RESEARCH
Crystallization and Materials Assembly
Crystallization is a ubiquitous process in biological, synthetic, and geological systems. The unique structures generated can undergo assembly leading to complex architectures with different functionalities. Our team has interest in this assembly process across different length and time scales where understanding the process is critical in designing materials and processes for different applications.
Biomineralization
Mineral formation in biological systems have allowed scientist from biology, geology, physics, chemistry, materials science, engineering, medicine, and other to understand how complex architectural motifs of inorganic structures exist and evolve. It has also allowed the engineering of new functional materials and assemblies. We specifically focus on artifical systems that may mimic biologically relevant conditions to generate crystals of different morphologies and properties.
Bioinspired Process Engineering
Nature has developed efficient processes to operate sustainably. Our interest on bioinspired engineering focuses on getting insights from nature's approach in tackling challenges that require innovative solutions.
Air Quality Management
Air quality management research includes the development of technologies and systems that can reduce, remove, capture, and destroy pollutants in air. Here, our team works on developing sensing and treatment systems to tackle the presence of air toxins. These efforts are currently supported by Philippine Council of Industry, Energy, and Emerging Research and Development (DOST-PCIEERD) and Science for Change Program (S4CP-DOST).
Water and Wastewater Engineering
Water and wastewater engineering encompass systems and technologies that manage the pollution load of water bodies. Here, we specifically focus on understanding fundamental mechanisms that facilitate pollutant dynamics in highly complex conditions. Our current efforts focus of recovery of organic rich precipitates from wastewater using principles of colloidal and interfacial science
Phase Field Modeling
The kinetics of microstructure formation is traditionally modeled by a set of mathematical relations that describe the release and diffusion of heat, the transport of impurities, and the complex boundary conditions that govern the thermodynamics at the interface. However, an appropriate sharp interface model is often not known for many classes of phenomena. Phase-field modeling overcomes these difficulties by introducing a new formalism. A phase-field model describes a microstructure (both the compositional and/or structural domains) with a set of field variables. The field variables are assumed to be continuous across the interfacial regions, which is the opposite of that in sharp interface models where they are discontinuous.
Engineering Education
Engineering Education focuses on developing modalities where engineers during their formal training becomes aware and adept of the social, economic, and environmental impact of their profession. We specifically focus on the framework of Conceive-Design-Implement-Operate (CDIO) to modernize traditional engineering education. This framework works on placing equal treatment of fundamental engineering and practical engineering (e.g. communication, collaboration, etc)