I was given the task, as part of the event organizers, to design the program and print the tarpaulin

banners to be posted
all across the city. The challenge for me was the design of the program and not so much the tarpaulin since I had other
groupmates assigned to the task. The use of Microsoft publisher and a sense of artistic graphics design were very much
not my forte, this coupled with multiple errors I made while making the program, made it a painstakingly slow process.
The biggest surprise of it all was the addition of four extra speakers from the ACI Philippines. I had to squeeze what little
time was left in the program to accommodate all seven of the speakers. I managed to do so but only to later be stuck in
another situation which made my work confusing. I initially worked out the program at Dr. Guades’ office because he
called me and told he wanted to see it. After I finished there, I wanted to show my work to the Chief event organizer, Engr.
Sobreviga, only to find out that some omissions and changes I had made which were instructed by Dr. Guades did not fit
well with what Engr. Sobreviga had in mind, so I had to change the set up again and fully finished it at Engr. Sobreviga’s
office, Dr. Guades later called me to see the full program only to see the multiple changes that were made, this somehow
surprised him but seeing as how there was little time left he probably thought it would be best if he left it as it was. The
main takeaway I had, from an event management point of view, is that you can’t serve two masters at the same time.
Human judgement tends to vary from person to person, so I guess in the future I should just pick one and stick with it
instead of trying to satisfy every single request made by multiple authorities.

At the start of the conference the very first topic was Deterioration and Rehabilitation of Actual Structures by Engr. Jayruel
R. Delabajan. I was educated on the multiple deterioration processes that take place in structures that are undergoing
structural decay. The sequence starts at the initiation stage, followed by propagation, acceleration and then finally at the
deterioration stage and since the effects of the deterioration phenomenon on the performance of the structure are
different, each phase requires different deterioration prediction, inspection, evaluation/judgment, remedial measures
and recording.

The next one discussed was Structural Forensic Engineering Case Studies. My scarce and limited knowledge on the subject
was enhanced by discussing the application of engineering principles and methodologies to answer questions of fact which
the speaker, Engr. Ray D. Ramilo, eloquently elaborated on. He indicated that Forensic Engineers must possess the
satisfactory credentials in order to be commissioned to undergo such an extraordinary job. Types, sources and causes of
failure were also of great concern. And then the question of liability comes into play. Case studies were laid out and
thoughroly investigated to my amazement, such complex processes involved all to determine liability.

The next topic discussed was geopolymer concrete by NwSSU’s very own Dr. Ernesto J. Guades. Personally, I was already
aware of such advancements in the field of materials because I, along with my groupmates, were students of Dr. Guades
and he had already discussed to us the topic previously, in fact, our graduation thesis was also centered around the use
of geopolymers.

The succeeding topic discussed was the Advancement of Concrete Materials in Structural Engineering by Dr. Vinci Nicholas
R. Villasenor. I was surprised to know that the change drivers in concrete technology were very intriguing. He later on
expounded on the advancements such as Super plasticizing admixtures, Self-Compacting Concrete, High-strength concrete
and mortars, High-performance concrete, Self-compacting concrete/ self levelling concrete, Technologies for prolonging
service life, High volume fly ash and slag concretes, Self-Healing concrete and Green Concretes.

The subsequent topic discussed OPTIMIZED DESIGN of Typical RC Buildings by Dr. Danilo A. Domingo. It was quite
astonishing to know the multiple design philosophies in the design of typical reinforced concrete buildings. The use of
various software to address the criteria of the design and the constraints involved with it were very new to me and to my
fellow classmates listening. And the use of Building Information Modelling was rather captivating. All these combined
together will allow us to design structures far more efficiently.

The resulting topic deliberated next was the American Concrete Institute Field Testing Technician Grade I by Dr.
Christian R. Orozco. He laid out the qualification for field technicians and the various ASTM Tests that are carried out by
these technicians. The emphasis on timing was rather shared by myself, often times I see this disregarded in actual work.
He later on discussed both the importance of certification and the requirements needed to be certified by using a
flowchart.

The final speaker was Ms. Ellen Chua. She discussed the importance and significance of the ACI Philippines chapter and its
Vision and Mission. She would continue to induct Dr. Guades to be the very first member of the ACI Philippines in Calbayog
and later the other Engineers. I myself was also inducted a member of the student chapter at the closing ceremony.
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