QCU Highlights Urban Agriculture and Student Innovation at Ateneo’s Digging for Purple Gold Exhibit 2025
Quezon City University (QCU) took part in the 2025 UBE Festival held at Arete-Ateneo lobby, Ateneo de Manila University on May 7,2025, showcasing its initiatives on urban agriculture, food innovation, and student-led research.
The event started with a mass of creation led by Fr. Jojo Fung, S.J. and Fr. C. Matulac, SSC, MDRR. and organized by the Coastal Cities at Risk Philippines (CCARPH) project, the exhibit entitled “Imagining Food Futures and Climate Resilience” gathered various stakeholders advocating sustainable food systems and climate resilience.
QCU’s booth, organized by the Office of the President, QCU Research, Extension, Planning and Linkages – Research Management Office (REPL-RMO), and the Center for Urban Agriculture and Innovation (CUAI), showcased fresh produce from the university’s urban farm, including Chinese kale, basil, dill, talinum, okra, and gourmet hito. QC’s Joy of Urban Farming also provided free starting kits including seeds, seedlings, and seedling trays.
In addition to its farming display, QCU highlighted a student startup project, the “Automated Purple Yam Jam Processing System”, developed by selected Electronics Engineering graduates (Team Ubelikha 2024). The innovation, originally presented at the 2024 PIONEER Student Research Conference, automates ube halaya production for small-scale food entrepreneurs.
QCU also introduced a product from its Entrepreneurship students, the Ube Langka Pie, created by the Playmaker Enterprise (BAENT-3A), showcasing how student ventures combine culinary tradition with startup creativity.
As part of the festival, the QCU delegation visited the Ateneo Innovation Center (AIC) Sandbox, where Operations Manager Paul Cabacungan and his team presented various science and technology projects. These included disaster-resilient data systems, facial recognition tools for family reunification, and IoT-powered crop monitoring devices..
The university also held exploratory talks with Dr. Czarina Saloma-Akpedonu, Dean of Ateneo’s School of Social Sciences, regarding a potential rooftop garden collaboration, where QCU may provide technical assistance based on its CUAI expertise.
Other exhibitors during the event were Mama Sita Foundation, the City Agriculture Office of Valenzuela City, AIC for Climate Disaster Resilience, and Mt. Purro.
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