Technical Communication Skills
IE200
A Study into Neural Engineering’s Future in Saudi Arabia
and why Saudi Engineers should Choose it as their Career
Name: Abdulaziz Ahmed AL-Nahas
ID: 0
Section: 4
Instructor: Prof. Salameh Bsharat
E-mail : 0
Semester: Second Semester 2021/2022
Date: 5 May 2022
1
❖ Table of contents:
S.No
Subject
P. No
1
Abstract
3
2
Introduction
3
3
Methodology
4
4
Results
5
5
Discussion
9
6
Conclusion
12
7
References
12
8
Appendices
13
2
❖ Abstract
The objective of this study is to determine what the future holds for Saudi Arabia in the
field of neural engineering. In this study, all of the engineering students at the
University of King Abdul Aziz in Saudi Arabia were included, with a sample of 50 to
100 randomly selected students from the faculty. A survey was conducted with the
students in order to gather data. The questionnaire contained 18 questions and was
distributed to the students. From the major findings, according to participants, neural
engineering has a bright future in Saudi Arabia. Additionally, the participants agreed
that neural engineering is an excellent entry point into the medical field. It was
discovered that the students lack knowledge about the topic, and more research is
needed. Also, it is recommended to conduct workshop sessions on neural engineering,
because it encourages Saudi engineering students to learn the latest information on this
specialty.
I.
Introduction
The human nervous system is starting to bring up some questions about how to treat it
and translate its messages into signals that a computer can understand. Can humans
regain the sense of touch if lost? Can paralysis be cured? Is it possible for a blind person
to see again? Could amputees have prosthetic limbs which they control like their normal
hand? These questions have caught the curiosity of a sector of engineering called Neural
Engineering, which is responsible for studying, understanding, and developing new
mechanics and technological advances to aid those with neural disorders and
disabilities. But, on the contrary, Saudi engineering students are reluctant to choose
such a career in Neural engineering. This research investigates the future of Neural
engineering in Saudi Arabia and why Saudi engineers should choose it as the future
step after finishing their bachelor’s degree.
During the 14 years that the Riyadh Medical Rehabilitation Centre served amputees, a
retrospective study was conducted. 86.9% of all upper limb amputations were caused
by trauma; however, 35.9% of lower extremity injuries were caused by disease rather
than trauma. Amongst unilateral amputations, the most common sites were transtibial
(45.2%) and transfemoral (21.6%) (H. S. Al-Turaiki, L. A.-F. 1993). Evon S Ereifej et
al (2019), Stated that people with paralysis can now regain mobility; victims of
movement disorders can have their symptoms reduced; individuals with hearing loss
can regain their sense of hearing; people with sensory issues can regain their sense of
touch all thanks to neural engineering. Furthermore, developing technology that can be
used in clinical applications is one of the main goals of neural engineering and provides
a unique window into how biological systems function. Vassanelli, S., & Mahmud, M.
(2016) Emphasized that biological systems and artificial biomimetic systems will
communicate in an energy-efficient, near-physiological manner in the next few
decades.
3
Emerging fields such as Neural engineering are exploring how to interface braininspired devices with the natural brain. Nevertheless, these advances will inevitably
raise fundamental moral issues about the intermingling of man and machine, and more
specifically, whether an "intelligent" artificial system can severely affect the way the
brain processes information. Y. Haggag, M. A.-T. (1988) Pointed out that as medical
devices become more complex, qualified workers are needed to select, operate, repair,
and maintain them. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has developed education programs
in biomedical engineering to train local human resources to take on these jobs to replace
foreign labor.
By the end of this research, it is expected to discover what the future holds for Neural
engineering in Saudi Arabia. And, whether or not there's a career for it in this country.
Moreover, explain the reasons why Saudi engineers should choose it. Last but not least,
how Saudi engineers can be convinced about the essentiality of this field and spread
awareness about it in Saudi Arabia.
These are the research questions:
1. What is Neural Engineering’s future in Saudi Arabia?
2. Why should Saudi engineers choose Neural engineering as their next step after
their bachelor’s degree?
3. How can we encourage Saudi engineers to choose Neural engineering ?
II.
Methodology
2.1 Population and sample of the study
For this research paper, the study population is all the students in the engineering faculty
at the University of King Abdul Aziz in Saudi Arabia no matter their age. The sample
is 50 to 100 engineering students randomly selected from the faculty. Moreover, the
reason for choosing this sample because this research topic is projected toward
engineering students who might be interested in continuing their education after
graduating with their bachelor’s degree.
2.2 The research Design
Collecting data will be done through conducting a survey on the randomly selected
students using Google forms. The students will be answering a questionnaire that
consists of 18 questions. Moreover, this questionnaire is divided into 4 categories. The
1st category is about general information about the students and the 2nd category it's
about the first RQ, which is the future of neural engineering in Saudi Arabia. In
addition, the 3rd, and the 4th categories, respectively, are reasons for choosing neural
engineering and how to encourage Saudi engineers to choose neural engineering.
2.3 Data analysis
The data will be collected from the questionnaire then to be sorted in tables and pie
charts. These tables and pie charts are labeled end explained in the results section.
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III.
Results
Based on the results of the questionnaire, 81 participants answered all the items and this
chapter presents the results of the study. Based on the percentage of responses to each
item included in the Likert scale question, each question is represented as a bar chart.
Other types of questions are represented as pie charts. Below, are the explanations and
labels for each bar chart and pie chart. The first category shows how neural engineering
will be used in Saudi Arabia in the future. This is followed by the reasons why Saudi
engineers should choose neural engineering. The last category discusses how Saudi
engineers should be encouraged to pursue neural engineering. A table includes the
common answers to the final part of the questionnaire, which was an open-ended
question. It is labeled and explained in terms of eye-catching results.
Category one: RQ1 what is Neural engineering’s future in Saudi Arabia?
Neutral
Figure 1
As shown in Figure 1, this cluster of bar charts represents the three Likert scale items
from RQ1. With almost the third of answers for each item the neutral bar is the
dominant bar. But this doesn't apply to the third item where the agree and neutral bars
are almost equal. Furthermore, it is realized that there was a linear increase in the agree
bar from first item to the last. On the contrary the strongly disagree bar decreased from
16% to 6%. For that strongly agree bars they seem at first glance equal to each other
with 1.2 percentage difference. The disagree bar went down to 9% and then rose back
again to 13.5%.
5
Figure 2
Figure 2 shows the answers for the question “which of the following do you consider
possible through neural engineering?” using a pie chart. This question was a checkbox
question, meaning that the participants were able to choose multiple answers at once.
With the highest number of 53 times, remobilization of the paralyzed was the most
common choice among participants. Following that is restoring the sense of touch with
51 times chosen then 47 times for aiding the amputees. Surprisingly, curing autism was
the least choice among all with 23 votes only.
Figure 3
6
The figure above showcases the question “do you believe neural engineering has a
promising future in Saudi Arabia?” in a pie chart. This question was from the
Yes/No/Maybe type. The majority of responses with over half, was people saying yes.
42% of the respondents were reluctant and chose maybe. With the lowest percentile,
people who chose no were only 4%.
Category two: RQ2 Why should Saudi engineers choose Neural
engineering as their next step after their bachelor’s degree?
Neutral
Figure 4
As shown in Figure 4, this cluster of bar charts represents the four Likert scale items
from RQ2. Once again it can be noticed the phenomena of the neutral bar being the
highest, With the skyrocketing percentile of almost 50% in item 2 and over the third of
votes in item 1. Item 4 represents a left skewed distribution of answers with strongly
agree at 38%. Similarly, item 3 has almost the same as item 4 but with the agree bar
being the highest. The disagree and strongly disagree bars were surprisingly equal in
two cases, the first case being the disagree bar matching the same percentile in item one
and two, also the strongly disagree bar in item two and three.
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Category three: RQ3 How can we encourage Saudi engineers to choose
Neural engineering?
Neutral
Figure 5
These two items shown in figure 5, are the Likert scale statements of RQ3. From item
1 we can see that the agree and strongly agree bars are equal, also the don't know bars
in both items are almost equal, and finally the disagree bar in item 1 and the strongly
disagree bar in item 2 have equal percentiles. Item two represents a naturally distributed
bar chart that is skewed to the left.
Figure 6
8
Figure 6 shows participants’ choices among four items that could encourage Saudi
engineers to choose neural engineering. Those items are high salary, sustainable jobs,
good life to work balance, and good work environment. Also, this was a check box
question so they chose multiple answers. The most frequently chosen answer was
having high salary. Sustainable jobs and good work environment are in second place
with almost quarter each of the answers. The least chosen answer was good life to work
balance with only 35 times chosen.
Open-ended question:
COMMON ANSWERS AND
NUMBER OF OCCURRENCES
QUESTION
Don’t know – 30 times
FROM YOUR POINT OF VIEW,
Elon Musk’s company Neuralink – 4
WRITE WHAT YOU CURRENTLY
times
KNOW
ABOUT
THE
APPLICATIONS
OF
NEURAL Prosthetic limbs – 5 times
ENGINEERING
help with neural problems – 10 times
Table 1
It is showcased in table one, the common answers to the open-ended question after
sorting and analyzing the participants answers. The goal of the open-ended question
was to see the peoples’ opinion and test their knowledge about neural engineering’s
applications.
IV.
Discussion
This research investigates the future of Neural engineering in Saudi Arabia for the
country and its engineers. The study was built on acquiring data from a questionnaire.
Related to the first research question, there were five items in the questionnaire about
applications for neural engineering in Saudi Arabia. Also, four items from the second
research question related to reasons for choosing neural engineering as a Saudi
engineer. Lastly, three items were derived from the third research question that
discussed things that could encourage Saudi engineers to choose neural engineering.
More than 50% of the participants believed that neural engineering has a promising
future in Saudi Arabia from the significant findings. Furthermore, more than a third of
the participants agreed that neural engineering is an excellent opportunity to enter the
medical sector. In addition, thirty-three participants agreed that conducting workshop
sessions about neural engineering encourages Saudi engineering students to learn latest
information about this specialization.
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4.1 RQ1: What is neural engineering's future in Saudi Arabia?
This question was to figure out if neural engineering has a place in Saudi Arabia or not.
From the participants, it was understood that they lack knowledge about this
specialization. By looking at the open-ended question, thirty participants wrote that
they do not know any information about neural engineering applications either in Saudi
Arabia or outside Saudi Arabia. This phenomenon also occurred in other items causing
the neutral bars to be the highest multiple times. Nonetheless, the items were written to
create a buildup of questions that lead to neural engineering in Saudi Arabia. Firstly,
neural engineering is a master's degree, which means you can only study it if you have
a bachelor's degree in any specialization related to neural systems or biomedical
engineering. Participants were asked if acquiring a master's degree in engineering in
Saudi Arabia is necessary for promising career opportunities from the first item. Some
agreed, and some disagreed, but the majority were neutral about this idea. One of the
reasons for this happening is that some engineering students do not think much about
the future. People say, 'Let me finish my bachelor's degree, then I will think about
anything after that.' This is considered to be the wrong approach. Building a career plan
from the moment of choosing a path in university is one of the most important steps at
the start of any academic journey. With a return to biomedical engineering, the second
item of the first question has arisen. Biomedical engineering is a well-known specialty
in Saudi Arabia, and neural engineering is a branch of biomedical engineering.
Unfortunately, most of the participants were still neutral about the future of biomedical
engineering in Saudi Arabia. This is because of being hesitant to believe that there is a
bright future for biomedical engineering in Saudi Arabia.
In the third item, we discussed the idea of workplaces for neural engineers, having
clinics in Saudi Arabia that provide consultations. On the contrary, neural engineers
work in labs, spending most of their time studying neural cells. The majority of the
respondents agreed with this idea, thinking that it might become true one day. Item
number four asked the participants which of the following they think is possible with
neural engineering. Surprisingly, the vast majority chose the re-mobilization of the
paralyzed. This question aimed to see whether, neural engineering was ever
implemented in Saudi Arabia's medical sector and what can it do for the people.
Nevertheless, a few of them believed that it could help cure autism. However, neural
engineering is used to understand brain functions and study certain behaviors, meaning
it is possible to understand the behavior of the brain of an autistic individual, analyze it
and develop specific ways to treat it. The last item asked the participants if they believed
neural engineering could ever have a promising future in Saudi Arabia. Thankfully,
many believe that this career will be needed in Saudi Arabia. Perhaps after vision 2030,
it might become an anchor specialization in this country.
4.2 RQ2: Why should Saudi engineers choose Neural engineering as their next step
after their bachelor's degree?
There must be a reason behind it to choose anything, but those reasons differ from one
individual to another. This question aimed to determine what Saudi engineers believe
is the most persuasive reason for pursuing neural engineering. Following someone and
being inspired by what they do is very common for any human being.
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The same thing goes for picking an engineering major. For example, many students of
the engineering faculty in their preparatory year pick their specialization based on the
most common chosen field among students, which led to the first item derived from
RQ2. Unfortunately, again most of them were neutral about this statement. However,
perhaps being neutral means, they are still hesitant about which specialization to
choose. One big bogeyman for some engineering students is course difficulty, and they
fear that as they progress in their curriculum, it will keep getting more challenging and
complicated. If spoken about neural engineering mainly studies the neural system of
the human body and diverse ways to develop technologies that could work with our
neural system. Some would assume that the neural system of the human body is one of
the most complicated things to study and understand, yet again they were neutral about
the second item statement. This only means and showcases the severe lack of
knowledge about this specialization among Saudi engineers. Even the most stubborn
people can be changed by one word - "Money". A Saudi engineer starting salary in any
institution in Saudi Arabia starts from seven thousand riyals per month. Some would
see this number as not satisfying their needs. Hence, having a high income is a solid
reason to choose neural engineering, and the participants mostly agreed on this. An
engineer can mostly work anywhere in any sector, but not all engineers can work in the
medical sector. Biomedical engineers and neural engineers specialize in working on
medical devices and technologies. The vast majority of the participants in the
questionnaire agreed that neural engineering is an excellent opportunity for Saudi
engineers to work in the medical sector.
4.3 RQ3: How can we encourage Saudi engineers to choose Neural engineering?
To get many Saudi engineers to choose neural engineering, finding what encourages
them the most is necessary. Unfortunately, neural engineering is not present in any
Saudi governmental university. However, more than half the participants agreed that
adding neural engineering to Saudi universities encourages Saudi students to think
about and choose neural engineering. In addition, conducting workshop sessions about
neural engineering raises awareness about the field and encourages students to choose
it. This is proven by the participants' agreement on the second item. From the final item,
we can learn what encourages Saudi engineers to choose neural engineering. Most of
them chose a high salary which was discussed before. Another important way to
encourage them is by providing sustainable jobs for neural engineering in Saudi Arabia.
Good work-to-life balance and an excellent work environment came last because
sometimes those are not determined by the engineering sector but by the company and
employer.
Other researchers agreed with some points in this research. For instance, Evon S Ereifej
et al. (2019) stated that it is necessary to facilitate and encourage training trainees to
foster the development of the next generation of neural engineers. However, because
neural engineering is a new emerging field, there is a considerable lack of research
papers related to the education of neural engineering, which led to not being able to
find other researchers that agree or disagree with this research paper's findings.
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The reoccurring of the neutral votes being the highest on multiple occasions may be
related to the lack of interest in neural engineering. In Saudi culture, neural engineering
is a relatively new concept and has yet to be researched. Despite this, few people are
fascinated by complicated biology or how technology integrates with the human body,
so they do not care much about it.
V.
Conclusion
The rationale behind this study was to discover if neural engineering has a place in
Saudi Arabia now or in the future. It becomes apparent from the research that has been
conducted that there is a lack of awareness about neural engineering in Saudi Arabia.
Conducting this research and the results that were gathered from it are important to
understand what people know about neural engineering and the need to spread more
awareness about this specialization in Saudi Arabia.
Despite this, there were several limitations in the study. Since the data was mainly
collected from college students, the behavior of other age groups remains unknown,
which needs to be explored further. In addition, time limitations were another problem
which led to not being able to acquire enough data from the survey.
From the research results it is recommended to spread more awareness about the topic,
because people lack knowledge about it. Also, adding neural engineering to Saudi
universities would be a great starting point for this field to flourish in this country. If
the study was done again, the entire university would be the population, which would
allow for a more varied set of data. Finally, it is recommended to conduct more research
about this topic from an academic point of view regarding the education and future of
this field not only in Saudi Arabia but also globally. There will come a day when neural
engineering will be the beginning of revolutionary technologies never imagined before.
❖ Acknowledgement:
This research would not have been possible without the assistance of Professor Salama
Mahmoud and Professor Abdulaziz Tifouti. The respondents who answered the
questionnaire for this study are also appreciated.
❖ References
Evon S Ereifej, C. E. (2019). Neural engineering: the process, applications, and its role
in the future of medicine. Journal of neural engineering, 16(6), 1-12.
H. S. Al-Turaiki, L. A.-F. (1993). Amputee population in the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia. Prosthetics and Orthotics International, 17(3), 147-156.
Vassanelli, S., & Mahmud, M. (2016). Trends and Challenges in Neuroengineering:
Toward “Intelligent” Neuroprostheses through Brain-“Brain Inspired
Systems” Communication. Frontiers in neuroscience, 10(438), 1-17.
12
Y. Haggag, M. A.-T. (1988). Biomedical engineering education in Saudi Arabia
Kingdom. Proceedings of the Annual International Conference of the IEEE
Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, 4(10), 1911.
❖ Appendices
Appendix A. A questionnaire about neural engineering in Saudi
Arabia
Scale from 1-5, where 1 is
No
Likert scale questions
strongly agree and 5 is strongly
disagree and 3 is neutral
RQ1
related to Neural engineering’s future in Saudi Arabia.
1
2
3
4
5
1
2
3
4
5
Acquiring a master’s degree in engineering is a must
now in Saudi Arabia
1
‫الحصول على درجة الماجستير في الهندسة أمر ال بد منه اآلن في المملكة‬
‫العربية السعودية‬
Biomedical engineering has a good future in Saudi
2
Arabia
‫الهندسة الطبية الحيوية لها مستقبل جيد في المملكة العربية السعودية‬
3
Neural engineers will have consultant clinics in Saudi
Arabia in the future
‫سيكون للمهندسين العصبيين عيادات استشارية في المملكة العربية‬
‫السعودية في المستقبل‬
RQ2
related to reasons for Saudi engineers to choose neural
engineering
If you meet a lot of neural engineers this will make you
consider choosing this career
1
‫إذا كنت تقابل الكثير من المهندسين العصبيين فهذا سيجعلك تفكر في‬
‫اختيار هذه المهنة‬
13
Engineering students are hesitant to choose neural
engineering because of its difficulty
‫يتردد طالب الهندسة في اختيار الهندسة العصبية بسبب صعوبة‬
‫التخصص‬
2
Having a high annual income is an important reason to
3
choose neural engineering
‫يعد الحصول على دخل سنوي مرتفع سببًا مه ًما الختيار الهندسة العصبية‬
Neural engineering is a good opportunity for engineers
4
to get into the medical sector
‫الهندسة العصبية هي فرصة جيدة للمهندسين لدخول القطاع الطبي‬
RQ3
related to encouraging Saudi engineers to choose
neural engineering
Adding neural engineering to Saudi universities helps
motivate engineers to choose it
1
‫تساعد إضافة الهندسة العصبية إلى الجامعات السعودية في تحفيز‬
‫المهندسين على اختيارها‬
Conducting
colleges
2
workshop
helps
raise
sessions
awareness
in
engineering
about
neural
engineering
‫عقد ورش عمل في كليات الهندسة يساعد على نشر الوعي حول الهندسة‬
‫العصبية‬
14
1
2
3
4
5
NO.
Multiple choice
C1
questions
C2
C3
C4
Re-mobilization
Aiding
of the paralyzed
amputees
‫إعادة الحركة‬
‫مساعدة مبتوري‬
‫للمشلولين‬
‫األطراف‬
Which of the
following do you
consider possible
1
through neural
engineering?
Restoring the
Curing
sense of touch
autism
‫استعادة حاسة‬
‫عالج التوحد‬
‫اللمس‬
‫أي مما يلي تعتبره ممكنًا من‬
‫خالل الهندسة العصبية؟‬
From the following
choose what
encourages you the
most to choose neural
2
engineering
Sustainable
High salary
jobs
‫دخل عالي‬
‫توافر للوظائف‬
‫ اختر‬،‫من بين الخيارات التالية‬
Good life to
work balance
‫توازن بين الحياة‬
‫الشخصية والعملية‬
Good work
environment
‫بيئة عمل مناسبة‬
‫ما يشجعك أكثر على اختيار‬
‫الهندسة العصبية‬
NO.
Yes/No questions
Yes
Do you believe neural engineering has a
promising future in Saudi Arabia?
1
‫هل تعتقد أن الهندسة العصبية لها مستقبل في المملكة‬
‫العربية السعودية؟‬
If you had the qualifications for neural
engineering, would you choose it as a
2
career for you?
‫ فهال‬،‫إذا كاانات لادياك م هالت الهنادساااااة العصاااابياة‬
‫ستختارها كمهنة لك؟‬
15
Maybe
No
Table (1): the open-ended question.
Common answers and number of
occurrences
Question
From your point of view, write what you Don’t know – 30 times
currently know about the applications of
Elon Musk’s company Neuralink – 4
neural engineering
times
Prosthetic limbs – 5 times
help with neural problems – 10 times
Appendix B. Graphs
16
17
18
19
20
21
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