To strengthen the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Electronics Engineering (ECE) Alumni force, the first UST ECE Alumni General Meeting and Fellowship was held last January 21 at the UST Fr. Roque Ruaño building Quadrangle from 3 to 7 PM.
The event was attended by the members of the ECE Alumni from Batches 1960 to the present, including ECE students who participated Via Zoom.
“While the different discipline-based alumni associations are continuously expanding and progressing, we hope that we are all still one and true to the vision and mission of the University in serving our main stakeholders,” UST Faculty of Engineering (FoE) Dean, Prof. Angelo R. dela Cruz, Ph.D., PECE, mentioned in his opening remarks.
This was followed by a message from the UST Engineering Alumni Association Inc. (USTEAAI) President Engr. Jason L. Ong.
“Andirito tayo to form the ECE Alumni and once again the formation of this alumni association per department is to strengthen the participation of each department as well as to give equal representation to the engineering alumni association,” Engr. Ong uttered.
ECE Department Chair Asst. Prof. Edison A. Roxas, Ph.D. also gave his message stating, “this is the moment to reminisce all your experiences behind the walls of the Roque Ruaño building both good and bad but definitely memorable.”
“May the establishment of the ECE Alumni Organization be the first step to continuously connect and collaborate to keep the flames of the UST ECE alive and burning,” he added.
An audio-visual presentation about the department, its milestones, and accomplishments over the past years, was shown after their speeches.
Engr. Amante Garcia from Batch 1993 shared how the group was created and started.
“This event would not be possible without the support of all the core group members of the batch representatives and even students. So lahat ng kabuuan ng UST ECE department ay parte po ng pagiging successful na event ngayon,” he said.
The awarding of the Certificate of Appreciation to the members of the ECE Core Team during the process of creating the UST ECE Alumni association by-laws was then administered.
Four Thomasian Hall of Famers from the ECE Department namely, Engr. William Bello (Batch 1973), Engr. Norberto Viera (Batch 1977), Engr. Manuel Dino (Batch 1965), and Engr. James Velasquez (Batch 1988) were acknowledged.
Engr. Bello and Engr. Viera shared their sentiments during the event.
When asked about his sentiments on going back to his alma mater after 18 years in an interview, Engr. Viera said, “It’s like a de ja vu. When I was here in 1972 when I enrolled here for my course in engineering, it was really nice, it feels good about it, to see everybody developing.”
With a 216-1 vote during their online voting, the by-laws have now been approved and ratified, concluding the formation of the ECE Alumni Association.
Current Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the USTEAAI Monina Evangelista of Batch 1994 and former UST Engineering Student Council (UST ESC) President John Marvin Morante from Batch 2014, hosted the onsite event while Denisse Cunanan from the ECE Department was the virtual host.
The event concluded with the singing of the UST Hymn followed by a photo opportunity.
A former scholar of the Pinoy Dream Academy RJ Jimenez from Batch 2006 with his five-year-old daughter Ellie Jimenez and 4th year ECE student Juan Carlos Castro entertained the audience during their dinner.
