NEW DOST-ASTI CHIEF. DOST Secretary Fortunato de la Peña leads the oath-taking of Dr. Franz de Leon as the new director of the Advanced Science and Technology Institute, on Thursday (April 15, 2021), held at the DOST-ASTI Bldg. in Quezon City. De Leon is a graduate of BS Electronics and Communications Engineering and MS in Electrical Engineering in 2003 and 2005, respectively. (Photo grabbed from DOST-ASTI Facebook page)
MANILA – President Rodrigo R. Duterte has appointed a new director for the Department of Science and Technology-Advanced Science and Technology Institute (DOST-ASTI).
Dr. Franz Asunta de Leon, an Associate Professor at UP-Electrical and Electronics Engineering Institute (UPD-EEEI), will lead DOST-ASTI in its research and development (R&D) programs and projects in the field of information and communications technology, microelectronics, and space technology.
De Leon has sworn into office on Thursday as the new director of DOST-ASTI.
Together with him during his oath-taking ceremony were DOST Secretary Fortunato de la Peña, DOST Undersecretary for Research and Development Rowena Cristina L. Guevara, and other DOST-ASTI officials at the DOST-ASTI Building in Diliman, Quezon City.
De Leon will be the ninth director to take over the role at the DOST-ASTI.
The new DOST-ASTI director is a graduate of BS Electronics and Communications Engineering and MS in Electrical Engineering in 2003 and 2005, respectively.
He earned his Ph.D. in Electronic and Electrical Engineering at the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom in 2014. During that time, he also served as part of the UP faculty for engineering students.
With interests in Digital Signal Processing for Audio and Communications, he was involved in one of the collaborative projects of DOST-ASTI with UPD-EEEI as the project leader for the Development of a Philippine Indigenous Instrument Sounds Database, also known as KATUNOG (KAlipunan ng KaTUtubong TuNOG).
“As the new ASTI Director, I want to make the Filipinos enjoy the benefits of innovative solutions in the field of ICT, Microelectronics and Space Technology. We will continue to work closely with our stakeholders to meet their expectations. We will also continue to invest not only in upgrading the facilities, but more importantly in our human resources to be agile and ready for the next-generation technologies,” de Leon said on his appointment as Director.
De la Peña also shared a message to de Leon after his oath-taking ceremony.
"I wish to congratulate Dr. Franz Asunta de Leon on his appointment and his assumption as Director of the DOST-ASTI. The field that has been assigned to ASTI is something that will really transform the Philippines, and so we expect a lot of innovations and transformations that will come out of ASTI. I count on ASTI to contribute not only to new knowledge generation, to new technology generation, but towards the support for more commercial technologies that will boost our initiatives towards being competitive in the region," he said.
DOST-ASTI was recently headed by Dr. Joel Joseph Sacro Marciano Jr. (now Director-General for Philippine Space Agency) as the Acting Director from March 8, 2016 until March 4, 2020.
More than a year later, de Leon succeeded in the position as the new Director of DOST-ASTI through an appointment from Malacañang Palace on March 30, 2021. (PR)
