Two faculty members from the Department of Electronics Engineering (ECE), namely, Engr. Seigfred V. Prado, M.Sc. ELEG and Engr. Josyl Mariela B. Rocamora, M.Sc. EE are set to go overseas to pursue their doctoral studies.
Engr. Prado, former UST Engineering International Relations and Programs (EIRP) representative for ECE, will be taking Doctor of Philosophy in Bioengineering with specialization in Neuroengineering/Neurotechnology in Imperial College London – currently ranking 8th in the QS World University Rankings and 6th in the QS World University Rankings by Subject in Engineering and Technology.
Under the supervision of Prof. Simon R. Schultz, Ph.D., director of the Centre for Neurotechnology and head of the Neural Coding Laboratory, Engr. Prado’s research interest lies at the interface between signal processing and neuroengineering, investigating within the topics of brain-computer interfacing, neural prosthetics, and functional electrical stimulation for neurorehabilitation. Together with Prof. Schultz, Engr. Prado will be co-supervised by Prof. Bill Wisden from the Department of Life Sciences, who will provide additional neuroscience input, and Dr. Keith Wafford, Chief Scientist of Eli Lilly & Co Ltd., who will provide input from the pharmaceutical sector, as well as access to resources such as mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease. He will be joining a collaborative team including additional collaborators: Dr. Mary Ann Go, a postdoctoral fellow in the Neural Coding Laboratory who is currently performing two-photon imaging experiments on mouse models of dementia, Dr. Francesco Tamagnini, currently at the University of Exeter, an Alzheimer’s disease specialist, and Dr. David Dupret of the University of Oxford, who will provide insight on neural mechanisms of memory.
Engr. Prado was awarded a studentship from Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Neurotechnology for Life and Health, which is developed to provide students with a tailor-made training programme to bring them into Imperial College as well as to offer them a unique opportunity for training at the interface between neuroscience and engineering.
Focused on research and innovation, his long-term goal is to reinforce the biomedical engineering research in the Philippines specifically for the diagnosis and rehabilitation of patients with neurodegenerative disorders such as stroke, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Furthermore, he plans of establishing a Research Center for Biomedical Engineering in UST to be able to develop devices, techniques, and interventions for human health and to solve problems related to the life sciences and their applications for health in the country.
Meanwhile, Engr. Rocamora, former laboratory supervisor of the ECE department, has been admitted to Doctor of Philosophy in Electronic and Information Engineering in the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (HK PolyU) which is currently on the 6th spot for QS Top 50 under 50 Rankings.
Granted a three-year full-time research studentship from HK PolyU, her research interest is in the field of wireless communications covering different areas such as mobile and wireless networks, vehicular ad hoc networks, cloud computing, network stimulation, and smart grid networks. Her research advisers are Dr. Wang Hei Ivan Ho, her chief supervisor, with specialization in wireless communications, and Dr. Man Wai Mak, her co-supervisor, with specialization in machine learning.
As for her return service, Engr. Rocamora plans to initiate partnerships by bridging Hong Kong universities and her Philippine alma maters through collaborative projects for the benefit of both countries funded by Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST); both agencies support research on smart analytics and engineering innovation.
Prado is expected to return after finishing his doctoral studies by October 2021, while Rocamora is expected by July 2020.
