Tech at Dumaguete’s Foundation University core, 77 years later

In July 1949, Dr. Vicente G. Sinco founded Foundation University in Dumaguete, a school that aimed to differentiate itself from traditional teaching methods. 

Now, 77 years later, his descendents have continued to transform Foundation University to a hub for creativity, innovation, and sustainability.

Tech INQ spoke to Vice Chancellor for Innovation, Stephen Sinco, who envisioned the future of the university as a budding “Silicon Grove” in the Visayas region.

“Typically schools are very academic focused, a little bit more traditional. So it was a good time for me to get involved and help the school in their innovation,” Sinco said. He brings in his experience in working in Seattle and building early-stage startups with his background in finance and marketing.

Developing solutions with innovation

Recently, Foundation University has been developing their computer science program (CCS), their innovation lab with a focus on community-based solutions.

“Our CCS program is unique, where we focus really on portfolio building,” explained Sinco. “We like a more practical approach, so your capstones are real applications that can be used on the phone or a desktop.”

Among these solutions was a software that one of the students built that detects a cacao plants’ health to aid cacao farmers. Using AI, the students created ways for a photo to give plants a diagnosis. 

Last month, the university concluded its 18th digital expo, where students showcased their latest innovations. Among them was the featured student, Chris Stephen Jalotjot, and his robot invention that delivered the ceremonial ribbon cutting of the event.

The three-day expo featured other inventions, designs, and ideas that ranged from technology to architecture.

Sustainability as a pillar

One of the pillars that Foundation University maintains is adding sustainability to their programs and building solutions that are not just intentional, but future-proof.

“Something that’s unique about us is we really, truly believe in marrying innovation, sustainability, and entrepreneurship,” said Sinco.

“Because we’re creating a generation of leaders. We want to set our students out of the world to really have a strong bedrock in those beliefs.”

The university has created the Technology, Environment, and Entrepreneurship (TEE) course that is taught in K-12 classes to college. This course is given to college students no matter the course they are taking as a required elective.

The goal of the program is to solve community problems by not just through research, but to immerse in the community and its people. 

Sinco gave an example of business students that developed recycled paper made of napier grass, a species of wild weed. They also had criminology students who created a shoeshine made of coffee grinds and banana peels.

“It’s a really amazing opportunity for all students to interact with each other and for them to get out of the community, and we think that’s a really unique thing that all of our graduates walk away with.”

A future for Filipino entrepreneurs and innovations

As new discoveries are made and with the rise of AI, Foundation University will be there to adapt.

As Sinco said, “We say Grove because Grove is something that’s intentional. We want our students to be tech savvy and be movers in the industry, not just employees.”