By Aljon P. Tugaoen

Embracing innovations in agricultural mechanization and technologies, Mariano Marcos State University eyes to establish a 3D printing laboratory.

On November 24, MMSU President Shirley C. Agrupis and other university officials met with OmniFab, Inc. 3D Technologies, a Metro Manila-based distributor of fabrication technologies in the Philippines, for the proposed construction of the MMSU fabrication laboratory (FabLab).

Representatives from OmniFab presented the components of a Fab Lab including a 3D printing machinery to be used in building low-cost houses in the country.

MMSU seeks to utilize the Fab Lab’s digital fabrication services in the creation of automated tools and machines that could ease farming activities, a proposed project to be titled Fabrication and Automation Research for the Mechanization of Agriculture (FARM-A Lab). Dr. Nathaniel Alibuyog, vice-president for research and extension, and the civil engineering department, chaired by Engr. Marlon Acoba, will serve as the key personnel of the project.

Aimed to assist farmer and MSMEs in on-farm activities, food processing, food preservation, product testing, and packaging, it will continuously develop food and non-food products and innovative technologies that will uplift the lives of rural communities.

The project will be spearheaded by MMSU with possible partnership with private and government agencies, such as DOST, NHA, and NEDA.

“The lab will definitely benefit our civil engineering program to flourish, to learn and experiment and for them to speed up their work processes and explore their skills,” Engr. Acoba expressed.

Present in the meeting also were Dr. Prima Fe Franco, vice-president for academic affairs, Engr. Ami Ruth Cocson,  vice-president for planning and development, and Engr. Acoba along with faculty members of civil engineering department. (JVBT/HDY, StratCom)