For his significant res
earch activities in the field of chemical engineering, particularly on thermo-physical and transport property characterization and correlation development for industrially-important solvent systems, Dr. Allan Soriano was named as one of the Outstanding Young Scientist (OYS) awardees for 2011, given by the National Academy of Science and Technology, Philippines (NAST Phl). This award is given to outstanding young individuals not more than 40 years old (in the year of the award) who has done exemplary contributions to science and technology. His works on ionics liquids and alkanolamines are essential in the design of absorption processes for carbon dioxide capture and sequestration technology.
Dr. Soriano’s research interests covered the following: (1) carbon dioxide absorption using various absorbents (such as alkanolamines, ionic liquids, and deep eutectic solvents); measurement of properties (thermophysical, kinetics, and transport) and development of correlations (mathematical and theoretical models); (2) property measurement and correlation development of specialty chemicals; and (3) mathematical modeling of chemical and environmental engineering processes and statistical and thermodynamic analysis of industrial systems.
His engineering stint started when he applied as a faculty member of the School of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry at the Mapua Institute of Technology right after graduation. While teaching, he continued to study and applied for the School’s Dean’s Council Scholarship and finished his masters degree in 2004, also in Mapua. In 2007, he pursued his doctorate at Chung Yuan Christian University (CYCU) in Taiwan, considered as one of the top universities in the country in terms of research publications.
Dr. Soriano also contributed to the Philippine Institute of Chemical Engineers Journal, a refereed local journal, on the application of freeze concentration technique in the treatment of waste water from semiconductor and paper mills industries. He served as consultant for Philippine Affairs at CYCU. As consultant, he helped establish research collaborations and linkages between CYCU and some of the prominent universities in the Philippines like Mapua, De La Salle, University of the Philippines, Adamson, etc.
He also facilitated Filipino students who went to CYCU for their undergraduate thesis and on the job trainings, in which the research outputs where also published in international peer-reviewed journals.
His published works numbered more than 40 scientific and technical papers in peer-reviewed journals, including 43 papers published locally and internationally. He was given several recognitions for his prolific works, including the Prof. Yen-Ping Shi Research Paper Award for 2010 given by the Institute of Chemical Engineers, Chinese Taipei, Best Research Paper Competition (1st and 4th place) in the 16th Regional Symposium of Chemical Engineering in 2009, Manila, and the Outstanding International Student PhD Researcher of Chung Yuan Christian University (2009).
Dr. Soriano is an alumnus of Mapua Institute of Technology (cum laude). His research undertakings have helped in the advancement of science and technology in the country as evidenced by his commendable activities to promote S&T through his interests in the above mentioned fields. At present, he teaches at the School of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry at Mapua Institute of Technology. Luningning Samarita, Executive Director, NAST
