Message from Engr. Ma. Cielo P. Galuno, REE, USTEAA (USA) Scholar 2020-2024
January 21, 2026
Dear Scholarship Committee Members and the USTEAA (USA) Family,
I hope this message finds you all well and in good health.
Thank you very much for reaching out and for your kind thoughtfulness. I sincerely appreciate the opportunity to share a professional update following my successful completion of the Registered Electrical Engineer (REE) Licensure Examination in April 2025.
Currently, I am employed full-time at Black & White Engineering, an international multidisciplinary MEPF design consultancy recognized globally for its expertise in large-scale, mission-critical facilities, particularly data centers. The firm is involved in high-value international projects and is known for its rigorous design standards, innovation-driven approach, and strong emphasis on engineering excellence. I have been with the company for approximately five months now, holding the position of Graduate Electrical Engineer, and I am presently based at their office in Vertis North, Quezon City.
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My role has been both demanding and highly fulfilling, as it requires a strong technical foundation, analytical thinking, and precision in design. I am grateful to share that one of the key qualifications for my role was a solid academic background, which reaffirmed that the discipline, perseverance, and hard work I invested throughout my college years truly paid off. Being part of the design field, particularly within the specialized and relatively niche sector of data centers, has been especially meaningful to me, as this is the career path I have long aspired to pursue. The complexity and scale of the projects continually challenge me to grow, and I find great satisfaction in contributing to technically advanced systems.
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Moreover, Black & White Engineering fosters a healthy and supportive work environment that values professional growth, collaboration, and employee well-being. Combined with fair compensation and a strong culture of mentorship, this has made my transition into the professional world both rewarding and motivating. I am genuinely happy with the work I am doing and grateful to be learning from highly experienced engineers on a daily basis.
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In addition to my full-time role, I am also teaching part-time at Excel Review Center, where I handle several Electrical Engineering subjects for licensure examination reviewees. My teaching schedule is primarily on weekends, with occasional weekday sessions after regular working hours, depending on the review center’s needs. Teaching has always been a personal passion of mine, and aside from design work, it is something I genuinely enjoy. Rather than being exhausting, I find it deeply fulfilling, as it allows me to share knowledge, mentor future engineers, and give back to the profession. Teaching has become a meaningful complement to my engineering practice and a personal reward in itself.
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These milestones would not have been possible without the invaluable support, encouragement, and opportunities provided by the USTEAA (USA) Scholarship Program throughout my college years. The scholarship played a vital role not only in supporting my education financially, but also in instilling in me a strong sense of responsibility, perseverance, and gratitude.
I would like to express my sincerest appreciation to the entire scholarship committee for your unwavering support. The program truly opened many doors for me and significantly shaped the professional path I am on today.
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I sincerely apologize for not being able to provide updates sooner, as I have been adjusting to new professional responsibilities and navigating this important stage of my life. Please know that I remain deeply grateful for everything the committee has done for me.
Should there be any opportunity for me to give back, assist, or contribute to the scholarship program or its initiatives in any capacity, I would be more than willing and honored to do so. It would be my privilege to support the community that has supported me so generously.
Thank you very much for your time and continued guidance. I hope to remain in touch, and I look forward to any opportunity to serve the USTEAA (USA) community.
Respectfully yours,
Engr. Ma. Cielo P. Galuno, REE
B.S. Electrical Engineering, Batch 2024
Message from Engr. Mary Grace Lim Casuncad, USTEAA (USA) Scholar 2008-2013
December 28, 2025
Good day USTEAA Family,
Warm Christmas greetings to you all, and my heartfelt best wishes for the coming year.
It has been quite some time since I last shared an update on my whereabouts and professional journey. Wherever life has taken me, I remain sincerely grateful to the USTEAA family for the scholarship support extended to me during my undergraduate years at the University of Santo Tomas. That generosity allowed me to focus fully on my studies and continues to be something I carry with me with deep appreciation.
Over the past five to six years since my last update to the Association, I have completed my first master’s degree at the University of the Philippines Institute of Civil Engineering, majoring in Structural Engineering (MSCE Structural). I then worked with Jacobs Engineering Philippines for a year before pursuing a second master’s degree in Europe, specialising in the structural analysis of monuments and historical constructions in Portugal and Italy. At present, I am preparing to relocate to Sydney to join Taylor Thompson and Whitting (TTW) as part of their specialist heritage team. Please bear with me as I condense a few years worth of professional and life update into a few paragraphs below. I provided linked items for photos and write-ups publicly available online.
From 2019 to 2023, I was employed with AMH Philippines, Inc. During this period, I was first introduced to the field of heritage and preservation engineering through a seismic assessment and structural retrofit project for a century-old church in Antequera, Bohol. That experience left a lasting impression on me and gradually shaped the direction of my career. I later moved to Jacobs Engineering Philippines as a Structural Engineer under the Water Team, working on water infrastructure projects based in the Philippines, Hong Kong, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. During this time, I also taught part-time at the University of Santo Tomas, serving as an instructor for earthquake engineering courses and as an undergraduate dissertation supervisor for two teams of civil engineering students with research topics aligned with built heritage preservation.
While I valued the technical rigour of new-build design, my professional interests increasingly gravitated toward the structural assessment, preservation, and retrofit of built heritage structures. This eventually led me to take a less conventional, yet deeply meaningful and fulfilling, path toward further specialisation in heritage preservation. I pursued my second master’s degree, through the Advanced Masters in Structural Analysis and Historical Constructions (MSc SAHC), with the assistance and support of Bakas Pilipinas, Inc., a non-governmental organization based in New York City dedicated to the preservation, research, and documentation of built heritage in the Philippines, as well as with guidance from my mentor from the University of the Philippines Diliman.
In August 2024, I relocated to Portugal and completed seven months of intensive structural analysis coursework at the University of Minho. In July 2025, I successfully defended my master’s dissertation at the University of Padova in Italy. A structural engineering firm in Padova, Italy (R-Struct Engineering Srl), which partnered with me in providing data for my dissertation, has since fully outsourced the structural retrofit analysis, design and FEA modeling to me. This project, the Saint Saviour Monastery—a 15th-century built heritage structure in Jerusalem currently housing the The Terra Sancta Museum—became my first heritage project in independent practice and a milestone for which I am especially grateful.
Preservation engineering remains a relatively young structural engineering specialisation, and formal education and training opportunities in this field continue to be limited in the Philippines. At present, there is no structural engineering firm in the country that caters to heritage preservation practice. This reality encouraged me to seek opportunities overseas, where I found strong alignment with the heritage team specialists at TTW, Sydney. I am currently engaged in both volunteer and paid consultancy roles with the International Council of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and the International Scientific Committee for Risk Preparedness (ICORP), while continuing to secure heritage projects locally and overseas.
Together with the University of the Philippines and Bakas Pilipinas, Inc., we are moving towards collaborative efforts to help shape a curriculum at the University of the Philippines Diliman Institute of Civil Engineering (UPD ICE) that caters specifically to structural engineering courses for built heritage preservation. While I remain active in local professional engineering organizations (i.e. ASEP and PICE), my current focus is on my submissions for scientific papers for presentation next year at the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE) Symposium in Copenhagen, Denmark, as well as the scientific publication of a component of my master’s dissertation (MSc SAHC) at the 11th International Masonry Conference in Lubeck, Germany.
Specialising in the heritage field has allowed me to realise that my calling extends beyond industry practice to include, with equal significance, university-level teaching and academic and industry research. My long-term goal remains to continue my professional practice in the Philippines, bringing back the international heritage practices and technical skills I have gained overseas and making these accessible to younger generations of structural engineers. I also intend to continue teaching at the university level and to contribute meaningfully to academic and industry research through UP ICE and Bakas Pilipinas. There is still much to be done, but I remain hopeful that, with perseverance and the continued support of fellow Filipino engineers, architects and related professions in the heritage community worldwide, these plans can be realised.
Thank you very much USTEAA family for your continued support through the years. I truly look forward to reconnecting with you. Whether in Manila or in Sydney, I am just one call or message away.
All the best,
Mary Grace Lim Casuncad, MSc
BS Civil Engineering, Batch 2013
Message from Engr. Aldous Regin Respicio, USTEAA USA Scholar, 2009-2014
December 25, 2025
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Hello, USTEAA-USA!
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First of all, I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
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This year was again a milestone for me as a Civil/Structural Design Engineer here in our company, Energy Development Corporation, as we inaugurated the Tanawon Geothermal Power Plant in the province of Sorsogon. This will be the third power plant which I was involved in from conceptualization, design phase, and up until its construction for both the site development and fluid collection/reinjection system.
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(see full article in the link: https://business.inquirer.net/538840/edc-fires-up-new-p7-b-geothermal-power-plant)
Despite the countless site inspections and numerous design revisions, I am proud that we were able to complete this project -- a testament of the company's continuous mission to provide clean and renewable energy for the Philippines.
I am thankful that the company continues to put their trust in me, as one of their designers, especially for big and important projects like this.
I would like to thank you, USTEAA-USA, as well, for the trust you have given me since day one. I will not be here today, celebrating this milestone, if not for the opportunity that you have given me.
Keep safe and more powers!
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Regards,
Aldous Regin M. Respicio
BS Civil Engineering, Batch 2014
UST Faculty of Engineering
A Message from a Grateful Scholar
Reunion & Get-Together of USTEngineering Alumni and friends
October 22, 2025, Gold Coast Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada
To my USTEAA (USA) family,
Though I am unable to join you for this Las Vegas reunion, I want to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude and continued support.
After more than three years working as a structural design engineer at RISE Structural Design in Tokyo, Japan, I am now based in the US, continuing my professional journey as a structural engineer with Jacobs Engineering. I hope to see and catch up with everyone at one of the future gatherings!
Your generosity through the USTEAA USA Scholarship Program helped me complete my 5-year Civil Engineering degree at the University of Santo Tomas. More than just financial assistance, your support gave me confidence, hope, and the drive to succeed. I carry that blessing with me every day—both in my work and in how I strive to give back to others.
Thank you for believing in students like me. I am proud to be one of your scholars and even prouder to witness how your commitment continues to shape lives and build brighter futures.
“Gratitude is the memory of the heart.” —Jean-Baptiste Massieu
This quote perfectly expresses how I feel—my thankfulness is not just a passing sentiment, but a deeply rooted part of who I am. It continues to shape how I see the world, and I carry your kindness with me in all that I do. I will never forget, and I will surely pay it forward.
Maraming salamat!
May God continue to bless everyone in USTEAA (USA).
Wishing you a joyful and meaningful reunion!
With deep gratitude and warm regards,
Rei Gene Villarosa
UST Civil Engineering Class of 2019
Message from Engr. Aldous Respicio, USTEAA USA Scholar 2009-2014
Date: Jan 21, 2023
Greetings!
First of all, I wish the USTEAA-USA family a Happy New Year and I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas celebration.
As a civil engineer, there is always that joy whenever you see your project comes to reality, most especially if you know that it can help our fellow Filipinos to improve the quality of their lives.
I am happy to share with you that the Mindanao-3 Binary Power Plant in Kidapawan City, Cotabato was inaugurated and commissioned last year. This is the first power plant project to be completed in my five year (and counting) career here in my company. I was involved from its conceptualization, its design phase (area development, piping layout, pipe supports) and up to the evaluation of documents during its construction phase. But behind this project are the consolidated efforts of several people who went extra mile to complete the project in the midst of a pandemic. This is the result of the collaboration of different people from different fields of expertise who were driven by a common goal of providing clean and renewable energy.
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With this success, I am looking forward to other power plant projects that I am involved in, which are expected to be completed few years from now. I am preparing myself for more frequent site inspections and visits especially now that travel restrictions due to the pandemic are easing already.
Big gatherings are now also allowed, following minimum health protocols, so for the first time in almost three years I was able to reunite with some of my colleagues during our company's Havana Nights Christmas party on Nov 29, 2022.
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We will see each other more often as we will start, this February, an experimental hybrid work setup which will require us to report to office twice a month (or as required) and work at home for the rest of it. I am thankful to be part of a company that is very much concerned to the health and safety of its employees as we are still not being required to report to office full time.
Once again, I would like to thank the USTEAA-USA organization for believing in me from the time you chose me to be one of your scholars. Without you, I would not reach this milestone in my career and the opportunity to make a difference.
Keep safe and more powers!
Regards,
Aldous Regin M. Respicio
BS Civil Engineering, Batch 2014
UST Faculty of Engineering
