DISCS Spotlight (2026)

21/05/2024

Dr. Patricia Abu, or more commonly referred to as Doc Pai, is the current Chair of the Department of Information Systems and Computer Science (DISCS). She has previously fulfilled roles of being the CS Program Coordinator and SOSE Student Mobility Coordinator, as well as being in charge of the Ateneo Laboratory for Intelligent Visual Environments (ALIVE). Her previous roles, where she learned and understood the guidelines in the SOSE level to help students and give them more opportunities to learn, gave her a foundation to work now as the department chair. Currently in her first year as the Department Chair, she aims to ensure maintaining the excellence of the department, delivering courses, and catering to the needs of the students.

Doc Pai's journey to DISCS started when she got her PHd in Computer Science after finishing her BS ECE undergraduate degree and her Microelectronics ICT Design masters in Taiwan. She received a scholarship in Ateneo and after finishing her doctorate, became a computer architecture teaching assistant. In the coming years, she became involved in more roles and eventually became the department’s Chairman. One of the notable reasons that made her decide to pursue a career in DISCS was its mentorship as there are many people willing to learn and help others grow. This also applies to how she describes DISCS students: ‘people open-minded on how their lessons can help modern problems and critical thinkers on how they manage thinking efficiently and effectively’.

Outside of her academic role in DISCS, her usual hobbies involve outdoor activities like hiking along Mt. Mayon, Taal, and recently Pinatubo. Her goal involves finding a long-term personal project to work on that could include topics like transport efficiency and optimization. Her favorite programming languages are C and C++ due to her ECE background. Just like many students, she distinctly remembers late night programming classes in cold rooms about sorting and the big O notation, and favors the aesthetics aspect of programming as it helps her see it better.

Now, as chair, Doc Pai aims to expand DISCS’s courses with the teaching of more varied areas and interdisciplinary subjects and faculty with the increasing numbers of DISCS students each year.

“DISCS have mentors. Mentors who really guide you on how to do it with guided questioning on what you want to do, and what path you want to take. I think it is good that they (mentors) are doing what they are saying.”

Promo by: Hanzo Castillo
Photo taken and processed by: Ice Flores
Spiel by: Madeleine Young

22/07/2022

Dr. Andrei Coronel is currently an Associate Professor and the Department Chair of DISCS. He is also the Founder and Director of the Ateneo Computational Sound and Music Lab. Most students call him “Doc Drei", whose first and favorite programming language is Java. He says he would rather teach complex Computer Science courses than easy ones because it is harder for him to add value to the lessons if the students already know what he’s teaching. A pet peeve of his, and some of the older CS students might relate to this, is when some guy on the coding team decides to unnecessarily write unreadable, obfuscated, and complex code.

Doc Drei is a BIG music enthusiast and that includes everything that has to do with music. From listening to music to producing and composing music, he says this is what occupies much of his free time. Before the pandemic, he would also be frequently invited to play alongside other teachers and students in a band. He regards these moments as one of his most memorable DISCS experiences.

Doc Drei’s journey to DISCS started in the Ateneo de Manila High School, where his Atenean heart flourished. Despite this great love, he decided it would be better to pursue BS Biology in UST due to many factors. Since he couldn’t quell the Atenean heart, he returned to Ateneo for a Master’s degree in Computer Science. At this time, DISCS had an open teaching position which he accepted and has never left. He says it was his passion to teach— to impart knowledge to others— that got him to stay in DISCS. Now, as Chairman, he envisions the future of the Department, even in the years beyond his chairmanship, as something similar to its current form, but better. Since his chairmanship is ending in 2023, he is somewhat looking forward to it as this means he’ll be able to teach more classes.

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“For whatever ails you or whatever challenges you just might face later on in life, just remember: This, too, shall pass.”

Promo by: Angelo Joaquin Ballesteros Alvarez
Spiel by: Sky Padayhag

21/07/2022

Ma'am Jen, more formally known as Jenilyn Casano, is working as an assistant Professor at DISCS. She is a member of the Ateneo Laboratory for the Learning Sciences under Dr. Didith Rodrigo. She is currently working with a graduate student doing analysis work on a Minecraft study. Ma'am Jen obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Ateneo de Naga, and earned her Master's and PhD degrees in Computer Science from Ateneo de Manila. Like a lot of students in DISCS, Ma’am Jen identifies as an introvert.

In her free time, she reads books, does hand-lettering or brush-lettering, does online shopping, and plays DOTA. When it comes to programming languages, she likes C++, but she dislikes python. In June 2021, she got married to Neithan Casano, who is also a DISCS faculty member. Ma’am Jen and Sir Neithan have been together since they were in Ateneo de Naga.

When Ma’am Jen graduated from college with a degree in Computer Science, she had a crisis because she did not know what to do with her life yet. She says she is more the kind that looks at what opportunities come her way, sees what sits well, and tries it. So when she was invited to teach, she took the opportunity and stuck with it. Before she officially became a part of DISCS in 2019, she was originally teaching at Ateneo de Naga University. When she felt that her situation had changed, she decided that it was time to try other things. The timing was just right as well because Dr. Rodrigo had just invited her to teach at Ateneo de Manila University. According to Ma’am Jen, moving to ADMU was ultimately, "a decision about exploring something outside of the comfort zone."

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“The things you do for your classes have to be good. They have to teach you something so that you can be good people— good at your work, good at what you do. But they aren’t easy and they don’t have to be easy.”

Promo by: Angelo Joaquin Ballesteros Alvarez
Spiel by: Sky Padayhag

02/07/2021

Ma’am Elisa S. Agbay, commonly called Ate Lisa by the community, is one of the longest-serving personnel under the department, having served under DISCS for 24 years now, since being transferred from her previous position as OMIS secretary in 1997. She is currently the DISCS Department Secretary, and holds the position of Admin Assistant 2.

She started her career outside of ADMU, working in ORSP as an assistant under Dr. Annie Vistro-Capistrano in 1996. She was recommended to Dr. Darwin Yu, as an assistant for preparing the online migration of AISIS. Afterwards, she became the secretary of the MIS Director. Due to her willingness to help students, she agreed to transfer to DISCS in 1997 where she worked with Ms. Nanette Bautista, the then Department Secretary. Once Ms. Bautista transferred to what is now the ITRMO, Ate Lisa was offered her position. She was reluctant at first, doubting her ability to be able to hold the responsibilities of a Department Secretary. In the end, she accepted the role after some encouragement from Ma’am Bautista herself. To her, DISCS is a place where she is able to do very fulfilling work alongside cheerful coworkers in a healthy and welcoming work environment. To relax, she likes to spend time with her 2-month-old puppy, Hany, whom she had just recently adopted. She also loves playing table tennis and volleyball, and often plays these sports with other DISCS faculty members during outings.

Ate Lisa sees being in Ateneo as less of a choice and more of something that was God-given. Here, she finds fulfilling work and great coworkers, and loves helping students in any way she can. She takes great pride in her students, and makes sure to always announce any departmental awardees, and looks forward to greeting them during graduation send-offs, which she, unfortunately, has not done in the past year, due to the online setting.

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“Life is short. Kase diba this pandemic di natin alam na mangyayari ito. Hindi natin hawak ang buhay natin talaga. Si God ang nakakaalam kung kailan ka niya kukunin.”

05/02/2021

Romell Ian B. De La Cruz, or Sir Ian, is one of the more recent members of the DISCS faculty to join DISCS, teaching almost immediately after graduating from ADMU in 2017 with a degree in Computer Science. He is currently a full-time instructor, teaching introductory classes and a website development elective, which he requested to be opened due to it not appearing in the curriculum during his time in Ateneo.

When he was studying in Ateneo, Sir Ian became a senior developer in CompSAt and was one of the first people who started the web development side of The Guidon. Throughout his stay, he was active in these two organizations, focusing on improving his skills in development. By the second semester of his last year, he had begun working as a research assistant under the Philippine California Advanced Research Institute, which he continued doing even after his graduation. Only one semester after graduating, he became a part-time instructor in DISCS, teaching a 2nd year website development elective at first, and eventually adding more units and teaching full-time while having a part-time job in a design studio. To him, DISCS is a support system and a field of opportunities. There are a couple research laboratories under DISCS, and it encourages people to try their hand at things, and it’s made even easier by how supportive and welcoming DISCS is as a community. When he’s not coding or preparing for work, Sir Ian often spends his free time playing board games like Flamme Rouge and Pandemic: The Board Game. Sir Ian is also fond of biking and cooking, and would often be found biking around the campus, and will take any opportunity to cook for others.

Choosing to study and eventually teach in Ateneo was an easy choice for Sir Ian due to his fondness for the campus, the sense of community that Ateneo brings, and of course, cura personalis. He believes that the fact that teachers are expected to care about their students really makes a difference. Another part of Ateneo that Sir Ian really likes is its Theology and Philosophy classes. To him, these core subjects in the Ateneo curriculum are really important for their lessons that can be applied both inside and outside the campus. He believes that this is something that makes Ateneo stand out, and helps in the development of a person during a time when one often finds themselves confused on their next steps or career choices in life.

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“Sulitin niyo yung lessons ng Philo and Theo. Not DISCS diba? Notice that I didn’t say DISCS. It’s because a lot of Alumni really just hated this whole Philo Theo thing. But there are a number of alumni who would say that Philo and Theo make themselves apparent once you are outside, once you are no longer a student. Just because it makes you look at stuff differently. Any lesson you’ve learned kay philo, kay Theo, you’d be surprised at how much it will affect you, and I think that’s one thing that Ateneo does different talaga, that whole well-rounded thing.”

DISCS Spotlight

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02/07/2021

05/02/2021

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