PJWWRAT 2019: Bridging the research on antenna, propagation and wireless technologies between the Philippines and Japan
05 December 2019, Quezon City – In order to bridge the research in both countries, the Philippines and Japan held the first Philippines-Japan Workshop on Wireless, Radio and Antenna Technologies (PJWWRAT) at the Novotel Manila Araneta Hotel, Quezon City.
The two-day event, which ran from December 4 to 5, 2019, was themed “Bridging the research on antenna, propagation and wireless technologies between the Philippines and Japan.” The workshop encourages information sharing on the Philippines’ and Japan’s research developments in antennas, propagation, radio frequency, microwave, and wireless communication systems.
Various topics were discussed by researchers coming from different institutes and universities throughout the workshop. Discussions covered topics related to Radio Spectrum Management and Spectrum Sensing, Antenna Technology, Antenna for Space Applications, 5G Radio Technologies, Propagation and Wireless Technology.
Fostering International Collaborations on Advanced Sciences
The workshop was officially opened by the PJWWRAT Technical Program Committee Co-Chair Dr. Lawrence Materum by welcoming the Japanese guests present.
Ms. Clarinda G. Reyes of the Department of Science and Technology - Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DOST-PCIEERD), Mr. Tomoyuki Honda of the Embassy of Japan in the Philippines, and Dr. Joel Joseph S. Marciano Jr. of DOST-Advanced Science and Technology Institute (DOST-ASTI) were also present to officially open the program.
“This workshop will also be a platform to share best practices and include information and communication technologies of both countries,” says Mr. Tomoyuki Honda in his welcoming message.
“Radio waves are the essential infrastructures to deliver information to people. The need to utilize radio waves efficiently is becoming a collective issue that needs to be resolved,” he added.
In her opening message, Ms. Reyes emphasized current needs in the Philippines and the importance of the collaboration being brewed through PJWWRAT. “For a disaster-prone country like the Philippines, wireless radio and antenna technology is a glimmer of hope in times that our conventional modes of communication are down,” she said.
This was further emphasized by Dr. Marciano in his opening speech, when he discussed the various DOST-ASTI projects that are currently catering to these developments.
Harnessing Best Practices on Philippine and Japanese R&D Activities
New innovations and initiatives that can be used for disaster management in the Philippines as well as best practices in Japan were discussed in detail during the second day of the event.
In his keynote speech, Dr. Hiroyuki Tsuji of Japan’s National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) presented their current research and development activities for Future High Throughput Satellite Communications.
Challenges, trends, best practices, and developments being done in this area were highlighted during his presentation.
This was followed by the keynote speech by Dr. Gregory L. Tangonan of the Ateneo Innovation Center who emphasized the need for more robust information and communication technologies especially in times of natural disasters in the Philippines.
The event was capped off with a closing ceremony and banquet, where the best oral presentations were also awarded:
Coarse Sampling for Near Field Co-Planar Phase-less Measurement by Kasunose Kyosuke and Arai Hiroyuki (Electrical and Computer Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Yokohama National University, Yokohama, Japan)
TV White Space Availability in the Western Philippine Nautical Highway by Rizza T. Loquias (Electrical and Electronics Engineering Institute, UP Diliman); Calvin Artemies G. Hilario, Mar Francis D De Guzman, and Joel Joseph S. Marciano, Jr. (Electrical and Electronics Engineering Institute, UP Diliman & Department of Science and Technology - Advanced Science and Technology Institute)
Those who excelled during the poster presentations were also recognized during the ceremony:
- Estimation on Human Body Blockage Characteristics at 5G Frequency bands for Epidemiologic Research on RF Exposure and Adolescent Health by Ryusuke Ozaki and Takashi Hikage (Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, Hokkaido University, Japan); Manabu Omiya and Masahiko Mizuta (Information Initiative Center, Hokkaido University, Japan); Keiko Yamazaki, Atsuko Araki, Yuri Teraoka, and Reiko Kishi (Center for Environmental and Health Sciences, Hokkaido University, Japan)
- Development of an Off-Grid Decentralized Network using Low Power, Long Range Radios for Emergency Communications by Khazmir Camille Valerie G. Macaraeg (Wireless Communications Engineering Laboratory, Electrical and Electronics Engineering Institute, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines); Calvin Artemies G. Hilario Charleston Dale Ambatali (Wireless Communications Engineering Laboratory, Electrical and Electronics Engineering Institute, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines and Department of Science and Technology - Advanced Science and Technology Institute)
- UAV-Mounted SAR Image Correction with Gyroscope Data and MAP Estimation by Ryan Jooshua A. Maliwat (Wireless Communication Engineering Laboratory, Electrical and Electronics Engineering Institute, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines)
“This [workshop] has been happening between Japan and other countries in ASEAN for the past few years. This is the first time that we are holding [PJWWRAT] in the Philippines, and we hope to sustain it with you,” says Dr. Marciano. “This is just the beginning. Next year, we are eagerly looking forward to other universities who may be present here to help organize this event and to sustain it,” he added.
The event was spearheaded by the organizing committee led by General Co-Chairs Dr. Joel Joseph S. Marciano Jr of DOST-ASTI and Dr. Jiro Hirokawa of Tokyo Institute of Technology. This is in collaboration with the Technical Committee on Antennas and Propagation of the Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers (IEICE) of Japan, the De La Salle University (DLSU), and the Wireless Communications Engineering Laboratory (WCEL) of the University of the Philippines Diliman - Electrical and Electronics Engineering Institute (UPD-EEEI).
For more information, visit https://asti.dost.gov.ph/events/pjwwrat-2019-manila.