Mapua University is stepping up amid the Covid-19 pandemic as it uses its resources to support various initiatives and provide aid to sectors affected by the community quarantine. The non-sectarian, research-oriented university is channeling the spirit of bayanihan through these nine major efforts:
1. Bayanihan Eskwelahan
Three higher education institutions in the country, including the Mapua University, established the Bayanihan Eskwelahan. The initiative is aimed at helping reconstruct the country especially during the time of the Covid-19 pandemic. The group offers expertise and physical resources in backing up the country’s already overloaded healthcare facilities. Bayanihan Eskwelahan now has 14 member-institutions.
2. The GOCLEAN Chamber
Engineers of USHER Technologies, Inc., with its leader Dr. Francis Aldrine A. Uy (also the Dean of the Mapua University’s School of Civil, Environmental, and Geological Engineering) developed a low-cost, mobile disinfection chamber that can facilitate full-body disinfection in seconds.
Dubbed as GOCLEAN Chamber (Mobile Disinfection and Anti-Coronavirus Chamber), each booth has a mist system that utilizes a cost-effective solution to disinfect in-bound guests of hospitals or health facilities in just 5 to 10 seconds. It even has a thermal scanner, breathing pattern detection through artificial intelligence, cough and sound detection, and facial recognition features for added security. GOCLEAN was designed and created with the assistance of Sanitary Engineering and Chemical Engineering professors of the university.
3. PPE donations for frontliners
The Dean of Mapua University’s School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Dr. Mark Manuel, has produced 1,000 3D-printed face shield frames and donated those to the Mapua security personnel, the Army Reserve Command, the NCR Regional Community Defense Group, health workers at the Medical City, beneficiaries in Bicol, and San Miguel volunteer repackers of relief goods. Dean Manuel has even created an openly accessible video tutorial on 3D printing so others can also do the same.
4. Maximizing school facilities
Mapua University has teamed up with the Department of Trade and Industry Philippine Trade Training Center-Global MSME Academy (DTI PTTC-GMEA) to help protect frontliners during the pandemic. Collectively, they have produced 2,371 face shield frames using Mapua’s Fabrication Laboratory and DTI’s DigiFab, one of its state-of-the-art Shared Service Facilities for high-quality fabrication services.
5. Face masks for partner-communities
Mapua University’s Office of Social Orientation and Community Involvement Program (SOCIP) has administered the distribution of face masks to residents of its partner communities. In coordination with corresponding local government units, Mapua provided 5,000 face masks to people in 5 barangays in Intramuros and 43 barangays in Pandacan, Manila.
Mapua University donates disinfectants in carboys (left) and face masks (right) to several Manila communities.
6. Donation from alumni
George Ong Tan, an alumnus of Mapua, donated chemical chlorine to the university, which in turn used it to produce 765 gallons of disinfectant solution. Some of the disinfectants were turned over to some barangays in Manila.
7. Support to Team Respire
The Mapua Central Student Council backed up Team Respire, a collective youth effort aimed at initiating donations. Team Respire was also supported by student councils of different universities in Manila. Donations were turned over to the Lung Center of the Philippines, which intends to use the proceeds to buy PPEs and other medical supplies.
8. Accessible healthcare for Mapua students and employees
The Yunchengco-led institution has organized a free medical consultation and assistance project for its students and employees. Mapua has teamed up with KonsultaMD, a 24/7 telemedicine group consisting of licensed Filipino doctors, to provide the community with unlimited access to video/remote consultation using an app that facilitates electronic prescriptions (e-Prescriptions) and laboratory requests (e-Laboratory) with results sent through SMS.
9. Free film streaming
Lastly, a Mapuan filmmaker has put up the film ‘Ophelia’ for free viewing during the quarantine period. The award-winning Celina Mae Medina is confident that her movie may serve as a reminder for everyone to be aware of mental and physical health during difficult times. ‘Ophelia’ has gathered a number of recognitions from local and international film bodies. In 2019, it was even featured in the Cannes Film Festival’s Short Film Center.