Report of the IUPESM Secretary-General Professor Gary Fullerton 1997-2000

My election as Secretary-General of IOMP in 1997 was a surprise and the discovery that this was simultaneous selection as Secretary of IUPESM was shocking. In spite of this the IUPESM has survived and even thrived over the past three years.

Conversion to an electronic secretariat

An evaluation of IUPESM goals and resources in late 1997 established the need to more extensively use the Internet communications for official activities. The Administrative Council established that regular meetings using a "virtual meeting" format were feasible. Four such meetings were held over the past three years. The Officers and Council successfully used these methods in obtaining unanimous acceptance as a full member of ICSU.

Linking of IUPESM home page to IOMP and IFMBE

The IOMP homepage (http://www.iupesm.org) was redesigned and moved to the American Institute of Physics with the intent of integrating it with the WC2000 knowledge network following the Chicago2000 meeting. A proposal to establish a full time IUPESM WC2000 Editorial Board has been accepted by the Administrative Council and will be considered by the Assembly in Chicago.

Upgrading ICSU interactions

As a result of IUPESM election to full member status, there are greater opportunities for the union to interact and collaborate in a wider range of international science projects involving WHO, UNESCO and others. The method to implement these programs will be discussed by a IUPESM Consensus Workshop at the Chicago2000 meeting.

Examples of these new types of interactions are the attendance of Oskar Chomicki and Nandor Richter at the World Science Conference, where they worked to insert key wording in the resulting UNESCO summaries to better represent IUPESM interests. Gary Fullerton and Dov Jaron represented the Union at the biannual ICSU General Assembly, where the voting delegates unanimously accepted the IUPESM as a full member. The Secretary-General, however, notes to the IUPESM membership that the present income of £5000 per year will be inadequate to achieve the full benefits of ICSU membership.

Restructuring IUPESM for key programmes

An expanded infrastructure is necessary to achieve the full benefits of international co-operation for our combined specialties. In addition, there is the need to distribute responsibilities and work to a broader range of members. The President will report on the results of the Consensus workshop to achieve these ends at the General Assembly meeting.

Status of IUPESM finances

The IUPESM has an annual income of £5000. Many expenses are incurred at the time of the World Congress and the audited results will not be available until after September 30, 2000. At present, it is expected that the Union will end the triennium with a reserve of approximately $10,000. It is also recommended that the dues allocations from the IOMP and IFMBE be increased from £2500 per year each to $10,000 per year.

Status of the World Congress

The Chicago 2000 World Congress on Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering has been a resounding success in many ways. The number of attendees is greater than 6000. The focus on uses electronic resources to promote better and cheaper interchange of information has been a success but reveal that there is much yet to be done. Preparations for Sydney 2003 are on track. Four applications to host the Congress in 2006 were received from Korea, Hong Kong (with China), Switzerland (with Germany and UK) and Israel.

Summary

The IUPESM has made considerable progress in the past three years under the leadership of President Keith Boddy. To consolidate this progress a new structure and increased funding will be necessary. It is a time of both great promise and great challenges.

Gary D. Fullerton
IUPESM Secretary-General
fullerton@uthscsa.edu