Professor Nilo T. Bugtai holds a degree of Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering at the University of San Jose–Recoletos in Cebu City; Master of Science in Manufacturing
Engineering as a Department of Science and Technology – Philippine Council for Industry,
Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DOST-PCIEERD) Scholar at De La Salle University (DLSU), Manila Philippines and Doctor of Philosophy in Manufacturing Engineering as a DOST – Engineering and Science Education Program (DOST-ESEP) Scholar at Loughborough University in England, United Kingdom.

He was a Visiting Professor at The University of Toledo in Ohio, USA and at The University of Pisa in Italy; a Visiting Scholar at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore; and at The Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok Thailand, and an Exchange Faculty at The University of Southern Queensland in Australia.

He is a Senior Member of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (IEEE-EMBS) in New Jersey, USA, and a Senior Member in Society of Manufacturing Engineers – Association of Manufacturing Excellence (SME-AME) in Michigan, USA. Locally, he is a Senior Member of Mechatronics and Robotics Society of the Philippines (MRSP); Lifetime Member of Biomed Society of the Philippines (BSP), Manila Philippines, and an Associate Member of National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP).

Professor Bugtai was a Linkages Consultant for the DTI’s Regional Inclusive Innovation Center (RIIC) of the RTI’s USAID-STRIDE Project. He is currently the Editor-In-Chief of the Recoletos Multidisciplinary Research Journal (RMRJ), a Scopus Indexed International Journal of the University of San Jose–Recoletos (USJR), Cebu City Philippines.

Since 1989 Professor Bugtai has educated diverse multidisciplinary engineers and became a mentor of several award-winning research projects. He received together with his students several awards for research projects in different competitions including as the National Grand Prize Winner of the Philippine Association for Technical Education (PATE) for Best Undergraduate Engineering Design Contest in 2010 and 2012; Gold Prize Winner of the Intel Asia Pacific Challenge participated by countries in the Asia Pacific Region held in Bangalore, India in 2011 and 2012; the 1st Prize Winner of the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) – Magsaysay Future Engineers/Technologists Award in 2012 and 2013.

In 2018, the student thesis groups under his guidance and mentorship were awarded the 1st Prize Winner of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) Innovation Competition, and the 2018 National Winner of the Inaugural James Dyson Award in the Philippines.

Professor Bugtai is a recipient of several multi-million pesos Grant-In-Aid since 2016 from the DOST – Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (DOST-PCHRD) for setting up the bar in the Philippines’ research on Biomedical Devices Engineering particularly in Medical Robotics that include Rehabilitation Devices & Assistive Technologies and Surgical Devices.

He established the Evelyn D. Ang – Institute of Biomedical Engineering & Health Technologies (EDA-IBEHT) of De La Salle University in 2018 and presently, the Program Leader of the designated EDA-IBEHT as Niche Center in the Region (NICER): R&D Center on Medical Robotics by the DOST – Science for Change Program (DOST-S4C). He was a Grant-Holder from the European Union through the Asia Link Program to develop the Biomedical Engineering Program in the Philippines. Recently, the EDA-IBEHT is awarded more than a million British Pounds grant from the United Kingdom Research Innovation (UKRI) – National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) through the Global Health Policy and Systems Research (Global HPSR) Programme.

Recently Professor Bugtai was the first-ever recipient of the “Pantheon of Inventors Award” given by the De La Salle University Innovation and Technology Office (DITO). He was a co- inventor of the seven inventions, including patents in the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea and Vietnam. He has several patent applications together with his research teams in progress at the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPO-PHL) and via Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

He is a “LIF Fellow-Philippines,” one of the awardees of the prestigious Leaders in Innovation Fellowship (LIF) Batch 2017 and represented the Philippines in the 1st Batch of the LIF Advance Programme in 2020–2021 granted by the Newton Fund of the British Council and the Royal Academy of Engineering in London, United Kingdom.

Professor Bugtai was a 2022 National Awardee of the “Dr. Paulo Campus Award for Medical Research” granted by the Philippine Association for the Advancement of Science and Technology (PhilAAST). Making it the first time that the award was given to a non-medical doctor.

He had been a full-time faculty member and Former Chair of the Department of Manufacturing Engineering & Management (DMEM) with a rank of Full Professor 10 and currently the Director of the Evelyn D. Ang – Institute of Biomedical Engineering & Health Technologies (EDA-IBEHT) of the De La Salle University, Manila Philippines.