The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has collaborated with the Mindanao State University- Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT) to set up the Fab Lab Mindanao, a shared service facility with P4.96 million worth of state-of-the-art equipment.
The Fab Lab Mindanao, dubbed as a laboratory that can ?make almost anything,? helped MSU engineering students create a robotic arm in two days instead of a usual semester, and at minimal cost. Such prototypes, for example, may be developed to have applications in manufacturing.
Other facilities of the Fab Lab Mindanao include precision cut-outs, digital embroidery, and wood and acrylic engraving, among others.
MSU-IIT also collaborated with various government agencies and industry partners to launch seven centers to support sustainable innovation and technopreneurship.
Other facilities launched at the MSU-IIT include:
? the Intellectual Property Unit-Innovation and Technology Support Office (ITSO), in cooperation with the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines, to manage and safeguard the intellectual property of the institution;
? ?InnoHive,? a learning hub where peers, faculty mentors, and industry partners can discuss innovative and collaborative research projects;
? and ?iDEYA:CIT@MSUIIT,? a business incubation center co-funded by the Department of Science and Technology- PCIEERD.
?It?s about time our research focus on innovative ideas so that what presently exists would become better. This is an opportunity to engage private sector to converge to allow that idea bloom,? MSU-IIT chancellor Sukarno Tanggol said.
DTI undersecretary Zenaida Maglaya lauded Northern Mindanao?s initiatives to support micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSMEs) development with the launching of Mindanao?s first innovation ecosystem.
?Northern Mindanao leads the way in developing support needed for innovation in entrepreneurship by engaging government, academe, and industries,? Maglaya said at the sidelines of the ?Innovation Convergence? program held at the MSU-IIT.
The DTI also opened a Negosyo Center inside the campus. ?To encourage entrepreneurs, we will make it easy for them to start their business and later on, to facilitate access to services for these budding MSMEs,? said DTI Region 10 regional director Linda Boniao
