From the President

In a short while, my term as President of IFMBE will come to an end. As I reflect on the situation of the Federation, I see the many accomplishments but also the challenges still to be overcome. In contrast with other professional organisations (most of which are membership based) the IFMBE is a federation that forms an umbrella uniting a number of national and trans-national societies. Except for a small percentage of individuals who are members of its International Academy, IFMBE does not have individual members as such. This presents the first major challenge to the Federation; that of identifying individuals who will devote time and effort to the organisation. We have been very fortunate in the past. Many of our most respected biomedical engineers have volunteered their time for the betterment of our profession. It is a challenge to find both established and young engineers who appreciate the importance of working for the Federation. Nevertheless, I sincerely hope that the tradition of dedication and service, established decades ago, will be maintained by individuals in our member societies who are entering the profession and are learning about the importance of the Federation.

The most important accomplishment during my tenure as President was the acceptance of IFMBE (through IUPESM) as the first engineering-focused organisation to gain membership to the International Council of Science (ICSU). This important event signifies the recognition of our accomplishments to and contributions by the international scientific community. It brings enormous prestige to individuals in the biomedical engineering profession.

Another important accomplishment was the establishment of a European organisation (The European Alliance for Medical and Biological Engineering and Science). EAMBES will begin to unite the biomedical engineering community in Europe, increase recognition of our profession in this region of the world and provide a strong voice when dealing with the central European government as well as with national governments. I have just returned from the inaugural meeting of the new Alliance and was very impressed with the enthusiasm of the participants and their willingness to join in the activities of this new organisation. IFMBE has been a strong advocate of the European Alliance and provided major support for its establishment. We will now welcome the Alliance as a new trans-national organisation of the IFMBE. I would now encourage our other national societies in other parts of the world to consider forming similar alliances in order to unite and strengthen the profession in their region.

We have initiated a Conference Proceedings series and are in the process of finding a publisher that will take on the marketing of this publication. We expect all our regional conferences as well as other conferences that we co-sponsor to participate in this series. We anticipate that, in the future, the Proceedings would provide additional income to the conferences as well as to the IFMBE.

In the last year we have made a number of changes to the Constitution and Bylaws of the Federation, all aimed at improving our operations and opening the Federation to new members. One important change is the provision that allows for more than one biomedical engineering organisation in a single country to join the IFMBE. This, we hope, will allow societies who have felt alienated to become part of the international community of BME.

Finally, I want to remind all of you that the 2003 World Congress in Sydney is almost here and urge everybody to come to Australia, meet old friends and colleagues and make new contacts with engineers and physicists, all of whom are working to improve health and life for all mankind.

See you in Sydney.

Dov Jaron