By Rusieljs G. Lunasco

(from left) Charles Novo, Engr. Jeriel Militar, Dr. Teodoro Robles, Hector Jaime Ledesma, Ernest Florenz Quitalig and Lemuel Ben Belasoto. The team presented the project to Dr. Robles on July 13 at the Conference Hall, Dr. Rex D. Drilon Administration Building.

CPU graduates Charles Marc Louise Novo (BSME 2020), Hector Jaime Ledesma (BSECE 2020) together with University of San Agustin BSME students Ernest Florenz Quitalig and Lemuel Ben Belasoto with the support of Central Philippine University, ISAT-U Research Hub and WVSU MC has successfully run experiments on the first phase prototype of their version of Bag Valve Mask or BVM-based ventilator.

The team presented the ventilator to Dr. Teodoro Robles, who approved the funding of the project on Monday, July 13, 2020 at the Conference Hall, Dr. Rex D. Drilon Administration Building.

“I was mainly tasked to design the mechanism of the device. Along the way, we’ve made a number of revisions and a series of tests until we reached the function that we desire. We struggled with the parts locally since it took a while to find and get them,” said Charles Novo.

He also added that he and the team are glad to see their hard work paid off and they are very thankful for the support of CPU.

For Hector Ledesma, “working on the ventilator had its ups and downs.” “There were moments where I thought I could never fix the electronics when each day another chip ceased to work, but with the help of my new friends I was able to figure things out in the end,” he added.

Ledesma shared how he was inspired by stories of frontliners and how he wanted to do something to help with the pandemic.

The results will accompany a proposal for further development and testing which will be submitted to the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Region 6.

The project was funded by Central Philippine University with the approval of President Teodoro Robles, with technical support of Engr Jeriel Militar of PSME-PANAY; Dr. Richard De Leon of ISAT-U Research Hub; and Dr. Dave Gelito, III, Dr. Ronnie Samoro, Dr. Anjuli Jaen, Mr. John Dignadice, III and Engr. Jacobs Lacson of WVSU-MC.