Faculty of Engineering faculty member Maria Natalia R. Dimaano, Ph.D., received the Outstanding Chemical Engineer Award (OChEA) for Research and Development. The prestigious plum was given by the Philippine Institute of Chemical Engineers (PIChE) during its online convention held recently.
The OChEA was established to confer national recognition to the achievements and contributions of outstanding Chemical Engineers who, through their efforts and interventions, brought about hope and change which have significantly benefited the community and the country.
Dimaano, who serves as the Program Lead for Engineering at the UST Graduate School, was awarded the OChEA under the category of Research and Development. For 2021, the other two awardees were Del Carmen Mayor Proserfina Coro from Surigao Del Norte and Mapua University Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Prof. Bonifacio Doma, Jr., Ph.D., for Government and Education, respectively.
A recipient of the 2011 Philippine Association for the Advancement of Science and Technology (PhilAAST) Gregorio Y. Zara Award for Applied Research, and the 2009 National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP) Achievement Award for Engineering and Industrial Research, Dimaano is also a researcher for the UST Research Center for the Natural and Applied Sciences (RCNAS).
Dimaano is an ASEAN Academy of Engineering and Technology Fellow, and a Philippine Institute of Chemical Engineers (PIChE) Fellow. Her research interests include materials characterization, thermal energy storage for cooling application, phase change materials, and renewable energy including biodiesel fuel using indigenous oil-bearing seeds, as well as addressing environmental protection through biochar and composites derived from the seed husks from the biodiesel production.
After receiving her Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering degree from UST in 1980, she obtained her Master of Science in Chemical Engineering degree from the University of the Philippines – Diliman in 1995, and her Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering degree from the Tokyo Institute of Technology in 2003.
