Dr. Rogel Mari D. Sese Appointed Director of the New RICWO
The Ateneo de Davao University has appointed Dr. Rogel Mari D. Sese as Director of the newly established Research, Innovations, and Creative Works Office (RICWO), effective 1 June 2026 to 31 May 2029, for a term of three years.
The appointment was made upon the recommendation of Fr. Antonio M. Basilio, SJ, Vice President for Research, Innovations, and Community Engagement, under whose supervision RICWO will operate.
On the Newly Established Office for Research, Innovation, and Creative Work
RICWO was established effective 1 June 2026 to coordinate and support the University’s research agenda, innovation initiatives, creative outputs, intellectual property development, and publication culture, ensuring quality, integrity, and pathways for scholarly, creative, and societal impact.
The Office will oversee research development activities, grants, and project coordination across all University units; support faculty and student research, innovation, and creative work from proposal development to completion; enable a University-wide publication culture through research dissemination support and knowledge-sharing platforms; coordinate research ethics processes in collaboration with the University Research Ethics Board; and support intellectual property identification, protection, management, and innovation pathways in coordination with concerned units and partners.
The Innovation and Technology Support Office (ITSO) has been subsumed under RICWO and will operate as a function of the new Office, with its work on intellectual property identification, protection, management, and commercialization continuing under RICWO’s umbrella.
Concurrent with RICWO’s establishment, the University Research Council has been abolished, with its integrative function assumed by the RICE Council under the Office of the Vice President for Research, Innovations, and Community Engagement.
The University expressed its sincere gratitude to the past and present members of the University Research Council, and in particular to its previous Chair, Dr. Lourdesita S. Chan, for their dedicated service and contributions to the University’s research and innovation culture.
About Dr. Rogel Mari Sese
Dr. Sese brings to RICWO a career in academic leadership and space science advocacy. He holds a Ph.D. in Astronomy and Astrophysics from the University of Tsukuba in Japan, where he specialized in computational astrophysics, and earned his undergraduate and master’s degrees in Applied Physics from the University of the Philippines.
He previously served as head of the Department of Science and Technology’s National Space Development Program and has been a leading proponent of space science and space policy in the Philippines, including work toward the establishment of a national space agency. He also founded Regulus SpaceTech Inc., a firm engaged in space research, development, education, and consultancy.
At Ateneo de Davao University, Dr. Sese served as Chairperson of the Department of Aerospace Engineering, the first program of its kind in the Philippines, and as Director of ACCESS Mindanao, and has advised the ADDU Rocketry Team in national and international competitions.
With his appointment as Director of RICWO, Dr. Sese will relinquish his headship of the Aerospace Engineering Department and the ADDVentures Innovation Center upon the effectivity of his appointment on 1 June 2026. The appointment of his successors in both units is being determined and will be communicated in a subsequent memorandum.
The University congratulates Dr. Sese on his appointment and looks forward to the contributions RICWO will make in strengthening ADDU’s research culture, advancing innovation, and ensuring that the University’s scholarly and creative work serves knowledge, society, and the Mindanao peoples.
