Hyper Interdisciplinary Communication 2025 Iloilo Forum Champions Intersecting Research Horizons in Visayas
Iloilo City, Philippines – The Hyper Interdisciplinary Conference (HIC) 2025 made history as it held its first-ever regional implementation outside of Japan – in Iloilo. Co-organized with Iloilo Science and Technology University – Kwadra Technology Business Incubator (ISAT-U Kwadra TBI), the forum successfully gathered 105 participants composed of scientists, entrepreneurs, students, and industry leaders at SSB Hall, ISAT-U on September 12, 2025, to foster collaboration across disciplines in solving pressing regional challenges.
The program opened with messages from Dr. Yevgeny Aster Dulla, Managing Director of Leave a Nest Philippines, who explained what Leave a Nest is about and introduced the rebranding of the “Hyper Interdisciplinary Conference” into “Hyper Interdisciplinary Communication” as this initiative focuses heavily on communication and discussion of the participants in order to collaborate and ignite innovative research projects. HIC 2025 Iloilo Forum Project Leader, Mr. Neil Clarence Diaz then explained the forum’s theme which is about moving beyond single-discipline silos and into practical, cross-sector solutions for regional challenges.
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| Dr. Yevgeny Aster Dulla (left) and Mr. Neil Clarence Diaz (right) deliver their opening remarks | |
Dr. Joval Martinez, CEO and president of Co-Lab Life Sciences and professor at the University of St. La Salle-Bacolod, inspired the crowd as he delivered the keynote speech – inspiring the participants to believe in the power of small things, and start small – much like his academic expertise, which is microbiology. Then a keynote panel session moderated by Dr. Dulla—with Dr. Martinez, Dr. Charmaigne Aguirre Eslabra, Research Unit Head at the Philippine Science High School Western Visayas campus and Dr. Concepcion Ponce, Associate Professor at the University of the Philippines Visayas—stressed humility, proactive communication, and mentoring mindsets that help young researchers translate ideas to impact.
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| Dr. Joval Martinez delivers his keynote speech and inspires the audience about his experiences both in academe and industry. | Captured moment during the Keynote Panel session |
Know more about the keynote session and the panelists here: https://hic.lne.st/HICILO-KeynoteSession
Forum Highlights
Thirteen rapid pitches of researchers from different universities and startups showcased work across biomedicine and microbial science, agri-food and postharvest innovation, healthtech, AI/data science, materials and environmental engineering, and heritage conservation during the Research Splash Presentation. Simultaneously during lunch provided by our Co-Organizer, the poster session commenced.
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| Some of the diverse array of Research Splash Presenters presenting their projects in front of the crowd. | |
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| Some captured moments during the poster session wherein participants visit each poster to discuss and co-create solutions. | |
Partnering with Alternō Pte. Ltd., a Vietnamese startup based in Singapore, the next panel session Alternō introduces its thermal innovation, the “sand battery,” which uses sand to generate heat for energy – previously mainly just for agriculture. This session started with a contract signing ceremony between the partnership of Alterno and Algacon Aquafeeds Manufacturing, where Alterno donated a sand battery for research and proof of concept of their sand battery – this time for usage in aquaculture and fisheries. The panel session that commenced right after mainly discussed the possible uses of Alterno's sand battery in the Philippine context and how it could truly benefit the Philippine aquaculture industry.
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| Mr. Đỗ Tùng Sơn of Alternō and Ms. Soledad Garibay of Algacon signing the contract. | Captured moment during the panel session with (from left) Mr. Ronrick Arayata, Ms. Soledad Garibay, Engr. Diogenes Pascua, and Ms. Maria Aimee Sobrevega |
Know more about the Panel Session 1 here: https://hic.lne.st/HICILO-AlternoSession
Subsequently, together with ADA Biotech Sdn., Bhd., the panel session 2 — Beyond Plastics: Advancing Biodegradable Solutions for the Coffee and Food Industries, focused on practical pathways to replace single-use plastics in cafés and food service—spotlighting ADA Biotech’s rice-based, edible ADA Straws and guidance on telling a clear sustainability story and choosing reliable suppliers.
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| Captured moments during the panel session 2 discussion, from left to right: Mr. Diaz, Ms. Maxwen Ma of ADA Biotech, Mr. Jerduen “Noi” Dongor, Mr. Peter Paul Dayanan of Paul Kaldi Coffee. | |
Know more about the Panel Session 2 here: https://hic.lne.st/HICILO-ADASession
In between the panel sessions, the forum held the Ignition Session where 7 spontaneously formed teams pitched 3-minute proposals to spark collaboration under two themes – Leave a Nest theme and CPUGAD TBI.
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| Some of the selected presenters during the Ignition Session. | |
Know more about the Ignition Session here: https://hic.lne.st/HICILO-IgnitionSession
Hic 2025 Iloilo Forum Awardees
Following this is the most awaited part of the event, the Awarding Ceremony. Five (5) presenters were given the Poster Awards, and two (2) were given the Research Splash Awards, while one on-the-spot team got the Leave a Nest Ignition Award. Meanwhile, representatives from Central Philippine University announced the winner for the CPUGAD Ignition Award and the CPUGAD-RenDewTech Ignition Award.
| POSTER AWARDEES |
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| RESEARCH SPLASH AWARDEES |
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| CPUGAD AND CPUGAD-RENDEWTECH IGNITION AWARDEE |
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| Proposal: Taste Iloilo Members: Merrell Hope P. Becite Princes Cabalquinto Camille Amparo Torrento ( Central Philippine University) Cristal Jane Sans (Central Philippine University) Aziel Reven Cuarez (Central Philippine University) |
| LEAVE A NEST IGNITION AWARD |
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| Proposal: PhycoCount by AlgaVision (automated cell counting) Members: Kiara Bonifacio (Kuray Innovations – Central Philippine University) Roda Capinding (Algacon) Raine Perez (Articulit – Central Philippine University) Ian Tejada (Articulit – Central Philippine University) |
Looking Ahead
Over the coming months, with partners we’ll shift into targeted pilots—completing the sand-battery proof-of-concept and accelerating regional adoption of biodegradable straws—while ensuring researchers continue beyond the forum. Ignition Awardees will receive structured mentorship and stakeholder matching, and all participants are invited to HIC in the Philippines 2025 (Quezon City University, Nov 8, 2025), Tech Planter Philippines 2026 and Visayas TECH PLANTER 2026 to advance their research output and bring them into society to address local challenges.
Look back into HIC 2025 Iloilo Forum Happenings
https://hic.lne.st/HICILO_Partners