Report on the Activities of the International Academy for Medical and Biological Engineering at the Medicon 2001 meeting in Pula, Croatia June 2001The International Academy for Medical and Biological Engineering (IAMBE) was established with the induction of the initial group of founding fellow at the Nice World Congress in 1997.Over the past four years IAMBE has slowly been evolving as an organisation. At the Chicago World Conference in 2000 the Academy organised its first significant activity in the form of an international workshop on biomedical engineering education, which was a great success. A new board was elected in Chicago: P.Åke Öberg, Chair A membership committee was elected and is chaired by Robert Nerem. The year 2000-2001The secretariat was moved to Tampere, Finland. A new bank account was set up in a Finnish bank. The Secretary also serves as the Treasurer of the Academy. A newsletter (idea: Richard Cobbold) was sent out by e-mail and regular mail for the first time in January 2001. A second newsletter is planned for September - October 2001. The newsletter was well received by the Fellows and many positive remarks were noticed. The membership committee has been active during the year and new nominations for Fellows will be discussed in Pula. The membership goal is to recruit 4-5 new Fellows/year to reach 50+ by the Sydney meeting in 2003. The treasurer has collected the membership dues. A discussion came up about the amount, especially as regards Retired Fellows and Fellows from developing countries. A discussion of the matter will take place in Pula. Initial discussions have been started with a company, willing to donate a major grant, the dividend of which should be used as an annual prize for excellent young researcher/ travelling grants for younger researchers. The tentative prize should bear the name of both the Academy and the donor company. Discussions with the tentative donor will continue in August. A program in Sydney has been discussed briefly. A workshop in a "hot" topic is planned and so is a reception for young faculty with the aim to bring young faculty from all parts of the world together. A web page in connection with the IFMBE one is also discussed. We are looking for a person willing to take on this task. A short presentation of the Fellows will take place in IFMBE News. In a longer perspective a booklet on carriers in biomedical engineering will be produced by the Academy. Linköping, 1 June 2001
P.Åke Öberg
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