THE UST Graduate School will offer a master’s program in electronics engineering next academic year as part of a “vertical articulation” strategy and to produce more research.
Angelo de la Cruz, chairman of the Department of Electronics Engineering, said the new graduate program would pursue collaborative projects with other colleges and offices in the University.
“The major thrust is to go to biomedical engineering because we have the UST Hospital. The College of Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery and UST Hospital all collaborate and Engineering will join. That’s the direction,” de la Cruz said.
The MS Electronics Engineering program will offer three strands: instrumentation and control, microelectronics and communications.
The Commission on Higher Education declared the electronics engineering program of the University a Center of Development despite the lack of a graduate program.
Vertical articulation and curriculum shift
De la Cruz said the program would fit in the University’s plan of vertical articulation, in which graduate school programs would be offered in their parent colleges instead of the Graduate School. UST plans to implement vertical articulation beginning with its centers of excellence and development.
With the vertical articulation and curriculum shift brought about by the K to 12 scheme, undergraduate and graduate electronics engineering programs may become a joint bachelor of science and master of science (MS) program, he said.
“So let’s say engineering will be four years, then we will add a year for the graduate program, in five years, you have a BS/MS degree,” he explained.
Mapua Institute of Technology and De La Salle University are the only universities in the country that offer joint programs in electronics engineering.
De la Cruz also said the MS program could pave the way for UST to offer a doctorate degree in electronics engineering and make UST at par with other universities.
With a doctorate program, UST can become part of the Department of Science and Technology’s Engineering Research and Development Technology (ERDT) program, which could be a source of research funds.
There are eight universities in the ERDT: Ateneo de Manila University, Central Luzon State University, De La Salle University, Mapua Institute of Technology, Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology, University of the Philippines Diliman, UP Los Baños and University of San Carlos.
