Pres. Rodrigo Duterte has appointed Dr. Franz Asunta de Leon as the new director for the Advanced Science and Technology Institute (ASTI), the unit of the Department of Science and technology (DOST) focused on information and communications technology, microelectronics, and space technology.
De Leon, also an associate professor at U Diliman- Electrical and Electronics Engineering Institute (UPD-EEEI), was sworn into office on Thursday, April 15, at the DOST-ASTI building in Diliman, Quezon City. With him during his oath-taking ceremony were DOST secretary Fortunato de la Peña, undersecretary for research and development Rowena Cristina L. Guevara, and other DOST-ASTI officials.
He will be the ninth director to take over the role at the DOST-ASTI. The new DOST-ASTI director is a graduate of BS Electronics and Communications Engineering and MS in Electrical Engineering in 2003 and 2005, respectively.
He earned his PhD in Electronic and Electrical Engineering at the University of Southampton in United Kingdom in 2014. During that time, he also served as part of the UP faculty for engineering students.
With interests in Digital Signal Processing for Audio and Communications, he was involved in one of the collaborative projects of DOST-ASTI with UPD-EEEI as the project leader for the Development of a Philippine Indigenous Instrument Sounds Database, also known as KATUNOG (KAlipunan ng KaTUtubong TuNOG).
“During these challenging times, there is a need for solutions and applications that will uplift our spirits and help us adjust to the new normal. As the new ASTI director, I want to make the Filipinos enjoy the benefits of innovative solutions in the field of ICT, microelectronics and space technology,” de Leon said.
“We will continue to work closely with our stakeholders to meet their expectations. We will also continue to invest not only in upgrading the facilities, but more importantly in our human resources to be agile and ready for the next generation technologies.”
De la Peña congratulated de Leon on his assumption to the role. “I wish to congratulate Dr. Franz Asunta de Leon on his appointment and on his assumption as director of the DOST-ASTI. The field that has been assigned to ASTI is something that will really transform the Philippines, and so we expect a lot of innovations and transformations that will come out of ASTI. I count on ASTI to contribute not only to new knowledge generation, to new technology generation, but towards the support for more commercial technologies that will boost our initiatives towards being competitive in the region”.
DOST-ASTI was recently headed by Dr. Joel Joseph Sacro Marciano Jr. (now director-general for Philippine Space Agency) as the acting director from March 2016 until March 2020.
