Natural fibers are considered as alternative reinforcements in composites due to their accessibility, affordability, renewability and potential positive effects on some properties. Sources of these fibers include bast, leaf, seed and grass. In this paper, untreated tiger grass fiber, which is typically used as material in soft brooms, has been reinforced in epoxy resin with varying loading of 0 %, 5 %, 10 %, 15 % and 20 % by mass of matrix. For the composite manufacturing, the samples were prepared with the use of silicone molds and were subjected to tensile and water absorption tests. Based from the results, the tiger grass fiber reinforcement has provided significant improvements on tensile strength. The sample with 20 % fiber content achieved the maximum strength of 42 MPa which correspond to about 91 % enhancement as compared to the plain sample. This could be associated with the stress transfer between the unidirectional fibers and the epoxy matrix. As for water absorption, all composites only attained minimal mean values that ranges from 0.035 % to 0.063 %. This could be linked to the water-resistant characteristic of the matrix that protected the reinforcing fibers from being exposed directly to water.

The incorporation of natural fillers like eggshells in polymers has gain attention due to their potential capability to enhance some properties while providing possible cost savings. In this paper, quail eggshells were used as bio-based filler in silicone rubber and their effects on the mechanical properties were investigated. For the composite manufacturing, samples containing 4.8 wt.% (5 phr), 9.1 wt.% (10 phr) and 13 wt.% (15 phr) of crushed quail eggshells were manually prepared. The mechanical characterization tests considered are compression, tensile and hardness. Based from the results, the sample with 4.8 wt.% filler achieved the highest compressive strength of 2.79 MPa and hardness of 53.3 which correspond to improvements of about 11 % and 6 % as compared to the plain rubber, respectively. These enhancements can be associated with the good dispersion of the filler at lower loading. However, higher filler contents resulted to a decrease in mechanical properties which could be linked to the possible agglomeration of crushed eggshells and weak filler to matrix interaction caused by lack of surface treatment. Nevertheless, the improvements attained by adding quail eggshells at lower percentage in rubber can still make it an alternative filler to consider.

Eggshells, which are mainly composed of calcium carbonate, have been considered as alternative filler in polymer composites to reduce cost and improve some of the material properties. One of the biofillers that has not yet widely studied for its potential use in rubber is quail eggshell. For this research study, the effects of quail eggshell filler on the abrasion resistance and thermal degradation of room temperature vulcanizing (RTV) silicone rubber were investigated. Samples with 0, 5, 10 and 15 wt. % quail eggshell filler were prepared through manual mixing and open molding process. Abrasion resistance test was performed based on ASTM D4060 while thermogravimetric-differential thermal analysis was utilized to examine thermal degradation. Results revealed that the abrasion resistance of silicone rubber increases as the eggshell filler content rises from 0 to 15 wt. %. The silicone rubber with 15 wt. % filler achieved the best abrasion resistance with a mass loss of about 44.7 % less than the sample without filler. For the thermal analysis, the sample with 15 wt. % eggshell filler achieved a higher peak degradation temperature of about 605.61 oC as compared to the plain sample (511.25 oC) but the latter appears to resist thermal degradation better at high temperatures.

The BS Mechanical Engineering Program of FEU Institute of Technology designed undergraduate thesis courses for its first batch of BSME students enrolled in the Project Study 1 and Project Study 2 courses. These courses were designed to be in line with governmental and institutional requirements, outcomes-based education, and optimized research output. The courses were successfully implemented and used as optimal venues for assessing program outcomes for accreditation purposes and the continuous quality improvement process of the BS-mechanical engineering program.

The threat of a massive spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the Philippines prompted its government to implement community lockdowns all across the country. The first of which was implemented in Metro Manila beginning on 15 March 2020 and lasted up to 15 May 2020. During the lockdown, all schools were prohibited to conduct face-to-face classes while businesses were encouraged to implement work-from-home arrangements. FEU Institute of Technology (FEU Tech), located in Metro Manila, Philippines, was able to quickly adapt to the health crisis mainly due to its previous implementation of Canvas, an online learning management system, in 2017. The mechanical engineering department at FEU Tech revised its strategy in its implementation of its undergraduate Mechanical Engineering Project Study course (MEPROSTUD) to adapt to the class disruptions caused by the community quarantines imposed in Metro Manila. Comparing student performance before and during the pandemic, it was observed that there was a significant decline in oral communication and a significant improvement in written communication in MEPROSTUD1 and MEPROSTUD2, respectively. This paper documents the experiences of the mechanical engineering department at FEU Tech in its implementation of MEPROSTUD courses during the pandemic and intends to provide additional information to other engineering schools about how to remotely implement their undergraduate thesis courses.