KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Stockholm, Sweden) and Mapua University (Manila, Philippines) has established a partnership since 2013. As part of the Linnaeus-Palme program funded by Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), Mapua University was able to send in January 2018 two students of the School of Chemical, Biological, and Materials Engineering and Sciences – Bernice Lorraine Roy (BS Biological Engineering) and Carla Santos (MS Environmental Engineering) – to the Department of Fiber and Polymer technology in KTH Royal Institute of Technology for thesis/research internship. While in KTH, Roy and Santos attended classes and performed research for six months on cellulose nanocrystals and cellulose nanofibers from a specific bamboo species (Beema bamboo). In exchange, KTH sent one MS Molecular Materials student (David Fredricksson) to Mapua University. Mapua University’s Sustainable Development Research, School of Chemical, Biological, and Materials Engineering and Sciences (CBMES), and School of Civil, Environmental, and Geological Engineering (CEGE) co-hosted Fredricksson’s research activities in the university.

Also part of the cooperation is faculty lecture exchange between the two universities. Professor Anders Hult (KTH) delivered a professional lecture in Mapua in February 2018. Dr. Lemmuel L. Tayo (Mapua University CBMES) did the same in KTH in May 2018.

Dr. Delia B. Senoro, director of Mapua University’s International Linkage for Research and Development, and Prof. Anders Hult (KTH) have been instrumental in forging this collaborative program.

Photos: Santos, Roy, Senor, and Tayo (top) (c. Bernice Roy); David Fredricksson (bottom) (c. Menandro Marquez)