AIPO successfully holds 2024 Intersession Internship Program

From 27 May to 14 June 2024, the Ateneo Intellectual Property Office (AIPO) hosted 17 Ateneo undergraduate seniors in a 3-week internship program. This was held in preparation for their respective international engagements with startup companies in Singapore and Silicon Valley, as part of this year’s TechXperience.

The orientation program was held on 27 May and began with an introduction about the internship and AIPO itself. It was then followed by a virtual presentation by the AIPO director, Dr Proceso “Jon” Fernandez Jr about the various roles and functions of the respective departments in AIPO. The morning’s activities also included some fun as this year’s internship supervisor, Ms Paulanne Mari Alconcel facilitated some icebreaker activities to help the interns get acquainted with one another.

In the afternoon, an Idea Generation Workshop was conducted at the Ateneo Blue Nest, located at the Eduardo J Aboitiz Sandbox Zone. The interns participated in an adrenaline-pumping Kaizen game and Ball game to test their creativity. This was followed by a talk on some idea-generation tactics to fully introduce the concept of creative ideation.

For the remainder of the first week, dated 28 to 31 May Mr Steve Chaves and Ms Mariela Alcaparas from the Ideation Support Group (ISG) gave a rundown of the Design Thinking process. Starting with a workshop on how to design a better gift-giving experience, the interns were taught techniques on how to better empathize with the user–step 1 in Design Thinking–through a series of interviews, iterations of solution generation, and testing of the “gift” (the prototype) through user feedback.

After which, the rest of the Design Thinking process: (2) Define, (3) Ideate, (4) Prototype, and (5) Test were presented in full. As a deeper immersion into design thinking, the interns were tasked to conduct user empathy consultations and create user/persona profiles based on their interviews. Subsequently, they were tasked to generate low-fidelity prototypes that tried to solve the problems they identified earlier.

The following were the “How Might We” statements that the students were able to come up with:

• Group 1: How might we create a more positive and less stressful enlistment process so that Ateneo students can get the classes they want?
• Group 2: How might we provide a clearer, less stress-inducing path toward external internship opportunities while appealing to behaviors, tendencies, and preferences of Ateneo students?
• Group 3: How might we help TechX participants communicate with AIPO so that the internship process with AIPO is more streamlined and less confusing?
• Group 4: How might we help Ateneo students access comprehensive information and resources as they navigate the internship process?

As a simulation of design thinking, all groups underwent the cyclic process of testing their prototypes and were encouraged to revise as necessary. This resulted in well-thought-of prototypes including a new and improved Enlistment Masterfile, a Notion Page for External Internships, an Internship Requirements Tracker, and a Canvas LMS-integrated Internship Course.

The second week of the internship, dated  3 to 7 June, was then spearheaded by the Intellectual Property (IP) Protection and Education Group (PEG) under the lead of Ms Vanessa Malapit, Ms Madielaine Fatallo, and Ms Charity Bersalona. Following an introduction to PEG and a discussion on IP Awareness, the interns were given different tasks in line with either marketing or IP identification.

Some interns developed infographic materials and FAQ sheets on patents, industrial design, trademark, and copyright. Other interns helped with developing a comprehensive Invention Disclosure Form (IDF) in collaboration with the research group of Dr Erwin P Enriquez, Professor at the Ateneo de Manila Department of Chemistry. Meanwhile, the rest of the interns designed templates for PEG’s events like IP awareness activities as well as worked on website collaterals, invoices, and infographic videos for IP Week 2021-2024 and a patent searching and drafting workshop of PEG.

For the third week of the internship, dated 10 to 14 June, the interns were given an introduction by Ms May Ann Udtojan-Albis on the Commercialization and Business Incubation Group (CBIG). This was followed by a comprehensive talk by Mr George Quitoriano on Startup Entrepreneurship.

The next few days of CBIG week were dedicated to creating marketing plans for some of AIPO’s incubatees, Nyha Robotics and Borq Technologies Inc. and to making a business development plan for Bamboo Water.

Not everything was about constantly churning up outputs as Mr Quitoriano also carried out Business Development Exercises, including an exhilarating game of Catan which brought out the competitive sides of the interns.

Then for the remainder of the week, the interns produced marketing plans for the following Tech X programs: TechXplore Silicon Valley, the 2024 Student Leaders Summit, and TechXplore Malaysia and Singapore. The outputs were critiqued and evaluated by Engr Benjamin Mirasol, Head of AIPO’s Commercialization and Business Incubation Group (CBIG).

After a month-long international engagement in Singapore and Silicon Valley, the interns returned for their final internship week from 15 to 19 July. As a culminating output, they had to come up with an ingenious way to cultivate an innovative mindset among Ateneo students, faculty, and admin staff. Engr Mirasol and Mr Igor Garcia served as members of the panel who graded their proposed programs, events, and activities.

The 2024 AIPO Intersession Internship Program has been an extraordinary journey of learning, innovation, and collaboration. Over three weeks, 17 Ateneo undergraduate seniors demonstrated remarkable creativity and dedication in preparation for their international engagements in Singapore and Silicon Valley. Special thanks go to all the speakers, mentors, and facilitators who contributed to the program's success. Their guidance and support were invaluable in making this internship a memorable and impactful experience for all participants.

The Ateneo TechX programs are here to continue. Please check out AIPO’s website for future announcements at aipo.ateneo.edu or email them at aipo@ateneo.edu. You may also check their Facebook and LinkedIn pages for the latest updates and announcements.