Outgoing Department of Science and Technology Secretary Estrella F. Alabastro was honored by the University at the Executive House on May 27 with a testimonial dinner for her contributions to the development of S&T in the country in general and for supporting UP S&T programs in particular.

She was instrumental in the establishment of the Engineering Research and Development for Technology (ERDT) Program, a consortium of seven uni-versities that have comprehensive and mature graduate Engineering programs and will therefore contribute to creating a pool of high-level engineers who can jumpstart the economy through radical innovations.

The seven member universities are: UP, the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU), Central Luzon State University (CLSU), De La Salle University (DLSU), Mapua Institute of Technology (MIT), Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT), and the University of San Carlos (USC). Representatives of these institutions were present at the testimonial dinner.

UP Diliman College of Engineering Dean Rowena Cristina L. Guevara; ADMU School of Science and Engineering Dean Fabian Dayrit, representing ADMU President Fr. Bienvenido F. Nebres, S.J.; MIT School of Graduate Studies Dean Jonathan Salvacion, rep-resenting MIT President Reynaldo B. Vea; DLSU President Bro. Armin A. Luistro, FSC; CLSU President Ruben C. Sevilleja; MSU-IIT Chancellor Marcelo P. Salazar; and USC Office of Research Director Danilo Largo, representing USC President Fr. Dionisio Miranda, SVD, all expressed their gratitude to Alabastro for her unwavering support of the ERDT consortium. They also praised the efficiency with which she performed her duties as DOST chief.

Guevara, in her message, even presented Alabastro with a unique but fitting tribute—the Eight-bit Fixed-point microcontroller for Autonomous systems or EFA. It is a project of the UPD Elec-trical and Electronics Engineering Institute in collaboration with Synopsys (Singapore) Pte Ltd and funded by the DOST chip design program for ERDT’s semicon-ductor and electronics track. EFA are the secretary’s initials.

Alabastro

In her response, Alabastro thanked everyone for their kind words and said that while her term was coming to an end, she has made arrangements with the Department of Budget and Management to allot P100 million for S&T development until December 2010. She also assured everyone that DBM will renew the allotment of P100 million for 2011. Naturally, her announcement was greeted with cheers and applause.

Alabastro graduated cum laude with a degree in Chemical Engineering at UPD and went on to Rice University in Houston, Texas for her MS and PhD in Chemical Engineering. She occupied administrative posts at UPD before moving to the DOST in 1991, where she headed two councils before becoming undersecretary in 1995 and Secretary in 2001.