The Institute honors the long years of hard work and service of our three highly esteemed faculty members, Prof. Ulpiano Ignacio Jr., Dr. Ricardo Sigua, and Dr. Guillermo Tabios III.
A hybrid retirement celebration party was held on 15 June 2022 at the ICE Canteen to celebrate their service to the University and retirement with friends, family and colleagues. Minimum health and safety protocols were observed throughout the event.
Thank you and enjoy your retirement, Prof. Ignacio, Dr. Sigua, and Dr. Tabios!
Check out our album on Facebook for more photos during the event.
Prof. Ulpiano Ignacio Jr.’s dedication as an educator has served as an inspiration to many students over his 44 years of service. As a professor from 2005 to the present and as Chairman (1985-1988) of the Department of Civil Engineering, Diliman, he serves as a good example of an educator whose main aim is to impart knowledge and guide those under his tutorship to realize their potential. Through the years, he has held several positions outside his department — as Assistant Vice President for Development (2005-2008), Vice Chancellor for Administration (2001-2003), Chairman of the Bids and Awards Committee (2001-2003 and 2005-2006), all at UP Diliman. As a Civil Engineer, Prof. Ignacio is the Structural Designer for 20+ projects of varying scale in the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand — as Structural Peer Reviewer for mid-rise and high-rise projects in the Philippines and as consultant of construction management services for public and private projects.
His excellence in civil engineering has been shown when he was recognized as Structural Engineer by PICE in 2008 and Specialist Structural Engineer awarded by the Institution of Specialist Structural Engineers of the Philippines (ISSEP) in 2015. Prof. Ignacio (BSCE’78) is also the 2020 recipient of the UPAE Professional Degree Award in Civil Engineering and one of the recipients of the 2021 ASEP Outstanding Achievement Award in Structural Engineering Education.
Dr. Ricardo Sigua is a leading expert in the transportation field where he has contributed to various national and international studies, projects, and activities, specifically in Road Safety, Traffic Engineering, Intelligent Transport Systems, among many others.
To date, his career in UP has spanned a total of 44 years. In 1978, he started as a Training Assistant at the UP Transport Training Center (TTC) which would later evolve to become today’s National Center for Transportation Studies (NCTS). As a professor, he has been with the UP Civil Engineering faculty for 36 years, teaching subjects on traffic flow theory and traffic engineering, among others. His book entitled the “Fundamentals of Traffic Engineering” continues to be one of the main references used by students and faculty alike.
In 2016, he was recognized by the Philippine government as one of the promoters and motivators of “walkable and bikeable” communities across the country in the 2016 Bayanihan sa Daan Awards for leading the implementation of the path-breaking principle of road-sharing in the Academic Oval of UP Diliman, which has opened the imagination of the people to the possibilities in re-shaping urban design for a better Filipino community.
Dr. Guillermo Q. Tabios III is a Professor Emeritus of the Institute of Civil Engineering and Research Fellow of the National Hydraulic Research Center. He is the leading expert in field of Hydraulic Engineering and Water Resources in the Philippines.
To date, Dr. Tabios has been with the Institute of Civil Engineering for 26 years, teaching subjects and advising students in the field of water resources in BS, MS and PhD Civil Engineering programs. He served as Department Chair in 2004-2007 of the Department of Civil Engineering. At the NHRC, he served as the Director for two terms from 2008-2015. At the same time, he was also a Board Member of the National Water Resources Board.
Dr. Tabios has been a member of distinguished national and international professional organizations. He is an Academician of the National Academy of Science and Technology since 2010, member of the National Research Council since 2011, Board of Trustee of the Philippine Water Partnership since 2008, member of the International Association of Hydro-Environment Engineering and Research since 2002, and member of Asia-Pacific Hydrology and Water Resources Association since 2003, among others.
In 2020, he published his book entitled “Water Resources Systems of the Philippines: Modelling Studies”. This book presents cases of model application to various aspects of water resources projects. He has been conferred many awards for his works. Most notable awards are the Michael Purvis Award for Sustainability Research in 2021 and the Julian A Banzon Medal for the Most Outstanding Research and Development Award in 2010.
