By Dhel Nazario
The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) has provided over 24 grants amounting to P110 million through academe-industry partnerships in research and development (R&D) of the Collaborative R&D to Leverage Philippine Economy (Cradle) Program for this year.
(DOST / MANILA BULLETIN)
Cradle is specifically designed to foster collaboration between academe and local companies to improve competitiveness and catalyze innovation.
It also aims to improve the country’s innovation ecosystem by facilitating the smooth transition of new technologies from universities and R&D institutes to industries; or from laboratory to market.
The advantage of Cradle is it already serves a specific local company with an R&D problem. The program assists the company by finding a partner university or a research and development institute (RDI) equipped with experts who can solve the problem and the facility to undertake the R&D.
Aiming to standardize the therapeutic application of “sambong” plants through artificial intelligence system, the Pascual Pharma Corporation sought the expertise of the Technological Institute of the Philippines (TIP) in 2017.
The project’s output will help the company innovate and improve the agricultural practices and the extraction process of “sambong” plants.
Batangas Egg Producers Cooperative (BEPCO) partnered with University of the Philippines Diliman (UPD) to solve their problem of oversupply of eggs during summer leading to low price.
UPD will develop an egg white powder and granules from low these value eggs which can be used for baking purposes. The project will help the company in developing a new product.
Through the Cradle Program, the industries are able to tap the expertise of researchers from the academe.
The program gives companies the opportunity to upgrade, expand and become more competitive in business through research
and development.