UST student’s research bags top BPI-DOST Project of the Year Award

University of Santo Tomas (UST) Electronics Engineering student Jay Patrick M. Nieles received top honors for his research on helping Locked-in Syndrome patients communicate through a brain-computer typing interface. Nieles was recognized during the 30th Science Awards of the Bank of the Philippine Islands Foundation Inc. and the Department of Science and Technology (BPI-DOST) held at the Alphaland City Club in Makati City.

Feted with the sole Project of the Year Award, and one of the two Best in Innovation Awards, Nieles received trophies and cash prizes of P25,000 and P20,000, respectively.

With the theme, “Moving the Nation towards Sustainable Development through Science and Innovation,” the BPI-DOST Science Awards recognized 30 students for generating scientific research projects and innovations in applied science, health and allied science, physical science, and other related fields. Nieles’ study aimed to enable communication with Locked-in Syndrome patients to increase their quality of life. Locked-in Syndrome, a form of severe paralysis, results in total loss of motor ability including speech, and is usually obtained due to traumatic brain injury, neural damage, or most commonly, stroke.

As Nieles’ project brief video explains, stroke is the second leading cause of death in the Philippines, with 15 million adults affected worldwide, and 5 million permanently disabled.