Tempered And Refined
Three
years ago 36 dedicated, idealistic, and courageous individuals dared to
go against the flow. They established an organization that will serve
as an alternative to the so-called status quo organizations whose idealisms
have cease to become the realities envisioned in their inception. These
individuals wanted to create an interdisciplinary academic organization,
one where people studying in different fields can interact with each other
and share fundamental knowledge and information about materials science
and technology, a very important field whose influence is seen throughout
the pure sciences and engineering.
Thus the UP Materials Science Society (MSS) was born on February 21,
1999, an undergraduate offshoot of the now-defunct Materials Science and
Engineering Society (MSES) that catered to graduate students. Pio Buenconsejo
was the first president and Doc. Herman Mendoza has provided the necessary
guidance for the organization for the last three years.
After
a dificult start, the organization has little by little initiated a series
of academic and extracurricular activities. It has sponsored thesis defenses
in the Mining, Metallurgical, and Materials (MMM) Engineering Department.
On its third aniversary it launched a quiz show entitled "MATch,"
destined to become an annual affair. The org's Flower Sale during the
month of February has been a perennial success because of the patronage
of students, faculty, and staff. The UP MSS has also been a participant
of numerous activities sponsored by the university and other student organizations.
It recently won the Volleybagan Tournament in the Engineering Week last
December, as well as the great Cover-UP last February. More recently it
has participated in the Freshmen Orientation Program Committee (FOPC)
to gain a wider audience and beneficiaries of its ideals and aspirations.
The UP Materials Science Society's goals are slowly being met and achieved.
The organization will be a force to reckon with in the immediate future.
Such an org on the rise is no big surprise, we're living in a material
world, after all.
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