MANILA: It was in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic when Paolo Victor Redondo arrived in Saudi Arabia to begin his doctoral studies in biostatistics. Initially unsure whether the program would move forward in the wake of widespread shutdowns, he soon realized that the opportunity was bigger than he had ever expected.

In May next year he is going to graduate from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Thuwal, one of the top research institutions in the Middle East.

Redondo’s project explores how different parts of the brain interact in healthy people and those diagnosed with disorders such as dementia.

“We want to understand how our brains differ in terms of wiring on how these regions communicate and somehow guide us to understand what is missing, what is not functioning well for those groups,” he told Arab News.

“I was really surprised here at KAUST, because the support that they give to students is overwhelming.”

The support is not only in terms of infrastructure and equipment, but also in international exposure and networking.

“There’s an abundance of resources, for example, they allow you to join conferences internationally, they provide you with computers that you need for your research. And this really helps boost the productivity of students,” Redondo said.

“Now that we have these opportunities, it’s our obligation to really push as hard as we can to return the confidence that they give us for giving us this support.”

He was honored last month, along with two peers, by the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah, which hosted a special symposium presenting the achievements of outstanding Filipino scholars in Saudi Arabia to inspire Filipino youth to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

“I think this is a milestone. We can say that the community of Filipino scientists — they are scientists, Filipino scholars, scholars of the Saudi government — is now part of Saudi Arabia’s growing science and research industry,” said Philippine Consul General Rommel Romato.

“They made a lot of contributions there, so we can see that they’re really valued... I think this is also a reminder that Filipinos can excel in many fields.”

Besides Redondo, two more Filipino scholars from KAUST presented their work.

Neil Joshua Limbaga, a PhD student in electrical and computer engineering, develops wearable systems that can measure health data with medical-grade accuracy.

“My whole research is bringing the accuracy of bulky, medically graded lab equipment to wearable systems, so that it becomes ubiquitous, with sensing capacity more integrated into our everyday lives,” he said.

“Usually, this is only in hospitals. My research wants to bring this to the field, to everyday life.”

Last year, he and the KAUST team spent six months in the UK validating his research results with Formula One.

“We were trying to build the sensor components that we designed here at KAUST for the Formula One racing team in the UK. There, we did a lot of AI modeling, a lot of sensor fabrication, so that we can bring those accuracies, those medically graded values that are only in hospitals,” Limbaga said.

“KAUST — they call it the researcher’s heaven — because all the resources are available. The technology tools that we didn’t have in the Philippines — it’s readily available here. My ideas, the things that I want to do from an engineering standpoint, are easy to do here... KAUST gives us the tools to build these things.”

Mara Sherlin Talento also found her work enabled by access to technology, such as high-performance computers.

“Back in the Philippines, supercomputers I can just access that when I ask for access,” she said. “But here, because KAUST has a supercomputer, I can just send jobs no matter how many. In terms of the facility, it helped me to fast-track my research.”

Her doctoral research analyzes brain activity using EEG and MRI against various other datasets to understand people’s mental states and develop ways to support mental health.

“My research focuses on developing innovative tools to measure dependence in complex, heavy-tailed signals,” she said. “In one of my projects, I used machine learning and extreme value theory to analyze neonatal brain signals, successfully distinguishing infants who experience seizures from those who did not.”

The university’s environment also fosters collaboration, not only on campus, but around the world. For Talento, it has also been something that helped her grow.

“I was able to expand the scope of my research ... I was able to collaborate with different types of people and different researchers in different fields. I was able to get this kind of connection, I was able to grow compared to when I was in the Philippines,” she said.

“KAUST is such an international place. I’ve met all kinds of people, and just from that, I’ve already grown so much.”