Mechanical engineering board topnotcher gets car from alma mater

CEBU -  Twenty-two-year-old Brylle Gilbuena was just hopeful he would pass the Mechanical Licensure Board Examination as he was not able to finish the entire test.

This is why he was surprised when he learned that he placed first in the board exam.

"Challenging ang Math and Science subjects. For five hours, wa ko katiwas og answer sa 100 questions," said Gilbuena.

(It was very challenging especially the Math and Science subjects. For five hours, I was not able to answer all 100 questions.)

The new mechanical engineer credits prayers for his success.

"Before I start studying, I pray and read the Bible para maguid-an ako ni God and then salig lang sa iyaha para mawa akong kulba kay akong giingon sa akong kaugalingon whether mopasar or dili or motop or dili I will praise God," Gilbuena added.

(Before I start studying, I pray and read the Bible so that God will guide me and I trust Him to ease my worries. I told myself, whether I pass the board or not or if I will top the board or not, I will praise God.)

Gilbuena is the second of five children. He was a working student in University Of Cebu Lapu-lapu and Mandaue (UCLM) in order to support his studies since both of his parents don't have stable jobs.

He even delayed taking the board exam since they did not have enough money to pay for his review. For five months, he worked as a Senior High School teacher in University of Cebu Lapu-lapu and Mandaue to support his review.

On Thursday morning, University of Cebu Chancellor Candice Gotianuy gave Gilbuena a brand new car as an incentive and reward for acing the board exams.

"We really want them to really achieve kasi we know na once students achieve, it will help the parents dibah matabangan man gyud ang parents so if matabangan ang parents matabangan ang family so economic cycle gyud ni siya," said Gotianuy.

(We really want them to really achieve kasi we know na once students achieve, it will help the parents because if they could help their parents means they could also help the family, so it's an economic cycle.)

Gilbuena said during the interview that he does not have definite plans yet but is considering taking a Master's degree.

Gilbuena bested 1,082 aspirants who passed the licensure examination given by the Professional Regulation Commission’s (PRC) Board of Mechanical Engineering this March.


It has been the practice of the University of Cebu to reward its outstanding alumni who bring pride to their institution.

Aside from the car for Gilbuena, his mentor will also receive P100,000.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

China opens world's highest bridge to traffic

A towering bridge hanging 565 metres (1,854 feet) above a gorge in southwestern China opened to traffic on Thursday, with state media hailing it as the world's highest bridge.

Another engineering marvel: world's highest bridge opened to traffic in #China's Guizhou Thu. Beipanjiang Bridge is 565M above river valley. pic.twitter.com/hHvuU5uazC

— People's Daily,China (@PDChina) December 29, 2016

 The Beipanjiang bridge spans 1.34 km (0.83 miles) between Xuanwei city in Yunnan province and Shuicheng county in Guizhou and cost 1.023 billion yuan (about $140 million) to build, broadcaster China Central Television said.

The four lane bridge, which took three years to build, will cut journey time between Xuanwei and Shuicheng county from more than four hours to about an hour, CCTV said.

(Reporting by Reuters TV. Editing by Patrick Johnston)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Uber launches driverless car service in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Uber launched a groundbreaking driverless car service Wednesday, jumping ahead of Detroit auto giants and Silicon Valley rivals with technology that could revolutionize transportation.

In an ambitious experiment, a fleet of cars equipped with lasers, cameras and other sensors -- but with no one's hands on the wheel -- were to be deployed by the web-based ride service on the challenging roads of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, steering themselves to pick up regular Uber passengers who are used to being fetched by cars driven by humans.

Four of the Ford Fusion hybrids with their ungainly rooftop load of technology will be deployed to select customers on Wednesday, with the company showing at least a dozen more ready to put on the streets.

The cars and their supporting technology have been trained on the city's complicated grid for less than two years, but demonstration rides ahead of the launch showed them very able to handle most situations -- as able as many drivers.

Still, the first riders will be joined by two company technicians to make sure everything goes right, one sitting behind the wheel, with hands at the ready to take over in sticky spots, while the other monitors the car's behavior.

The move has put Uber ahead of the rest of the auto industry in getting such cars out for the general public. The major automakers all have driverless car development programs, as do tech giants Alphabet (Google) and Apple.

What allowed Uber to get to the front of the pack was not auto engineering but rather its ability to accumulate and crunch massive amounts of data on road and driving conditions collected from the billions of miles driven by Uber drivers.

"We have one of the strongest self-driving engineering groups in the world, as well as the experience that comes from running a ridesharing and delivery network in hundreds of cities," said Uber founder and chief executive Travis Kalanick in a blog post Wednesday.

The introduction of driverless cars challenges Uber's image as an app-based service of the "gig economy" that gave millions of car owners around the world the chance to make money ferrying passengers without taxicab licenses or other permits.

Uber's vision now suggests a world of taxis on call by app with no drivers at all.

"Self-driving is core to Uber's mission," Anthony Levandowski, Uber's vice president of engineering, said.

That would be far away, Uber officials stress. Kalanick says the main aim is to create safer roads.

"Self-driving Ubers have enormous potential to further our mission and improve society: reducing the number of traffic accidents, which today kill 1.3 million people a year; freeing up the 20 percent of space in cities currently used to park the world's billion plus cars; and cutting congestion, which wastes trillions of hours every year," he said.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

DMCI bags Skyway Stage 3 contract

MANILA, Philippines - Construction giant DMCI has bagged the engineering, procurement and construction contract for a portion of the Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3 by a unit of San Miguel Corp. (SMC).

DMCI Holdings told the stock exchange that Citra Central Expressway Corp. awarded the 32-month contract for the Skyway Stage 3 - Sections 1 and 2 to DMCI.

The elevated expressway project covers 14.82 kilometers from Buendia to Balintawak. It will link the South and North Luzon Expressways through eight strategic interchanges located in Buendia, Pres. Quirino Avenue, Plaza Dilao and Nagtahan, Aurora Boulevard, E. Rodriguez Avenue, Quezon Avenue, Sgt. Rivera and Balintawak.

Section 1 involves the construction of a 3.7-kilometer highway from Buendia to Nagtahan in Manila. Section 2 covers the 3.5-kilometer stretch from Nagtahan to Ramon Magsaysay Boulevard in Manila.

Earlier, EEI Corp. was awarded by Citra Central the EPC contract for sections 3 and 4 of the Skyway Stage 3.

Section 3 covers a 2.7-kilometer section from Aurora Blvd. to Quezon Ave, while Section 4 covers a 4.8-kilometer section from Quezon Ave. to Balintawak.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Toyota unveils robot helper

TOKYO —Toyota on Wednesday unveiled a robotic best friend that can offer a helping hand around the house fetching and carrying for the elderly or immobile.

The human support robot, a compact cylinder-shaped machine 37 centimeters in diameter and up to 130 centimeters tall, can be remotely controlled by a tablet computer to recognise items it is sent to fetch.

Taking their cue from dogs that are trained to retrieve things, Toyota engineers designed the robot to perform simple tasks on command, using an arm equipped with a small suction pad.

“The robot still has challenges such as selecting items from a drawer containing all sorts of things, for example,” said Takashi Yamamoto, general manager at Toyota’s advanced technology engineering department.

“Finding an item by itself before getting it to the person controlling it is the most difficult challenge,” he said.

Toyota, one of the world’s biggest automakers, has applied technology developed for its cars, such as precise control of motors at high speeds, in the design of the robots.

Products catering to the elderly are big business in Japan, where a declining birthrate and lengthening life-expectancy is creating a greying society.

source: japantoday.com