MANILA, Philippines -- All he wanted was to drive his own car. Little did he know that this simple dream would lead him to greater things in life.Gamaliel Itao was 30 years old when he went off to work overseas. As he was set to embark on a new venture, several thoughts ran through his mind but his goals were crystal clear: He would work hard to survive economic pressures and to purchase a car of his own. Jimmy, as he is fondly called, worked as an instrumentation engineer at Honeywell Saudi Petrochemical Corp in Jubail, Saudi Arabia starting in 1984. Holding a degree in electrical engineering, which he earned from the University of San Carlos in Cebu, Jimmy was already a licensed professional electrical engineer when he went to the Middle East. He stayed there for only two years but the experience he acquired in Honeywell was more than enough to inspire him to put up a business that would not only give him economic independence but would also help local manufacturing firms automate. Itao, with his wife, Girlie, established in 1989 the Industrial Controls Corp., today’s leading provider of products and services to clients in the automotive, mining, electronics, pharmaceutical, petrochemical, food-and-beverage and packaging industries. Need for change The business started as a consulting firm, but it later evolved into a specialist in factory automation, instrumentation and industrial controls-systems that simplify production processes. Industrial Controls was the first in the country to house electric devices designed to control machinery on factory assembly lines called PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) systems. “There was a need for an industrial revolution of sorts as technology proved to go beyond mere upgrading of computers,” said Itao, who now coasts the city with a BMW Series 3. Despite being accustomed to the thick and thin in the field of engineering before flying for Saudi—he was a teacher at the University of the Philippines Institute for Small Scale Industries and was attending courses in automation and instrumentation in Japan to help expand the institute’s courses—Itao’s success was not achieved overnight. After the expiration of his Honeywell contract, he decided not to renew and, instead, go back to the Philippines. Upon his return, he bought a used car and spent P100, 000 for a venture that involved the operation of three tricycles to be driven by hired drivers. But this venture was short-lived. He gave it up when problems with his drivers and the rising maintenance costs started getting into his nerves and his hard-earned savings. He then decided to go back to teaching automation courses. Even in teaching, Itao was able to make use of what he learned in Honeywell by instituting them in industrial automation and instrumentation seminar courses, which he pioneered and beefed up with five different modules. “My two-year stint in Honeywell was just like earning a Masters degree in engineering technology. I learned all there was to know about industrial control technology, including hands-on practices,” Itao recalled. “I was after specialized knowledge because I knew how useful that would be in the local engineering scene.” And the 53-year-old engineer was right. This “specialized knowledge” gave him his break in 1999 and kept him going. After doing a feasibility study for Jacinto Corp., Itao’s Industrial Controls went on and bagged deals with big firms such as Colgate-Palmolive, which it helped in streamlining its production system, and Toyota Motors Philippines. Technopreneur “It would be an honor to be featured as one of the brave Filipinos who toiled in a foreign land just to win a decent life,” Itao told the Inquirer, “but I would be pleased to be highlighted as a technopreneur.” Itao has much reason to be proud in emerging as a technology-based entrepreneur as his corporation reached amazing heights. Boasting a top-of-the-line workforce, Industrial Controls was able to delegate 22 of its staff to do mechatronics maintenance contracting in some of the country’s biggest names in business such as San Miguel, Purefoods Hormel, Air Liquid, and Unilever. The company, which was certified by the Anglo-Japanese Registrars (an independent third party registrar), has also tied up with Omron of Japan and Honeywell USA for the distribution of automation equipment here. The success of Industrial Controls prompted Itao to put up another firm, Mechatronics Technologies Corp. (MTC), which offers industry-based training programs and which complements the first company’s operations. MTC conducts basic instrumentation, programmable logic controllers and human machine interface classes at the UP Institute for Small Scale Industries and the Technology and Extra-terrestrial Science Development Academy. According to Itao, also the General Manager of MTC, the corporation has so far trained more than 10, 000 plant engineers and technicians, most of them now working overseas. For this, Itao was nominated for the outstanding Overseas Filipino Entrepreneurs Award given by the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship as part of the Go Negosyo Para sa mga OFWs at Balikbayans program. Mechatronics mini-Olympics Since the technological wave grows greater by the year, Itao thought it best to entice the youth, especially those in the secondary education, to go into technological training through free seminars and a mechatronics skills competition. Called the Mechatronics Mini-Olympics, Itao, who is also vice president of the Mechatronics and Robotics Society of the Philippines, has been rallying the youth to take part in this yearly event. This year’s competition will be held in May. The event is aimed at honing the skills of the youth in electronics and robotics early, and stirring their interest in this field. “This complex deal on robotics and mechatronics could be fun as well,” Itao said. “The Philippines was 4th place last year in the exciting robotics football Olympics held in Korea. We also made robots who do the strut, since one of the categories of the games was dancing.” Presently, Itao has his hands full in preparing Filipino bets for the 2007 WorldSkills Mechatronics Competition in Japan and the Asean Mechatronics to be held in Malaysia next year. | 
