By Dhel Nazario Three high schools emerged the victors in the third imake.wemake.create.innovate.collaborate competition of the Department of Science and Technology – Science Education Institute (DOST-SEI) and C&E Publishing, Inc. The competition seeks solutions to pressing societal and community issues in food safety, health, education, disaster mitigation, agriculture, and environment. Teams from Ramon Magsaysay High School-Cubao, Pavia National High School, and New Era University Integrated School-General Santos City bested twelve other finalists during the two-day final project presentation and awarding ceremony held Dec. 2 to 3 at the Crimson Hotel in Muntinlupa City. They were awarded the Youth Innovation Prize and P100,000 cash each by DOST Undersecretary for Science and Technology Services Dr. Renato Solidum, Jr., DOST-SEI Deputy Director Albert Mariño, and C&E Publishing, Inc. COO John Emyl Eugenio. The Ramon Magsaysay HS-Cubao team composed of students Erwin Bonto, Justin Versoza, and Marc Andrie Bermundo with coach Rey John Caballero won for their “Project Hermes: An Arduino-based Discourse Helping Device for Deaf and Mute Learners.” Their communication device is intended to help teach special education students. The Pavia NHS team of Jelliane Rose Dicen, Louise Andrew Hubaldo, and Johnxis Jinon with coach Ian John Galupar came all the way from Iloilo City to present their project “Echo Delta Radio Repeater with GPS Technology: Its Impact on Maritime Safety, Rescue Operations, and Disaster Mitigation,” a low-cost radio repeater using GPS and SMS technology. Lastly, the team of Raven Pandac, Lyka Mae Reyes, and Danisha Culipano led by coach Diana Rose Gamil from New Era University Integrated School-General Santos City earned the judges’ nod for their “S.M.A.R.T. School Desk: Student Monitoring and Assessment Reinforcement Technology” which can check and record students’ attendance electronically and tag unruly students during discussions and activities, among other functions. The all-female team from St. Scholastica’s Academy-Marikina received a special award, the C&E Makerce Award, for “TAX1CLE: Tricycle Fare Collection System Based on GPS using Arduino Uno.” C&E Publishing hailed it as the most promising project with its excellent design and strong market potential. “In imake.wemake, we have set the stage again for our young innovators,” DOST-SEI Director Josette Biyo said. She added that she is impressed with the works of the students, considering they were only given a period of three months to build and test their prototype. From a total of 84 project proposals, 15 were selected to proceed to the five-day project pitching and technical training and workshop facilitated by Thinklab Philippines. Each team, composed of three senior high school students and one teacher-coach, also received a kit-of-parts (KOP) that included an Arduino starter kit and set of sensors from C&E Publishing. “Our challenge is that industries move faster than academic institutions,” said C&E Publishing’s John Emyl Eugenio during the opening ceremony. C&E’s partnership with DOST-SEI enhanced this year’s competition, particularly with the utilization of the Arduino platform in the projects. Eugenio further emphasized the need to prepare students for the future, not only skills-wise but in creating relevance to the society, a message echoed by Biyo. “The students showed enviable creativity and technical skills, and quite remarkably, they proved to be aware of the needs of their communities, which is what imake.wemake is all about,” Biyo added. The panel of judges comprised University of the Philippines Electrical and Electronics Engineering Institute professor Engineer Percival Magpantay, Ateneo de Manila University professor Engr. Carlos Matti Oppus, and C&E Publishing Business and Market Research Head Rodel Cruz who chose the winning projects for their viability and potential to address community issues.