A Scientist on the Run: Travel Report: Minor Field Trip

January 23, 2016

Seminar Overview

This paper reflects what conspired in the one-day event held at the University of Southeastern Philippines Social Hall on the 23^rd of January 2016. This seminar was organized to comply our lacking in minor field trip for our subject Field Trips and Seminars. With that, this paper will convey my opinions, views, and insights on the event that happened.

Morning Program

Today, I went on a seminar named “Graphic Design and Web Development Seminar: Hackathon and Startup Pitching” at the Social Hall of the University of Southeastern Philippines. This program was the first part of a whole-day event. The event was opened by one of the faculty in-charge Engr. Ariel Pabilona with a welcome speech encouraging us that this is just the start of our journey. There are many things to come so we must use every opportunity to learn so that we may have the right tools when we step out of the classrooms.

What I learned?

There were three (3) speakers invited for the Graphic Design and Web Development Seminar. The first speaker was Mr. Ralph Gideon, a graduate of Bachelor of Science in Information Technology of the University of Southeastern Philippines and currently a teacher of the Ateneo de Davao University. He also took up fine arts as his second course. With that he was very much eligible to talk about graphic design.

Mr. Gideon’s topic was all about design. He first asked everyone “What is design?” Design as he said is more than just the aesthetic look of a product but more of the functional use of the product. Design is not only the beauty of something but the role of it. Practically saying, design must solve problems. In my opinion, aesthetic look is useless if that appeal would not be used for a useful role.

He then moved on to his second question “Artist == Designer?” This question might seem a bit hard to understand from a plain reader’s point-of-view but this just means “Is an artist equal to a designer and vice versa?” This question was then answered by various ideas among us the listeners, but Mr. Gideon provided the answer in the end that an artist is not equal to a designer, but a designer can be an artist. It is somewhat a mutually exclusive relationship, because artists focus primarily on aesthetics while designers take in to consideration the function without disposing the former.

Mr. Gideon’s last topic was more of the technical aspects of design. He talked about the principles of visual arts and design. This topic was very vague for me at the beginning because I sometimes mix arts and design, but this was cleared out when the speaker stated that elements are parts of art while the principles are concepts of art. The breath of learning flushed into me when the idea between arts and design was clearly differentiated. He then moved to the technical stuff such as balance, rhythm and movement, emphasis, unity and harmony, variety, and lastly proportion. He explained the mentioned topics in depth and even showed examples especially in photography.

The second speaker for the Graphic Design and Web Development Seminar was Ms. Shannen Megin Sapar. She is a front-end developer at an IT company here in Davao City. She discussed about front-end web development since that is her field of work right at the moment. She specifically mentioned the new trend nowadays and that is “boilerplates”. These boilerplates are somewhat ready-made chunks of HTML and CSS codes that can be used for web development. As she said, these chunks are a big help in shortening the development timeframe of various web products such as websites, web-based applications, and many more. She also mentioned about style sheets like LESS and SASS. The former is a dynamic style sheet language that is a Cascading Style Sheet pre-processor while the latter is a scripting language that is interpreted into Cascading Style Sheets. These two are basically styling tools that helps with CSS since it is somewhat rudimentary plus they add a modern look to your product by tweaking CSS.

Ms. Sapar was a big help in my opinion since most of job orders nowadays involve web development and what better way to learn than from someone who is already in the field. Furthermore, her knowledge helped me realize that as a Computer Science student I am not completely helpless in the field of front-end development because of boilerplates. I will surely try out what she said so as to add new attributes to my skills set.

There was another speaker, a bonus one if you may. He was also a graduate of University of Southeastern Philippines from the program Bachelor of Science in Information Technology and a good friend of mine Mr. Nico Comidoy. He spoke about his experiences as a student and his life in the corporate world. As a student he told stories very familiar to me since I am currently treading the steps of those who came before me. I can relate most to his story about serendipity. Yes I admit that I am currently struggling for an idea for my thesis, and his story about walking around the oval track just contemplating inspired me to do my own search.

What I liked?

I liked about the morning program are the ideas imparted by the speakers. Mr. Gideon reminded me of my art teacher in grade school. He triggered once again the lines of art sleeping inside of me. These talents of mine have been on the sidelines for too long and I thought that it is time to wake them up little by little since time is scarce. Ms. Sapar gave hope to my ideas in wed design due to her suggestions. She also inspired us that even though she is still an undergraduate she made it to the industry; pure talent and hardwork can really pay off.

I also liked the abundance of snacks and drinks in the event. That way we sustained our energy throughout the morning program. In addition, the food is a great motivation to stay awake in such a cold room.

What I didn’t like?

There is nothing significant I didn’t like in the morning program. Except maybe in the moments where there is dead silence.

Afternoon Program

The afternoon program consisted of the Hackathon and Startup Pitching Competition still on the same venue. The hackathon is somewhat like a programming competition. There were seven (7) sets of problems involving HTML, CSS, Java, C++, and Javascript. These problems were to be solved in just a span of 3 hours. The winners will be determined by who solves all problems the fastest. The startup pitching competition is a contest of business ideas, participated by Information Technology students, and a tough one. In the startup pitching, the idea must first be a solid one, then a business plan connected to the idea must be plausible, but more importantly the idea must be a useful one.

What I learned?

I have learned a lot in the afternoon program. It was not my first time to join a hackathon but it was the first time I had an output. I was hesitant at first to join yet I convinced myself that I must take challenges so that I can assess my improvement if there are any. Add to it the fact that my friend master Emmanuel Benitez let me borrow his laptop for the competition.

At first I was walking blind because I was using a Integrated Development Environment that is new for me named Sublime, a software that supports various programming language. But when I got the feel of it was kind of smooth sailing. With the help of my team mate Fred we have finished six (6) out of seven (7) problems. Although we did not win we still feel so accomplished because we have did all that we can as fast as we can.

In the startup pitching competition, I didn’t join. First, because it was intended for Information Technology students and Computer Science students does not have a requirement for such. Second, I do not have a winning idea for a competition as tough as that. Nonetheless, I have learned the mechanics of such an event and I appreciate and recognize the efforts of my fellow students for competing in such brave fashion.

What I liked?

I liked the atmosphere of the hackathon because it was electric. The feeling was very intense yet fun because we were competing among friends plus the target of winning for bragging rights was tickling everyone. The problems were not categorized by the games master as “hard” but they were rather tricky, I even caught myself laughing for not solving those problems right away. Another thing I liked is the light and cooperative atmosphere at the end of the program where everyone helped restore the venue.

What I didn’t like?

There is nothing significant I didn’t like in the afternoon event. Everything went well without hassle. If I may suggest though that the problems in the hackathon be made more balanced.

APPENDIX

What can I recommend for the improvement of the advance seminar program of USEP?

For the improvement of these events I suggest the following:

Provide food or more food just like what our event organizers do.
Avoid dead silent part of events.
Buffet style food if you may, so that stomachs do not start complaining to the learning mind.
It is always a good idea to have a competition (like the hackathon) to keep the audience interested and who does not get hyped with cash prizes right?

These suggestions may be common, but a soft and friendly reminder of the basics does not hurt. Entertainment and education should never be far apart because interest sparks curiosity. Interest is fuelled by energy, and energy must always be propagated among college kids so that ideas out-of-the-ordinary becomes reality.