For the third straight year, the Gokongwei Brothers Foundation (GBF), the philanthropic arm of the Gokongwei Group, has pledged to grant the GBF Young Scientist Award (YSA) and STEM college scholarships to select winners of the Department of Science and Technology–Science Education Institute's annual science competition for senior high school students.
The two organizations formalized their partnership for the sixth edition of the imake.wemake: create, innovate, and collaborate competition at its kick-off event on March 13, 2023, at Sequoia Hotel Manila Bay.
“Our continued partnership with DOST is proof of our commitment to a shared vision — that the youth of today are tomorrow’s changemakers and nation builders. As GBF continues the celebration of its 30th anniversary, we also continue to journey with the young scientists of today,” said Graciela Mendoza, GBF's head of scholarship and community programs.
GBF continues its partnership with the DOST-SEI's imake.wemake competition for the third consecutive year, aiming to promote science, technology, and innovation among the nation's youth. From left: DOST-SEI Director Dr. Josette T. Biyo, Honda Cars Philippines Vice President Atty. Louie Soriano, C&E Publishing Business Development and Product Marketing Senior Manager Asela V. Javier, and GBF Scholarship and Community Programs Head Graciela E. Mendoza. IMAGE Gokongwei Brothers Foundation
Over the past two years, six winners of imake.wemake have received the GBF YSA. In 2021, Jimuel Clarence Z. Malimban and John Kenneth V. Sanchez from Cavite Science Integrated School and Anjeli L. Merecido from Ramon Teves Pastor Memorial–Dumaguete Science High School received the prized accolade, while the trio of Alexander A. Bañados and Amina M. Javellana from Philippine Science High School CALABARZON, and John Raymond P. Enolpe from Ramon Teves Pastor Memorial–Dumaguete Science High School were named GBF Young Scientists in 2022.
The GBF YSA recipients for 2023 will be announced at imake.wemake’s final presentation and awarding ceremony in July.
Alongside GBF, Honda Cars Philippines and C&E Publishing are also supporting the current edition of the DOST-SEI’s annual science and technology competition.
“I believe that through our partnership, more doors of opportunities will be opened, and more young people will be primed to become scientists and innovators — creating and collaborating for a better future," said DOST-SEI Director Dr. Josette T. Biyo during the ceremony.
Finalists for this year’s imake.wemake competition were selected from among 89 entries from senior high schools nationwide. More than 80 students made up the top 20 teams that qualified for the 5-day imake.wemake boot camp held in mid-March, which featured intensive technical training and mentoring sessions in preparation for the development of prototypes for the students’ proposed innovations. These included training modules on the Arduino Platform and Electronics, the Internet of Things (IoT), Single Board Computers, and Python Programming.
For more information on the Gokongwei Brothers Foundation, visit gokongweibrothersfoundation.org
