literacy Course (CILC) trainers for the iSchools Project. Small world to be meeting her again after so many years.

Tamar Mejia Jr.

Tamar Mejia Jr. - Sir Tamar is the Research and Development Program (RDP-MIS) unit head. He manages the data of the university-wide researches.

Prose Ivy G. Yepes, Ed.D.

And finally, meet Prose Ivy G. Yepes, Ed.D, SLSU President. Although I was not able to have a selfie with her during our meeting, she should definitely be in this gallery. Without her signature in my endorsement letter, I would not be doing my immersion here in SLSU.

To all these wonderful people who, directly or indirectly, helped me in this immersion, many thanks to all of you...

Another week of my immersion has passed - aside from my added learning, I had my professional network expanded as well.

To God be the glory...

Total contact hours: 36 hours

Immersion Blog #3 - Learning is fun. Student life :D #tip #dit #learningisfun

Learning is fun.

May 6, 2017

     Today is already Saturday. This means that another week has gone by in my immersion here in Southern Leyte State University, Sogod, So. Leyte. I consulted AccuWeather on the weather forecast. Should I bring an umbrella or should I just bring my ever trusted eyeshades in going to SLSU? According to Accuweather, rain and shine, thus umbrella and eyeshades it is. 

A  fine Saturday morning here in SLSU, Sogod, So. Leyte

     One thing that I could be so grateful about my mentor for this immersion, is that he finds time to squeeze me in his busy schedule. Today is a Saturday, and he is teaching his Master of Science in Information Technology (MSIT) students and yet he lets me be here also. During breaktime, he checks on the progress of my research. 

     And so for the output of this week, I submitted my chapters 1, 2 and 3 for his comment and suggestions. Also, I was able to use MatLab for the first time for the simulation of the data using fuzzy logic. Sir Rhoderick, my mentor, provided me with tutorial videos and he was there to guide me also. It was such an amazing experience for me. The wonders of technology indeed. 

     I had a productive week in my immersion here in SLSU. Thanks to the SLSU administration for accepting me here and most especially to my mentor, Sir Rhod. Looking forward to another week of learning!

     To God be the glory...

Total contact hours: 40

Immersion Blog #2 - Getting started #tip #dit #learningisfun

     To continue with my story about industry immersion as one of the requirements for the degree of Doctor in Information Technology (DIT). I am a DIT student fromt Technological Institute of the Philippines - Quezon City..

    Last week (April 24 to 28), I started my industry immersion in Southern Leyte State University (SLSU - Main), Sogod, Southern Leyte. It is a 5-campus state university headed by Dr. Prose Ivy G. Yepes. The five campuses are the following: SLSU-Sogod as the main campus; SLSU-Hinunangan that offers courses in agriculture and environmental sciences; SLSU-Tomas Oppus that offers education courses; SLSU-Bontoc offers courses in line with aquatic and applied life sciences;  and SLSU-San Juan where courses in business and management are offered. 

SLSU logo

      For more information about the school, do visit slsuonline.edu.ph.

     Now back to the immersion story. Last week, I was endorsed to some of the officials of the university. I even got the chance to meet with their University President. I was introduced to some of the research centers where I could have my immersion as well as a tour around the university including the external campus. Based on the research area that I would choose, i would be assigned a mentor. I was presented with these following research areas: precision agriculture and geographic information system (GIS).  

     Before I came here in SLSU with the hope of being accepted, I was contemplating on being a part of their research team in precision agriculture. My previous research in our Artificial Intelligence subject introduced me to the world of precision agriculture especially with image processing. And so, I was really hoping that i would be accepted and be assigned in that area of research. However, when GIS was mentioned, i did a double take. It was more like being torn between two lovers. 

     Doing a research on GIS could be a great start for doing my dissertation proposal. Also, I have attended a training on GIS mapping already and I was thinking that I could go in that direction. And so, I was confused on what to say when asked on what will be my research interest for the duration of the immersion. 

     After a night of brainstorming with myself, I decided to go into precision agriculture particularly in abaca tissue culture. The research center is located in the main campus and there is a prototype already developed specifically for abaca tissue culture. With the chosen topic, I was assigned to my mentor. Meet my mentor Dr. Rhoderick D. Malangsa, DIT. 

With my immersion mentor, Dr. Rhoderick Malangsa, DIT.

     Sir Rhod as he is called by his colleagues, is a graduate of Doctor in Information Technology (DIT) and I am lucky to have him as my mentor. He is the current dean of the College of Computer Studies and Information Technology (CCSIT). He earned his DIT degree from Cebu Institute of Technology - University, Cebu City. 

Rhoderick Malangsa, DIT.  Dean, CCSIT

     Sir Rhod signed my acceptance to company immersion letter. I will have to report to him everyday so that he could monitor my progress. The very first thing that he did was to give me words of encouragement. He said that in doing research, it is not advisable to go do the research right there and then once you have a research topic. You should do some conditioning first and do a lot of reading. Train yourself to read at least six literatures and do a review of literature index for better comprehension and easier recall. 

This is me doing my literature review on Fuzzy logic. 

     And that is how my first week of industry immersion went by. Endorsement, choosing a research topic, assigned a mentor, installed necessary software and did a lot of reading while my mentor Sir Rhod checks my literature review table from time to time. 

     For this week, May 2-5, i am to continue with my readings and my literature review. If schedule permits, i would be doing some observation in the abaca research center and to have a one-on-one discussion on how to go about with my research topic. 

     All is well that ends well.  To God be the Glory. 

Total contact hours: 40