Innohub

Feb 20, 2021

More from author Good news for entrepreneurs who are into food, dietary supplements or personal-care products made from by-products, such as seeds, leaves and pulp, and also products from top from agricultural produce. Here is a facility that suits your needs. The Industrial Technology Development Institute (ITDI) of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) inaugurated its Modular Multi-Industry Innovation Center (MMIC), or “InnoHub sa Pinas,” on February 18. Science Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña and Undersecretary Rowena Cristina Guevara listen to an expert at the Modular Multi-Industry Innovation Center (MMIC), or “InnoHub sa Pinas,” that was launched on February 18. The first in the country, the facility is for advanced scaled-up researches on food and nutraceutical products. The InnoHub made the Philippines the fourth in the world to have such facility, Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña said at the launching at the DOST Compound in Taguig City. “We are joining the ranks of Canada, Malaysia and Mexico in setting up this kind of innovation hub,” de la Peña said at the news conference that was beamed online. De la Peña expressed hope that similar hubs could be built in DOST’s regional offices so the entrepreneurs outside Metropolitan Manila could have easy access to similar facilities, citing the big expense in going to Manila, and help their companies grow. Science Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña gives his keynote address at the launching of Modular Multi-Industry Innovation Center (MMIC), or “InnoHub sa Pinas,” of ITDI on February 18. After the holding of a Mass, ribbon cutting and unveiling of the MMIC marker, de la Peña, together with with DOST Undersecretary Rowena Cristina L. Guevara and ITDI officials and staff, toured the facility and checked its prototype products—such as milk tea from banaba leaves, toothpaste with calamansi seed oil, virgin coconut oil, and many others. Open for business Eng. Apollo Victor Bawagan, OIC of the Chemical and Energy Division of ITDI, said the InnoHub is now “open for business.” Its “very first client,” he announced during the lanching, is the Zambo Tropical Foods, a calamansi processing facility from Zamboanga City, with which a memorandum of agreement was already undertaken. “We shall be training them on the processing of calamansi dietary fiber powder and essential oils on the first week of March 2021,” Bawagan said. He added that MMIC is already in collaboration with DOST Regional Offices, namely: DOST-NCR Muntaparlas Cluster (Muntinlupa, Taguig, Pateros, Parañaque, Las Piñas) for the proposal on their client’s micro, small and medium entreprenurs’ (MSMEs) food-waste utilization; DOST-Mimaropa for the calamansi dietary fiber powder and seed oil production; and, another MSME; EupaPro Laboratories Inc. from Batangas for product development on food supplement. He said ITDI is currently in close coordination with the Food and Drug Administration  for the license to operate registration application of MMIC. It is just awaiting for its initial assessment of the facility. Science Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña, Undersecretary Rowena Cristina Guevara and ITDI officials unveil the marker of the MMIC that was launched on February 18. In an apparent reply to the earlier message of de la Peña, Bawagan said later in his message that the MMIC, “commits to continue to innovate and develop new products and services for the sustainability of this facility and, eventually, extend in the near future to develop other MMIC facilities in Visayas and Mindanao.” He added that with the InnoHub’s four modes of engagements, MSME’s can now avail themselves of its services at a very reasonable and affordable fees. These are: Use of facility/equipment wherein technical assistance will be provided; Technical Service in the use of the facility plus ITDI expert; Technology Transfer that involves the use of the facility with the assistance of ITDI experts in adopting an ITDI developed technology. This will be subject to a Technology Licensing Agreement. Contract Research in the use of the facility with the assistance of ITDI expert working on the client’s concept or idea, subject to a Memorandum of Agreement or Research Agreement. Testament to ITDI’s commitment TDI Director Dr. Annabelle V. Briones said, “The establishment of the MMIC shall serve as a testament to ITDI’s commitment to improving the Philippine industry through our R&D [research and development] efforts and expertise,” She added that the MMIC shall serve as the place for food and pharmaceutical industries to develop new technologies and improve their processes and products. “You may use MMIC’s equipment and facilities to ideate, create, innovate new products and processes,” Briones said at the launching. Meanwhile, consultancies shall also be provided by a highly trained and experienced team of experts from ITDI, thus, giving the assurance of quality technical services, aside from providing a safe, systematic, and cohesive work environment. Quoting economist Theodore Levitt’s “creativity is thinking up new things. Innovation is doing a new thing,” she said perhaps this statement “posed a challenge to us as a DOST R&D institute to be more effective and productive innovators, thus, we do not stop from here. We shall continue to develop a new process, new product, new technology, new perspective.» MMIC addresses gaps Dr. Norberto Ambagan, chief of ITDI’s Food Processing Division, said through industry consultations and dialogues, the needs of the industry in terms of R&D support were identified. They include: the lack or absence of equipment for R&D; the need for technical assistance in product development and commercialization; the limited manufacturing facility especially for small and start-up companies; and the need for economic assistance. “The establishment of the MMIC will address the gap between product prototyping and product commercialization. This is the missing link that the MMIC will be providing to the industry,” he explained. Started in 2017 with funding from PCIEERD, the MMIC’s “main objective is the establishment of a multifunction/multi-application innovation center that can be retrofitted with modular equipment for the manufacturing needs of various sectoral industries, including food, dietary supplements and oral personal care,” Ambagan said. Challenges, flexibility He said one of the challenges in the establishment of the MMIC is the “diversity of manufacturing methods, unit operations, and equipment in producing a single product.” It becomes more complicated as the facility would cater to several product forms—such as powder, oils, sauce and emulsions. And it becomes even more complicated as the facility should be able to serve more than one client at a time, he said. Currently, the MMIC has various equipment for pre-processing, processing and packaging operations. It has three processing areas that are separated from each other and each with its own packaging and product rooms. “The concept of modularity is incorporated in the design of the MMIC, in which the system’s components may be separated and recombined. This provides the advantage of flexibility and variety in use,” he said. “While the list of equipment and possible lines are not ideally complete, it is envisioned that the dynamic MMIC team will innovate as the need arises,” he added. Initial products from wastes, low-value materials In terms of R&D, the InnoHub’s initial product and process development activities were focused on the utilization of by-products from commercial scale processing, Ambagan said. These include calamansi seeds and rind, mango seeds and peels, and tomato pomace among others, he said. These wastes, or low-value materials, are converted into high-value intermediate products that can provide nutritional and health benefits. Consumer products using these materials have also been developed. However, while it is economically attractive to process by-products, the processing lines of the MMIC can also be used in the utilization of top agricultural produce, he said. New products were developed both for consumer and intermediate use, using the country’s important agricultural products like pili, banana, pineapple, avocado, coconut, guyabano, banaba, mangosteen and malunggay, to name a few, Ambagan said. Gateway to innovative, progressive climate for entrepreneurs Undersecretary Guevara said they are “optimistic” that the MMIC will serve as a gateway toward a more innovative and progressive climate for local entrepreneurs that will encourage the development of new products and/or improvement of existing ones to refuel the country’s economic activity. “The MMIC is suited to operate under the new normal and the changing environment,” she said, having been established to provide solutions to the growing concerns of the different industry sectors. “It will be your one-stop-shop for product ideation and conceptualization, development, marketing and even networking. With this, we are confident that problems, such as lack or absence of specialized equipment to do [R&D], and inefficient processing and manufacturing, will soon be things of the past,” she said in her message that was beamed online. Executive Director Dr. Enrico Paringit of Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development said MMIC that is being monitored and supported by the council can also manufacture fuels, energy, feeds and fertilizer as secondary industries. Paringit said the council envisions that MMIC «will light the passion of our fellow countrymen to pursue more researches,» and expressed hope that the InnoHub would promote the further advancement of science and technology in the country. “We encourage everyone to engage us and share your novel ideas as well as smart solutions to strengthen the Philippine innovation system,” he said in his message. “It is for the best interest of ourselves and our children that we thrive for a better and brighter future. We look forward working with you and opening new opportunities for our scientific ventures to create an inclusive, resilient and sustainable economy,” he added.