UP and Nokia Open World-Class Learning Facility in Telecommunications Engineering

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The University of the Philippines (UP), the country’s premier higher education institution, in partnership with Nokia-Manila Technology Center (Nokia-Manila TC) has recently inaugurated a new engineering laboratory in its Diliman campus in an effort to provide quality hands-on education and training to telecommunications engineering students.

Located within the university’s Electrical and Electronics Engineering Institute (EEEI), the UP-Nokia Telecommunications Engineering Laboratory features Nokia Networks’ state-of-the-art equipment, including a radio access network that can connect user devices to one of Nokia Networks core network in Asia. A full class can experience the equipment, providing them with real-life experience on telecommunications operations.

The new learning facility helps the state university stay true to as one of the few centers of excellence and development in the Philippines. "Wireless and cellular telecommunications are normally just taught from textbooks,” said EEEI Director Dr. Joel Marciano Jr. “But with the new laboratory our students will actually see the interaction between mobile phones and base stations. It’s experiential, hands-on learning that will be even more effective.”

The laboratory also marks a new chapter in UP and Nokia-Manila TC’s long-standing partnership when the two institutions first launched the Teach In the University Program with the same aim of raising the country’s telecommunications education.

“The initial interaction and knowledge-sharing between our students, faculty and Nokia engineers is now further enhanced by this facility, which provides opportunities to experience real-world scenarios towards studying creative and innovative solutions. The laboratory is also intended to support relevant research activities in telecommunications engineering and networks as part of our roadmap,” Marciano added.

 “The topnotch equipment will enable students to have a hands-on training and experience on radio resource management, radio resource control, packet scheduler, load control, code allocation, power control, handover control, mobility management, session management, air interface architectures, cellular systems, and many other Telecom-specific subjects which naturally wouldn’t be available in books alone,” said Teodor Drobcsak, head of Nokia-Manila TC.

Nigel Waters, Country Manager of Philippines, Nokia Networks said Nokia is honored about this new partnership milestone and believes that the laboratory will be able to augment the talent that Filipinos have when it comes to telecommunications innovation and development.

“The laboratories that we have down the road and the collaboration we have established with the University of the Philippines really puts the Philippines at the forefront of that development,” Waters said.

Aside from the aim of further improving the engineering curriculum of UP and giving students the chance to experience firsthand real end-to-end mobile wireless networks, Drobcsak said the laboratory is also Nokia’s way of expressing their gratitude to UP for producing the best telecommunications engineers.

“We have such profound respect and gratitude to the University of the Philippines for giving us the best talents in software engineering and telecommunications. By donating this laboratory, we hope that UP will produce and educate even more talents which will become the future of the country’s Telecom industry,” said Drobcsak.

Waters said the laboratory will solidify Nokia’s long-term commitment to UP and the Philippines. “Our collaboration and our support of the university here really is a mark of how committed we are to the Philippines, how excited we are to partner with UP and with EEEI, and how the instructional labs here at UP can help and inspire the next generation of Filipino talents to really take the leadership position in the area of technology and innovation,” Waters concludes.

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