Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development executive director Enrico Paringit (File photo)
MANILA – The Philippines will soon establish its first coastal engineering research and development (R&D) center in Ilocos Region, an official of the Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (PCIEERD) said Wednesday.
"Ilocos Region has a wide and long coastline. There are many challenges and opportunities in its coastal areas, especially in terms of construction, infrastructure, and disaster risk management," PCIEERD executive director Enrico Paringit told the Philippine News Agency in an interview.
The Coastal Engineering Research (CoastER) Center will be located at the Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU). According to PCIEERD, the center will spur the development of innovations that address coastal erosion, developing construction materials for coastal protection, policies, and guidelines to promote coastal resiliency.
CoastER will also focus on the following projects: coastal erosion trends and management strategies; assessment, instrumentation, and prediction of coastal flooding; development of nature-based solutions for coastal protection; and development of science-based decision support system as platform for coastal flood information and risk management.
These will help protect resources from coastal flooding, and improve the lives of people in coastal communities, PCIEERD added.
The MMSU plans to have a joint research exchange and cooperation with the University of Tokyo, Paringit said.
"University of Tokyo is famous in coastal engineering research in Japan. Japan's (success) in developing harbors, piers and ports has a lot to do with boosting its economy, and in ensuring the safety and order of its coastal waters and coastline," he remarked.
The funding for the establishment of CoastER Center will come from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), since the project is under the agency's Science for Change Program (S4CP) – Niche Center in the Regions (NICER) program.
Paringit has yet to bare how much funding was allocated, as well as the target date to start the project.
Meanwhile, Paringit said the team behind CostER Center eyes the development of a master's degree in coastal engineering.
"MMSU as an educational institution can propose a degree program to CHED (Commission on Higher Education) for approval," he said.
Paringit added that there is no master's degree in coastal engineering in the country yet. "(What we have is the) Master of Science in Civil Engineering major in Coastal Engineering," he said. (PNA)
