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Transportation topics at the College of Engineering’s Professorial Chair Colloquiums
The College of Engineering of the University of the Philippines Diliman started holding its annual colloquiums (plural because each Institute and Department under the College are holding their colloquium mostly during this last quarter of the year).
The Department of Mechanical Engineering already held theirs last September. There were four topics on transportation: 1) Dr. Gerald Ko C. Denoga (Fernando N. Serina Mechanical Engineering Professorial Chair) presented on “Reduction of Light Rail Transport Energy Demand via Powertrain Modeling and Optimization of Operating Parameters”; 2) Dr. Juvy A. Balbarona (Renato M. Tanseco Professorial Chair) presented on “Timetable Optimization for Light Rail Transit (LRT 1)”; 3) Asst. Prof. Roderaid T. Ibanez (Team Energy Professorial Chair) presented on “Energy Demand Quantification and Conservation Strategies of Bus Transport Terminal Facilities along EDSA”; and 4) Dr. Edwin N. Quiros (Federico E. Puno Professorial Chair) presented on “Fuel Economy Results from Diesel engine Tuning for Steady Speed and Drive Cycle Operation”.
There is one transport related topic in the Department of Computer Science colloquium. On October 25, Dr. John Justine S. Villar (Dean Reynaldo Vea Professorial Chair) will be presenting on the “Efficiency Measurement of Domestic Ports in the Philippines Using Data Envelopment Analysis.”
The Institute of Civil Engineering will be holding its colloquium on October 28 – 29, 2021 with the following transport-related topics: 1) Asst. Prof. Rosabelle Louise A. Caram (DCCD Engineering Corporation Professorial Chair), “Utilization of Plastic Laminates in Asphalt Cement Mastic”; 2) Dr. Hilario Sean O. Palmiano (David M. Consunji Professorial Chair in Engineering), “Validation of a Customized Local Traffic Simulator (LocalSim)”; 3) Dr. Jose Regin F. Regidor (Ambrosio Magsaysay Professorial Chair in Engineering), “Pedestrian Safety Assessment Within Public Elementary School Zones in Quezon City using Star Rating for Schools”; 4) Dr. Ricardo DG. Sigua (Dr. Olegario G. Villoria, Jr. Professorial Chair in Transportation/Logistics), “Study of Motorcycle Rider Casualties at Signalized and Unsignalized Intersections”; 5) Dr. Karl B.N. Vergel (Quintin and Norma Calderon Professorial Chair), “Estimation of Transportation Energy Demand of the Philippines”.
Other departments have not posted yet about their schedules or topics yet. The Electrical and Electronics Engineering Institute (EEEI), for example, will have their colloquium this coming October 25 but have not posted a detailed schedule yet. They usually have several transport-related topics including those on traffic signals, vehicle detection, and bike share innovations.
More details and updates including registration to these colloquia may be found at the UP College of Engineering Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/updengg
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On computer games for city planning
There’s another article on a very popular computer game that allows people to play city planner or mayor. I recall playing the game for the first time in the early 1990s. A friend got hold of a bootleg copy of the first version and we soon found ourselves addicted to the game. 🙂
Roy, J. (2019) From video game to day job: How ‘SimCity’ inspired a generation of city planners, Los Angeles Times, https://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-simcity-inspired-urban-planners-20190305-story.html [Last accessed: 03/13/2019]
Of course, later on we tried experimenting on some concepts to see how the game will go for themes such as transit oriented development (TOD) and combinations of land uses. This allowed us to have an appreciation of how a city will grow and how networks perform given various scenarios. I still believe the game has a lot of value not just from the gaming perspective but also from an academic or practical view. City planning (and not just the transportation or traffic aspect) is a very complicated matter and requires a lot of know-how, wisdom and logic (also others) for a city to function well and for it to grow. Perhaps the newer versions of the game will be even more “realistic” and help develop future planners and administrators.
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How about simulating the BRT along EDSA?
History seems to be repeating itself as the situation along EDSA for the upcoming ASEAN meetings is practically the same with that about 2 years ago when the APEC meetings were held in Metro Manila. We have a different administration now with a lot of new people at the Department of Transportation. You would think that they see an opportunity here, to have another chance to simulate Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) along EDSA. They did recently deploy P2P bus services to augment the failing MRT Line 3 but perhaps it is more likely for that purpose and nothing else. There is no indication that the now exclusive lanes along either side of EDSA will be used for a mass transportation experiment during or after the ASEAN meetings. I guess this will be another missed opportunity for a proof of concept?
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Caught (up) in traffic 