HomebrewEd: A Demonstration of Benilde’s Homebrewed Talents
One of Benilde’s breakthrough goals is for our students to be involved in innovative projects that promote Inclusion in society. It’s an ambitious goal, but one that’s not just fair to expect from an institution that was built to be both innovative and inclusive from the very beginning. And so we started the HomebrewEd Program to cultivate social innovators in Benilde. The program seeks out Benildeans who wish to take their innovative ideas and school projects beyond the boxes of the archives.
On March 5, 2019 we held our first-ever HomebrewEd Demo Day. Three of the teams under the program presented their products to Benilde’s board of advisers, mentors, and guests.
Sohan, a 3-person team composed of Information Systems students demonstrated their tri-platform product that will help the blind navigate through the city. They demonstrated a wearable wrist device, which sends directional signals to the blind wearer through differently-coded vibration patterns.
This device is linked to a mobile app that will serve as the wearable’s primary navigation tool. And lastly, the Sohan web app ties everything together in a system. They also demonstrated a special feature of the product which helps guardians keep track of their person wearing the Sohan wearable. Sohan wishes to partner with more organizations that aim to make urban mobility easier and more inclusive. Visit Sohan’s website here.
BeLink is an online project management platform developed by Information Systems students. What began as a project in HiFi’s Thinkathon workshop sprung to become their college capstone project. They even won their batch’s Best Capstone Award.
BeLink aims to make cross-program collaboration easier for students by providing a gamified platform open to all programs. BeLink lets students create their own projects and open positions to, which students from other programs can apply for. They demonstrated how the platform encourages free collaboration and project creation school-wide. They hope to have their system applied to existing learning management systems in Benilde and beyond. They’re also aiming to have private companies use the platform to activate cross-department collaboration. Visit BeLink here.
Last to present was one-woman team Kamulo by Therese Paman. Kamulo is a furniture brand that champions Filipino craftsmanship by upcycling discarded fast fashion and construction materials.
The first product line is a collection of chairs from scrap denim and steel. Kamulo aims to create accessible and affordable high-quality furniture that don’t only look good, but also good for people and the environment. Kamulo will be able to produce up to 70 handmade chairs a month, and is working on connecting with offices and restaurants. Visit Kamulo here.
Moving forward
The three Benildean innovation projects are just some of the hidden talents that might be hidden in school; just waiting for the right opportunity to come. With more information becoming more available online, the new generation of learners lean to schools for higher-value learning, and mentorship.
The schools will not just be venues where student sit to absorb teachers’ lessons; they will become areas for collaboration, real-world learning, and practical learning experiences. The HomebrewEd Program Demo Day is proof that schools can do much more for its students. And that students can do much more than we expect from them, given the right situations.
For the complete set of photos, visit and link our Facebook page here.
