10/10/2026
𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴!
The UPLB Department of Industrial Engineering proudly congratulates Asst. Prof. Gabriel John De Leon on receiving the 2026 CEAT Distinguished Young Alumni Award in Industrial Engineering during the 2026 CEAT Alumni Homecoming held on 10 October 2026.
A graduate of the BS Industrial Engineering Class of 2016, he currently serves as Chairperson of the UPLB Department of Industrial Engineering, one of the youngest faculty members to assume a department chairpersonship in the University. His trajectory reflects sustained excellence from his undergraduate years, when he graduated Top 3 of his class and received the UPLB Outstanding Student Leadership Award as the lone recipient among 1,887 graduates, receiving both the University President’s Medal and Oblation Trophy for outstanding academic performance, leadership, and community engagement.
Asst. Prof. De Leon has built a record that extends well beyond individual achievement. From applying Industrial Engineering in industry, advancing Operations Research research, and developing students, to shaping CEAT’s long-term strategy, strengthening academic quality systems, contributing to University-wide digital transformation, and building platforms for collaboration, he has consistently applied the discipline not only to understand systems, but to improve them. His achievements are distinguished not merely by their number, but by their breadth, institutional reach, and potential to create lasting value for students, the University, industry, and the communities it serves. That, within only a decade of graduating from the BSIE program, he has been entrusted to lead the very Department that shaped his Industrial Engineering foundation speaks to the confidence placed in his leadership and his continuing commitment to the profession.
His record reflects the qualities expected of a Distinguished Young Alumnus in Industrial Engineering -- excellence, leadership, scholarship, service, and an enduring commitment to using Industrial Engineering to create meaningful impact.