More PhD success at UDOTS

Dr Bijad Alqahtani has completed his PhD research at UDOTS. His research topic, entitled “The biomechanical assessment of Tai Chi Chuan movement and implication in rehabilitation exercise” was supervised by Dr Weijie Wang and Dr Graham Arnold (both of UDOTS).

Bijad, who comes from Saudi Aribia, began his PhD in 2016 after he gained an MSc in Rehabilitation Sciences at Concordia University Wisconsin, USA in 2014. His UDOTS research investigated the relationship between a traditional Chinese martial art and fitness in healthy participants and found many important results in terms of biomechanical parameters. His PhD research provides an important reference for coaches, clinicians and physiotherapists.

Bijad has been active during his time in Dundee, presenting his research at the 22nd International Conference on Biomechanics of Human Movement and Sport (ICBHMS), held at Novotel London Wembley on January 20-21st, where he won the best presentation award. He also presented a research poster at the School of Medicine’s 28th Annual Postgraduate Research Student Symposium on June 8th June 2018, at Ninewells Hospital.

Everyone at UDOTS would like to congratulate Bijad and wish him every success in his future career.

Bijad stated:

“My project studied and compared the differences between Tai Chi Chuan (TTC) experienced and Non-Tai Chi Chuan practitioners when walking and measured the muscle strengths in the limbs using a Force Sensor device. We also estimated and compared the muscle forces in the lower limbs between the two groups by using an in-house model of inverse dynamics. The results show TCC can be considered an effective rehabilitation exercise to improve people’s health, especially in the elderly. Moreover, an in-house inverse dynamic model could help physiotherapists and rehabilitation centres to identify treatment plans. My next step is to return home to Saudi Arabia to work as an assistant professor in the rehabilitation department at Shaqra University. I strongly recommend everyone to complete their education at the University of Dundee. Dundee is a really sociable and friendly city.”

Dr Weijie Wang (Supervisor) added:

“It’s exciting to see UDOTS PhD students completing their studies over the last few months and I’m pleased to say that Bijad is one of them. His thesis has highlighted many interesting points and his data and results can be explored further. Considering his background is in physiotherapy, he has worked extremely hard in learning new technologies such as motion capture, gait analysis, joint force measurements and balance analysis. I hope that these new knowledge and skills will help him to move forward in his chosen career. I also hope to collaborate with him in some way in the future to develop new research projects.”