Joerian Gauten, UPOU Diploma in Computer Science Student
“Never compare your definition of success to someone else’s definition; it varies in every person’s mindset,” advised Joerian E. Gauten to his fellow students at the University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) where he is currently taking the Diploma in Computer Science graduate program. Joerian along with his teammates in UP SysTeam–namely, Rex Ronter Ruiz, Jian Asiado, and Patricia Marie Garcia–made headlines this year as they were declared as one of the three winners in the Google Developer Student Clubs 2021 Solution Challenge on 26 August 2021.
UP SysTeam developed the winning entry aptly called i-RISE which stands for Island Response Intervention for Systematic Evacuation. Joerian described the project as a digital disaster risk management platform designed to augment national disaster risk reduction and management operation and improve dissemination of information from local government units (LGU) to the community and vice-versa. The initiative, which focused on the communities in Tubigon, Bohol, was inspired from an earlier research study conducted by the University of Tokyo on flooded communities in Bohol. Wanting to understand the situation and reason why the people in these island communities refused to leave despite the regular flooding, Joerian and his teammates conducted interviews and group discussions with experts and with the island dwellers themselves, which became the basis for the development of the i-RISE platform.
UP SysTeam was formed during the start of Diliman Solutions Challenge 2021 through its competition board which allowed participants to connect with one another and form a group. After a month, Joerian was invited to be part of the team as a mobile developer. He revealed that he hasn’t met some of his teammates yet personally. However, that didn’t stop them from achieving their goals and winning the competition for they have “the same mindset – to help or improve people’s lives – regardless of being in a different location, ethnicity, institution and profession.”
The UP SysTeam with their Google Mentor
Aside from being a UPOU graduate student, Joerian works as a software engineer in mobile application at Salesforce Industries through iScale Solutions. He also owns a small company that helps micro and startup companies to build and boost their digital presence. He describes himself as young-at-heart who loves video games, anime, and kulitan. He is also a passionate programmer and a tinker during his spare time. In managing work and student life, Joerian maintains a calendar of events to keep him on track of his daily tasks and utilizes a Kanban card board to help him visualize his weekly responsibilities and accomplishments.
Joerian shared that he was “blissful, overjoyed, and in cloud-9” when his team was declared as one of the top three winners. He admitted that he has never won since he started participating in competitions. He is thankful to his teammates whom he described as “excellent, competitive and visionary.” He also credited the success of i-RISE to their consultants, namely, Mike Allan Nillo, Jansen Asiado, and Felixson Escribe, and their team adviser, Almie Rita Carajay. Joerian also acknowledged UPOU where he is a bonafide student which allowed him to join the international contest and be part of the winning team. He recognized that the skills he acquired from UPOU are “now being applied into the solutions that built the parts of the i-RISE platform.”
You can watch UP SysTeam’s winning moment on YouTube. To know more about the competition, you may access Google Developer Student Clubs 2021 Solution Challenge.
Written by Jaime P. Guimbao
Edited by Joane V. Serrano and Anna Cañas-Llamas
Photos from Joerian Guaten
