NOVUHAIR LAUNCHES ENHANCED FORMULATION: Topical scalp lotion boasts of 19 natural ingredients

Say goodbye to hair loss and scalp problems with the newly-enhanced formulation of Novuhair. With 19 natural ingredients, the leading medicated topical scalp lotion is now almost 100% natural.

“The Novuhair Topical Scalp Lotion used to only have 12 natural ingredients. Its improved formulation has a much better fragrance and a cool and minty feel. It also has anti-dandruff properties, as well as nourishing and moisturizing effects on the hair and scalp,” said Sheila Mae Velilla, CEO of Nutramedica, developer and distributor of Novuhair.

Aside from producing a more effective solution for hair growth, the changes were necessary to make the product 100% compliant to the ASEAN Cosmetic Directive ACD. 

“Nature has provided a safe and effective answer to hair loss and scalp disorders with Novuhair. It is the only topical scalp lotion in the market that has the highest concentration of natural ingredients, FDA-certified and ACD-compliant. Novuhair is a
homegrown, proudly Philippine-made product that is globally competitive. ” added Velilla.

Made of herbal ingredients that include moringa oleifera, panax ginseng, virgin coconut oil and the natural essences of rosemary and peppermint, Novuhair nourishes the scalp and hair by increasing the flow of nutrients and improving blood circulation to the scalp. Novuhair also helps hydrate the scalp, maintain the hair’s natural luster and prevent early hair graying, hair dryness and itching.

Acer provides channel partners with further training

Channel partners are important elements in its success which is why Acer Philippines continues to provide them with enough selling skills through continuous training under the tech titan’s Channel Partners Enablement Program (CPEP). The program was designed to equip Acer’s commercial sales partners with the latest updates on Acer products and solutions together with Microsoft Philippines. CPEP also lets channel partners be further trained to develop not just their selling skills but also their personality through a soft-skill trainer. Later, the attendees were given a certification examination and qualified channel partners received sales certificates from Acer Philippines, Inc. Company officials such as Manuel Wong, Acer Philippines Managing Director welcomed the participants, while Microsoft Philippines Windows Marketing Client Specialist Eufer Pasion, provided Microsoft Windows 10 Professional updates. Jofel Riofrio, Acer Philippines Product Lead for Commercial Products presented product updates for Acer commercial products, Laura Lu, Business Development Manager from Acer headquarters lectured on Smart City Solutions while Alex Araneta conducted the soft-skills training session.

In photo is Jofel Riofrio, Acer Philippines Product Lead for Commercial Products,

during his presentation on the latest Acer commercial products available in the market.

For more about Acer Philippines’ innovative products and other updates, go to www.acer.com.ph, follow Acer via Twitter or www.Facebook.com/AcerPH.

About Acer 

Established in 1976, Acer is a hardware + software + services company dedicated to the research, design, marketing, sale, and support of innovative products that enhance people's lives. Acer's product offerings include PCs, displays, projectors, servers, tablets, smartphones and wearables. It is also developing cloud solutions to bring together the Internet of Things. Acer is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2016 and is one of the world’s top 5 PC companies. It employs 7,000 people worldwide and has a presence in over 160 countries. Please visit www.acer.com for more information.

BPI, DOST Award Young Scientists for the Year 2016

The Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) Foundation and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) presented the Best Project of the Year Award to Jerome Alan S. Japitana, a BS Chemistry student of the University of Santo Tomas at the 2016 BPI-DOST Science Awards, held at The Mind Museum in Taguig yesterday April 5, 2016.

Also the winner in Basic Research Award, Japitana’s study “Using Non-Precious Materials in the Development of a Cost-Effective Cathode Catalyst for Direct Ethanol Fuel Cells”, studied the use of cobalt to improve the efficiency of fuel cell performance. Fuel cells are viable option for environmentally-sustainable and economically-feasible source of energy.

The Best in Applied Research Award winner Joselv E. Albano is a BS Biology student from Ateneo de Davao University. His project “molecular Detection and Expression of merA and Mercury Reduction by Pseudonomas putida”, demonstrates the promising ability of the mercury-reducing bacteria in the bioremediation of contaminated areas. Bioremediation can be a less expensive and more efficient method of alleviating elemental mercury that pose a great danger to human health.

With the aim to generate and reinforce the interest of our youth to pursue science and technology as a career, BPI Foundation, in partnership with the Department of Science and Technology, launched the BPI-DOST Science Awards a decade ago to primarily inspire, recognize, and support the most outstanding young scientists and innovators from across the Philippines.

Against the backdrop of global warming and climate-defined future, our team for the search for the 2016 Best Science Project: “Engineering our Future through Environmental Sustainability” has resulted in the identification of 30 brilliant young scientists from 11 partner Universities whose research projects focus around the discovery and use of sustainable materials, solutions for agriculture, disaster mitigation, health, technology, and many more.

Preceding the Awarding Ceremonies, a short Environmental Forum focused on “Engaging the Youth for Environmental Sustainability” took place to discuss the pressing environmental issues, the Phililippines currently deals with. The panel included Atty. Gia Ibay of Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF)-Philippines, Mr. Tony Lambino, Head of Public Policy, Ayala Corporation and Mr. Carlo Delantar, Country Director, Waves for Nature and Founder of Floreia. Moderated by Mr. Glenn Banaguas of the Environment and Climate Change Research Institute, the discussion tackled the delicate water, energy and food nexus, currently being threatened by effects of climate change.

Now on its 27th year, the BPI-DOST Science Awards has recognized over 800 outstanding science awardees from its partner universities nationwide: Ateneo de Manila University, Ateneo de Davao University, De La Salle University, Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology, Saint Louis University, Silliman University, University of the Philippines Diliman, University of the Philippines Los Baños, University of San Carlos, University of Santo Tomas and Xavier University. Up to three exceptional students are selected per partner institution every year. An awardee is selected on the basis of his academic performance and must be nominated by the school.

The Best Project of the Year and Best in Basic Research Winner Jerome Alan S. Japitana received P75,000.00, while the Best in Applied Research winner received P50,000.00. All regional finalists received P10,000 while the national finalists received P25,000.00.

Aside from the cash awards, all awardees went through a Technopreneurship Workshop facilitated by Ms. Maoi Arroyo of Hybridigm, and her team last April 4, 2016, in the hopes of planting the seeds of entrepreneurship in young budding researchers and innovators as a career option.

BPI Foundation will be holding awarding ceremonies at the campuses of its partner universities in the months of April and May 2016 for the awardees to be locally recognized for their achievements and contributions to nation-building.

Please visit http://scienceawards2016.bpifoundation.org for more information on the speakers and the 2016 awardees.

Film on chemical bonds, young love wins 1st Indie-Siyensya

Apparently, Chemistry can be well explained through ‘hugots’ or catchy-romance terms.

Combining simple terms and some romantic flavor, student-filmmakers from Mapua Institute of Technology succeeded in explaining the complex topic of chemical bonds in their film entitled ‘Bonding Tayo’ earning them the Best Film Award at the first ever Indie-Siyensya Competition.

In an awarding ceremony held at the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) in Taguig City, the team composed of Marvin Nofuente, Nikkei Bernal, and Charles Ongchangco beat out 15 other science film entries to claim the top award along with a P50,000 cash prize. Indie-Siyensya is a pioneering science filmmaking competition organized by DOST’s Science Education Institute (SEI).

‘Bonding Tayo’ is a film about two Chemistry students who were working on a research paper. The male character named Nito tries to explain chemical bonds to his partner, Elisa, through ‘hugot’ lines that also served as his way to express his feelings towards her.

The board of judges composed of scientists and filmmakers thought the movie chose an effective treatment in discussing a complex topic such as chemistry as it “meets the language of the Millennials.”

“[We] liked it because Chemistry is hard to explain and [the filmmakers] found such an effective way to make the subject appealing to the young audience especially in this era of AlDub, JaDine and the like,” said Pauline Mangilog–Saltarin, Creative Director of Jesuit Communications at the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU), who was one of the judges.

Other members of the board of judges were former DOST Undersecretary Prof. Fortunato T. dela Peña; University of the Philippines Assistant Professor Dr. Aletta Yñiguez, former Sineskwela Producer, Ms. Marcela Claudette Villanueva; Museo Pambata Executive Director, Ms. Maricel Montero, and ADMU’s Communication Department Chair, Dr. Severino Sarmenta.

Placing second were Jasmin Robert Bansil, Aira Jill Brosas, and Danielle Andrea Ferrer for their film entitled ‘Bathala,’ which was about how a student was able to develop a prototype of a technology that can produce energy and potable water for the Dumagats. The film netted them a P30,000 cash prize.

Lastly, the trio of Princess Bacani, Angelica Mateo and Cristina Tula won third place and P20,000 for ‘Pwede Bang Red Uli?’, a short film on scientific ingenuity in addressing color blindness and how a person’s concern for another can push one to look for solutions using science to help.

DOST-SEI Director, Dr. Josette Biyo, said she was impressed about the quality of entries describing them as “effective and entertaining means in communicating science” to the public. “We have proven that Filipino-made science films are indeed effective means of bringing science and technology (S&T) closer to the people,” said Biyo.

Lastly, dela Peña urged the filmmakers to keep making films and discovering science as the field offers unlimited topics that can be tackled thru artistic methods. “I hope that this activity marks the start of your own story whether in film or in science. We hope that you really use your gifts for the best cause, that is, to serve the nation,” he said.

Meeting Mark Zuckerberg and My Facebook Friends Day Experience

Last January 31, 2016, Fellow Filipino Abby Asistio flew to San Francisco and had the wonderful opportunity of being chosen as one of the eighteen invited by Facebook on their 12th Anniversary Friends Day celebration with California-based Alopecia awareness advocate, Rachel Regal. Alopecia is an autoimmune condition which results in partial or total head and body hair loss. Abby Asistio have had it since she was four while Rachel just developed it sometime in 2012, the same year she discovered that her 10-year-old daughter, Eliana, had it, too. Six inspiring stories were picked by Facebook among its 1.64 billion users and Abby’s friends were all amazed when theye’ve found out that Abby’s Alopecia story was one of them. Imagine that!

Abby and Rachel met each other through the double A hand sign campaign that Aby started in 2012, and They've been "connected" since then. Last year, Facebook Stories featured how these two were able to build a friendship, as well as campaign for disease awareness through Facebook! And last February 1st, Abby and Rachel had the chance to tour FB headquarters in Menlo Park, San Francisco, meet and chat with the people behind Facebook (Founder & CEO Mark Zuckerberg, COO Sheryl Sandberg, CPO Chris Cox, and a whole lot of awesome people), get crazy cool gadgets and have one of the best experiences of their lives.

Abby recounted that it was such a surreal feeling to be in the same room as the creator of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg. Mark Z was wearing his trademark look (jeans, sneakers, shirt and a big smile on his face), and had such a friendly, approachable aura and demeanor about him. Not at all intimidating! He shared stories about how the company started, its mission-vision, the ups and downs that come along, and their future plans. Those invited also had the chance to ask him questions. When Mark Z was asked about achieving success and life’s “impossibilities”. He said, “There’s a difference between impossible and things taking a really long time. Even if you’re not going to be able to do something in a short time period, if you care about something, you want to see the world to move into that direction… So the best thing to do is just get started and not be discouraged. It’s tough because this stuff is hard, or else people would’ve already done it.”

Abby Asistio got the chance to ask a question to one of the world’s 50 most powerful, successful women in business, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. Aside from Alopecia awareness, Abby is also an active Real Beauty advocate with girls and women struggling with various insecurities, being so consumed by the world’s unrealistic and sometimes superficial standards of beauty. So Abby asked Sheryl about her perception of it. Sheryl said that beauty is just like success and that no one could really define it for you. We are all unique. We have different stories, dreams and desires. We should
explore our own inner and outer beauty, believe and embrace that we are beautiful, and never allow anyone to tell us otherwise.

Mark capped off his talk by sharing their company philosophy with everyone present. Though already having over 1 billion subscribers, there are still 7 billion people all over the world without access to all the meaningful connections and information that Facebook brings. One thing that the company stands by is that “things are always 1% completed”. It keeps them grounded, reminding them that there is always so much work, growth and progress to be done, and so many people to reach out to and help.

Everything about the Facebook trip was overwhelming and inspiring according to Abby. More than anything, it reminded her about “responsibility”. We are all given our own platforms, in this case “accounts and connections”, to make a dent in this world. It is up to us to become complacent and take these vehicles for granted, or maximize the opportunities and use them to make a positive impact in this generation. Abby is grateful that Facebook has become a medium for her to communicate disease awareness and touch people beyond the confines of her tiny room and her country. Abby is also glad that she and Rachel are two out of millions of people choosing to recognize the importance of social media in contributing to making this world a better place, and actually doing something about it.

Truly, God plans the best adventures and creates the most beautiful surprises. Abby knows that she wouldn't have been handpicked for this if it weren't for Him, as well as the countless individuals who have cared and showed support for my advocacy. Abby would like to leave a positive thought to everyone that we should really take the time to search for and identify our “purpose” – that one unique, very specific calling that is the result of our talents, dreams, desires, passions and experiences. Once you find it, be faithful to it no matter how long or difficult the journey towards its fulfillment may be. You’ll never know where it could lead to, how far it could go and how large it could grow. Abby is also thankful that her campaign continues to spread and reach new heights and she is particularly grateful to Facebook for giving her this opportunity and to Novuhair, Nature's Answer to Hair Loss (www.novuhair.com), for always being so supportive of her advocacy and endeavors. Abby is proud and honored to have represented the Philippines and the Alopecia community in this once-in-a-lifetime, international event.

The Toddler Travels Book Launch Invite

Inviting everyone to the Toddler Travels Book Launch happening this coming 8th of April 2016 7:30PM at The Forum, 4/F Fully Booked, Bonifacio Global City.

This is all about the authors adventures and misadventures (I think) when she travel abroad with her little one.

The event is for FREE, therefore anyone can come. See you!