Empowering Innovation: SCENT Demo Day Philippines 2024 Unites Visionaries and Industry Leaders

PumpSafe

WTGES (Wet-type Gravity Energy Storage)

Happy Heart Tech

Hydro Innovation

Alon Labs

Engr. Ronezza “Ezza” Delos Santos acquired her Bachelor's Degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of the Philippines Diliman. She obtained her professional license as a Chemical Engineer in 2019 and is currently pursuing her Masters in Environment and Natural Resources Management in the UP Open University. Before joining Leave a Nest Philippines, she worked with Baguio Water District to help ensure the quality of water distributed to households in Baguio City and Benguet. Eager for new challenges, she became one of the pioneering members of Leave a Nest Philippines, and in March 2023, was appointed as a Director of the organization. She was the first local Project Leader of TECH PLANTER in the Philippines, Leave a Nest's initiative to support the development of engineering and research technologies into startups and businesses addressing different deep issues encountered locally and globally.

Janbern Barel is a dynamic leader in Corporate Social Responsibility at First Gen Corporation, with over a decade of experience in sustainability, driving initiatives in decarbonization, community resilience, and development. As an Assistant Manager, he provides strategic management across the group, delivering impactful results in environmental, educational, and social initiatives by leveraging his expertise in project management, stakeholder engagement, communications, and impact reporting.

Prior to his corporate role, Janbern worked with non-profit organizations and consulted for international entities, focusing on key environmental issues like water security, climate change, disaster risk reduction, and solid waste management.

He holds a BS in Human Ecology from the University of the Philippines Los Baños, where his research focused on the organizational health assessment of upland farmer associations to support their growth and organizational development. He also earned an MS in Sustainability from the United Nations University in Tokyo, Japan, where his research on the value of achieving water security was awarded the 2024 Thesis of the Year and 1st Place in the Public Management Cluster by the Asian Development Bank.

Amy Irene Arceño Ofrin was admitted to the Philippine Bar in 2006. She obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Economics, cum laude, in 1999 and a Bachelor’s Degree in Law in 2004, both from the University of the Philippines.

Atty. Ofrin is a corporate law practitioner. Her expertise lies in business structuring and registration, project finance, property development, land titling and conversion, taxation and human resources management. She has extensive experience in servicing corporate clients particularly with regard to corporate housekeeping, business and trademark registrations, contract drafting and review, tax audits, business reorganizations, and employee relations. She deals, in behalf of clients, with most government agencies such as the Bureau of Internal Revenue, Securities and Exchange Commission, Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Energy, Department of Agrarian Reform, Register of Deeds, Intellectual Property Office, Department of Labor and Employment, and local government units.

Associate Professor Donald G. Manlapaz, Ph.D. finished his Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Therapy from the University of Santo Tomas (UST), Master’s degree in Physical Therapy from the same institution, cum laude, and Doctor of Philosophy in Physiotherapy from the University of Otago, New Zealand.

As a researcher, he is a member of the Center for Health Research and Movement Science and the associate editor of the Philippine Journal of Allied Health Sciences. He is also an editorial board member of Philippine Journal of Physical Therapy and Philippine Journal of Allied Health Sciences. He published and presented his research papers in the field of Osteoarthritis, Exergaming, and geriatrics. He served as conference speaker and conducted several workshops in the field of Osteoarthritis and Ageing. 

He was the recipient of the 2020 Outstanding Professional of the year in the field of Physical Therapy given by the Professional Regulation Commission and currently one of the board of directors of Philippine Physical Therapy Association. Recently, he received a grant from the Department of Science and Technology – Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (DOST-PCHRD) for his Health Innovation Grant – UST GRACE Hub.

Ms. Brenda brings more than 10 years of experience in innovation, sustainability, and enterprise support. She has worked with over 200 energy and climate entrepreneurs in her role as Country Director for New Energy Nexus, a global enterprise accelerator for clean energy; and over 300 tech entrepreneurs in her previous role in Ideaspace Foundation. She has a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship from Miriam College and a MBA degree from Ateneo de Manila Graduate School of Business.

Assoc. Prof. Anthony James C. Bautista, PME, MBA, PhD, is a faculty researcher at the University of Santo Tomas specializing in Agricultural Robotics and Precision Farming. Among his notable achievements is the development of the AGROTIS Navigation System, a GPS-guided autonomous system for hand tractors, supported by DOST-PCAARRD. This innovation has made a significant impact on improving the efficiency and effectiveness of farming operations, particularly in small to medium-sized agricultural settings.

Dr. Bautista's contributions to the field have earned him several prestigious awards. He was recognized with the Gregorio Y. Zara Award for Applied Research by the Philippine Association for the Advancement of Science and Technology, a testament to his groundbreaking work in agricultural robotics. Additionally, he was honored as one of Asia's most outstanding researchers in 2022. 

Dr. Bautista is also the founder of Filrobotics Technologies Inc., a startup dedicated to developing robots for various applications. His commitment to advancing robotics technology to address real-world challenges is exemplified by his advocacy in education, and he was honored with the Community Outreach Award during the 2022 eLearning Forum Asia for his exemplary practices within the eLearning communities in the Philippines.

Ben is a British national who has worked throughout Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australasia. He spent the first ten years of his career working in the corporate sector, delivering strategy and operations improvement programs, both as a management consultant and in-house roles. In 2017 he transitioned to the startup sector and has since worked as a founder, mentor, ecosystem builder and venture capital investor. Today Ben is the Deputy Director of IdeaSpace Ventures, one of this country's leading seed stage VCs, investing in high potential early-stage Filipino startups.

He is the Director of Office for Creative Works and Directed Research for Innovation and Value Enhancement (C-DRIVE) at Mapúa University. He is also the Manager of the Mapúa’s Innovation and Technology Office and Head of Knowledge and Technology Transfer Office and the Mapúa’s TBI, Think and Tinker Labs, which he established.

He obtained his Doctor of Engineering Degree in Chemical Engineering at Tokyo Institute of Technology and his MS and BS ChE degrees at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City. He has advised numerous graduate students and has 13 Scopus-indexed publications with an h-index of 10.

A qualified patent agent, having passed the European Patent Agent Qualifying Examination, and a Technology Transfer Officer, with training from WIPO and USAID-STRIDE.

He also trained as an IP Manager in Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) and under the Leadership in Innovation program that was jointly run by the DOST, Asian Institute of Management, and the Royal Academy of Engineering of the UK.

Ms. Maricris T. Laciste is a licensed Chemical Engineer with extensive experience in environmental management and water quality control. She currently serves as the Manager of the Water Quality Control Department at the MWSS Regulatory Office. Prior to this, she was a Senior Science Research Specialist at the Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR-EMB), where she also served as Officer in Charge for the Water Quality Management Section.

Ms. Laciste began her government service with the DENR-EMB in March 2000, holding various leadership roles in Water and Air Quality Management. She has also worked as a Science Research Specialist II with Carl Bro International, contributing to the Pasig River and Manila Bay Monitoring Group. 

Ms. Laciste earned her Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Engineering in 2014 from the University of the Philippines Diliman, under the DOST-ERDT Program and a research grant from Chia Nan University of Pharmacy and Science in Taiwan. She also holds a Master of Science in Environmental Engineering, promoted straight to the PhD program in 2007, and a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering, both from the University of the Philippines Diliman. 

Her academic contributions include notable publications and conference presentations on various topics, such as hazardous air pollutants, acid deposition, marine litter and microplastics, and sediment quality monitoring in Manila Bay. 

Ronrick “Onic” Arayata graduated with a degree of Physical Therapy at the University of the Philippines Manila in 2017 and passed the board exam in 2018 earning his professional license. He worked as a Physical Therapist for 3 years before joining Leave a Nest Philippines as a pioneer member, in hopes of helping develop more technologies to increase the inclusivity of marginalized groups such as PWDs and senior citizens. He has currently resided for 3 years in Leave a Nest as a Science Bridge Communicator experiencing various activities and leading various projects related to the fields of education, human development, research, and the startup industry.