The awarding ceremony of Dr. Bataller as 2019 CEAT Distinguished Chemical Engineering Young Alumnus happened at the CEAT Lecture Hall last October 10, 2019. (From left to right: UPLB CEAT AA Inc. President Pantaleon LL. Tabanao, Dr. Butch G. Bataller, and CEAT Dean Dr. Arnold R. Elepaño)
Posted: October 30, 2019
Each year, the College of Engineering and Agro-Industrial Technology receives nominations to recognize their outstanding alumni in respective engineering fields as recipients of the distinguished alumni award. This year, Dr. Butch G. Bataller was selected as the Distinguished Chemical Engineering Young Alumni Awardee.
Dr. Bataller is currently an Assistant Professor 6 of the Department of Chemical Engineering (DChE), College of Engineering and Agro-Industrial Technology (CEAT), University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB). He earned his doctorate degree in Biological and Agricultural Engineering at Texas A&M University and his graduate degree program MS Chemical Engineering with a specialization in Pollution Engineering in UP Los Baños. He accomplished his MS degree with an Academic Excellence Award for garnering the highest general weighted average (GWA) among MS/MA graduates in the 2015 UPLB Commencement Exercises. Dr. Bataller has served the university for more than ten years as a faculty member. His students and colleagues acknowledged his versatility in teaching different chemical engineering courses (i.e., Chemical Process Equipment Design, Plant Design and Economics, Fluid Mechanics for Chemical Engineering Applications, Transport Phenomena, Basic Chemical Engineering Calculations, Unit Operations). He was nominated for the UPLB Outstanding Teacher Award in 2015 and was a recipient of CEAT Outstanding Junior Faculty Award in 2012.
Dr. Bataller’s skills and professional integrity in the field of research are some of his amazing characteristics. He was entrusted by government agencies such as the Department of Agriculture Bureau of Agricultural Research (DA-BAR), the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), and by the Department of Agriculture – Philippine Agricultural Development and Commercial Corporation (DA – PADCC) to be involved in research projects as a process engineer, consultant, and study leader.
Some of these notable projects include the conduct of the Feasibility Study for the Establishment of a Commercial Sweet Sorghum Plantation and Construction of a Sweet Sorghum Processing Plant and the databank establishment of lignocellulosic feedstock and single agriculture and forestry bioenergy network.
He published several bioethanol and biodiesel-related journal articles. He was able to share his biofuels expertise by being a contributor for books such as the “Philippine Biofuels Industry: Defining the Strategic Directions” and “Sweet Sorghum as Feedstock: A Milestone for Bioethanol Fuel”, sponsored by the Department of Agriculture – Bureau of Agricultural Research. He, with his co-authors, was recognized by the National Academy of Science and Technology by being the recipient of the 2015 Outstanding Scientific Paper Award for the ISI paper entitled “Design, Fabrication, and Performance Evaluation of a Photobioreactor for the Cultivation of Chlorella vulgaris (Beijerinck)” (2013), published by the Philippine Journal of Crop Science. His three papers entitled “A Rapid and Non-Destructive Method for Quantifying Biomolecules in Spirulina platensis via Fourier Transform Infrared – Attenuated Total Reflectance Spectroscopy” (2018), “Parametric Study on the Effect of Congeners on Molecular Sieve Dusting during Ethanol Dehydration” (2017) and the same paper recognized by NAST, received an International Publication Award.
Dr. Bataller’s outstanding performance in teaching, dedication in research, and commitment in public service through providing advisory and consultancy services on government-funded projects, let him considered as one of the most significant contributors in achieving the department’s mission and vision of promoting knowledge sharing and other related external functions, not only within the UP community, but also with other government and private agencies, industries and local communities. Congratulations, Dr. Bataller!
Written by: KM Gatdula
Edited by: MVP Migo-Sumagang