Pinoy named top Asean scientist

MANILA, Philippines – A Filipino scientist will receive the much-coveted 2008 ASEAN Outstanding Scientist and Technologist (AOST) award tomorrow in Manila for his significant work in photonics and signal processing.

Dr. Caesar Saloma, physicist and dean of the University of the Philippines’ College of Science, will be cited for his efforts that “have resulted in the development of novel and cost-effective techniques in optical signal recovery and retrieval.”

His work was undertaken in collaboration with colleagues and students at the National Institute of Physics (NIP).

A statement released by UP showed that Saloma’s “findings have been published in many high impact international journals on optics and applied physics.”

Together with Dr. Vincent Ricardo Daria and Jelda Jane Miranda, Saloma secured a United States patent for a cost-effective and non-invasive method of identifying microscopic defects in integrated circuits (IC).

Considered a major breakthrough in the semiconductor industry, the technique allows for accurate identification of circuit defects by producing a high-contrast image map of the semiconductor and metal sites.

The NIP website showed that Saloma’s group at the Instrumentation Physics Laboratory published more than 80 papers in leading optics and applied physics journals in the US and Europe.

The triennial award was created by the ASEAN Committee on Science and Technology in the early 1990s to recognize scientists and technologists from ASEAN countries whose achievements have been acknowledged locally and internationally.

Saloma was the first and only ASEAN scientist to receive the Galileo Galilei Award in optics from the International Commission for Optics.

He has mentored 17 PhD graduates at the NIP since 2005.

The professor is also a member of the National Academy of Science and Technology since 2005 and one of a select group to hold the rank of UP Scientist III.

Saloma has been a recipient of various other awards, including the 2007 Metrobank Foundation Outstanding Teacher Award (Higher Education Category), the 2006 UP Diliman Gawad Chanselor para sa Natatanging Guro, and the Gawad Chanselor Hall of Fame in two separate categories, the Pinakamahusay na Mananaliksik, and the Pinakamahusay na Nilathalang Pananaliksik.

The ASEAN Science and Technology Week (ASTW) is one of the major and continuing undertakings in ASEAN S&T cooperation.

It is held every three years and hosting is rotated among ASEAN member countries.

The ASTW is intended to promote science and technology development in the region by creating greater awareness of S&T, developing an S&T culture, and providing a medium for participation and collaboration in regional S&T programs. – Sheila Crisostomo