Xavier Ateneo welcomes the homecoming of one of its prized alumni, Dr Noel Peter B Tan of the Environmental Technologies, Nano and Advanced Materials Institute and the 2018 Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Balik Scientist Awardee for Environmental Applications of Nanoscience.
Tan is an award-winning research scientist, engineer, and academic with over seven years of experience in nanotechnology and advanced materials market-driven research to develop and commercialize new technologies.
He is currently to the Philippines for a short-term Balik Scientist visit to his alma mater Xavier Ateneo. He will serve as co-adviser to undergraduate chemical engineering students and assist them in their capstone researches on the synthesis of nanofibers.
One objective of the Balik Scientist Program of DOST is to bring Filipino scientists residing abroad back in the Philippines “to contribute to the progress and development of the nation.” DOST acknowledges that with their expertise in the field of science and technology, the Balik Scientist Awardees could help address some of the major problems that our country faces and to inspire the next generation of Filipino scientists.
Nanoscience and nanotechnology are the study and application of "extremely small things and can be used across all the other science fields, such as chemistry, biology, physics, materials science, and engineering," according to the US National Nanotechnology Initiative.
Tan has published book chapters and international peer-reviewed journals on the central theme towards green nanotechnologies focusing on both synthesis and applications. He has patents on self-healing concrete and time-temperature indicators (TTI) and was recently involved in the application of green nanotechnologies, especially in environmental nanoremediation.
Tan is set to help develop a postgraduate curriculum on Environmental Nanotechnology and conduct lectures in the same area at Xavier Ateneo, to be sponsored by the XU College of Engineering, XU Kinaadman University Research Office, and the Cagayan de Oro chapter of the Philippine Institute of Chemical Engineers (PIChE).
Tan received his BSc in Chemical Engineering from Xavier University - Ateneo de Cagayan in 2001, MSc in Chemical Engineering from Xiamen University in China in 2010, and PhD in Applied Chemistry from Hong Kong Polytechnic University in 2014 with inclusive studies at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) für Materialien und Energie GmbH in Berlin, Germany.∎