Presentation of the Administrative Council
President Prof. Jean-Pierre Morucci INSERM Unite 305, C.H. Hotel Dieu, F-31052 Toulouse Cedex, France Tel : +33 (0)5 61 77 82 76, Fax : +33 (0)5 61 59 46 36 Email: morucci@cict.fr or jean-pierre.morucci@purpan.inserm.fr Biography Jean-Pierre Morucci was born in La Flèche (Sarthe, France) in 1937. He earned his BSc from Nancy University (Physics, Mechanics and Thermodynamics) in 1959 and in 1960 he received his Engineering degree from Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Electricité et de Mécanique (National Higher School of Electricity and Mechanics) in Nancy (Industrial training in Electronics, Electricity and Mechanics). From 1962 to 1971, he was an engineer at the Atomic Energy Commission, where his work was concerned with the use of radioisotopes in medicine. During this period, he received his doctorate in Engineering and his PhD degree in 1964 and 1969, respectively. From 1971 to 1975, he was senior lecturer at the University of Paris Val-de-Marne, responsible for the setting up of the University Institute of Technology and head of the Physical Measurements Department. In 1975, he joined, as Professor without a chair, the University of Toulouse, where he had the responsibility of setting up the Masters degree in Biological and Medical Engineering Science and Techniques and where he is now serving as Senior Professor of Bioengineering since 1983. From 1978 to 1986, he served as Director of the Center of Biomedical Technology, of the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) and from 1986, as Director of the INSERM Unit 305 [Biomedical Technology Research and Industrial Transfer. 70 people (40 full time equivalents)]. Jean-Pierre Morucci has published several books and over 100 articles, directed over 50 thesis and held 13 patents. He is member of several editorial boards of bioengineering journals. Jean-Pierre Morucci has served on several national and international committees and has been French delegate at the Commission of the European Communities (Brussels) in the Concerted Action Committee for Biological and Medical Engineering (1980-1990). He was Program co-chair of the IEEE/EMBS meeting (Paris 1992) and of the World Congress of IFMBE (Nice 1997). He is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers/Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (IEEE/EMBS) and emeritus member of the Société des Electriciens et des Electroniciens (France). Issues for IFMBE "To obtain international recognition of our discipline in becoming, under the IUPESM flag, a full member of the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU). Synergies have been already been identified between ICSU and IUPESM to promote mutually the vital role of science and technology in Health Care for the Millennium, especially for the sick and disabled in Developing and Emerging Nations as well as shaping Health Policies in Developed Countries. Thanks to the initiative and impulse of Professor Keith Boddy, President of IUPESM, fruitful contacts have been taken with Dr J.F. Stuyck-Taillandier, Executive Director of ICSU, who has admitted that IUPESM was unique in the application of science and technology to health care with direct patient involvement. This was seen as an excellent basis for improving public and political awareness of the direct usefulness of science to mankind. We have now to produce a full dossier for formal submission and we need the help of those who can help us in the defence of this candidature, thanks to their knowledge in the ICSU governing bodies." Vice-President (President-elect) Dov Jaron PhD Associate Director, National Center for Research Resources Director, Biomedical Technology National Institute of Health, 6705 Rockledge Drive, Room 6160, Bethesda, MD 20892-7965 Tel: 301-435-0755, Fax: 301-480-3659 Email: dov.jaron@nih.gov Biography Dr. Jaron is President-Elect and Vice President of the IFMBE. He received his PhD degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 1967. He began his career as a Research Associate working on cardiac assist devices, became Director of surgical research and from 1973 to 1980, Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Rhode Island. From 1980 to 1996 he served as Director of the Biomedical Engineering and Science Institute at Drexel University in Philadelphia, where he has been Professor of Biomedical Engineering and of Electrical and Computer Engineering. From '91 to '93 Dr. Jaron was on a two-year leave to the National Science Foundation (NSF), where he was Director of the Division of Biological and Critical Systems in the Engineering Directorate. Since 1996 he has been on leave to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) where he is Associate Director of the National Center for Research Resources and Director of the Biomedical Technology program. His major research activities have been in the areas of cardiovascular system dynamics and modeling; assessment of cardiovascular function; control and optimisation of cardiac assist devices and cardiovascular function under stress. His research has resulted in close to 200 articles in archival journals, conference proceedings, book chapters and abstracts. Dr. Jaron is a Fellow of the IEEE, AAAS, Academy of Surgical Research and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE). He is a member of numerous professional societies. During 1986 and 1987 Dr. Jaron served as President of the IEEE/EMBS. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Biomedical Engineering Society. Dr. Jaron was a member of the committee that founded AIMBE and was a member of its Board of Directors. He has served as a member of IFMBE's Administrative Council since 1994 and on its Finance Committee, Publications Committee as well as on the International Liaison Committee. Issues for IFMBE "I see the following challenges facing the IFMBE: The Federation should
The most important of these challenges is to have the Federation represent a larger segment of biomedical engineers in every country. Presently, there are numerous member countries represented by only a small fraction of their professionals through a single organisation. The IFMBE should include all or most of the professional organisations that are related to Biomedical Engineering. One good model that can be emulated is that of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), which is the US national representative to the IFMBE. The AIMBE functions as an umbrella organisation for a large number of professional societies in the United States. As such, it represents a very large number of biomedical engineers from various organisations, specialties and disciplines. The IFMBE Administrative Council should work with representatives from individual countries to help formulate a model, appropriate for each country, that can be used as a mechanism to bring other biomedical engineering related organisations under a national umbrella for each country. This would also help in accomplishing many of the other goals of the Federation." Treasurer Dr. Mladen Poluta Dept of Biomedical Engineering, UCT Medical School, Observatory 7925, South Africa Tel: 27-21-406 6545, fax: 27-21-448 3291 E-mail: poluta@anat.uct.ac.za Biography Mladen Poluta is Principal Biomedical Engineer/Senior Lecturer in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Groote Schuur Hospital and the University of Cape Town, South Africa. After working in industry and in an academic hospital setting, he joined the Department of Biomedical Engineering in 1987. His teaching activities have covered the areas of medical instrumentation, biomedical signal processing and medical equipment engineering and management. He is currently co-ordinator of the Healthcare Technology Management Programme at UCT, convenor of the Postgraduate Diploma in Healthcare Technology Management and head of the UCT participating centre in the MRC/WHO Collaborating Centre for Essential Technologies in Health. Current research interests include the development of appropriate and sustainable healthcare technology management interventions for developing countries, with focus on the Sub-Saharan region. In addition to his IFMBE responsibilities, he serves on the executive councils of the AFTH (African Federation for Technology in Healthcare) and the South African national biomedical and clinical engineering societies. Mladen enjoys good company, classical/choral/folk music, reading, travelling and the outdoors. He is married to Helga and both are kept busy by a lovely example of true biomedical engineering, 7-month young Katherine, who has just started crawling. Issues for IFMBE "While I find it difficult to isolate one issue as being the most important, I do feel it very important that the IFMBE assess and re-define its role as an international organisation on the threshold of a new century, given the dynamics of significant political and economic changes and the challenges faced by industry, academic institutions, professional organisations and healthcare delivery systems. The Administrative Council is already taking action on this issue, e.g. a Strategic Plan was drafted at the time of the World Congress in Nice." Ordinary Member of the Administrative Council Prof. Joe C. Barbenel Bioengineering Unit, University of Strathclyde, Wolfson Centre,106 Rottenrow, Glasgow, G4 ONW Tel: +44-141 548 3221, fax: +44-141 552 6098 E-mail: j.c.barbenel@strath.ac.uk Biography Professor J C Barbenel qualified in dentistry from the London Hospital Medical College in 1960. He then practised dentistry within the hospital service, the Army and general practise and returned to University (BSc, University of St Andrews, 1963-1966) to strengthen the scientific basis of his research. He subsequently completed an MSc in Bioengineering at the University of Strathclyde. After teaching dental prosthetics at University of Dundee, he returned to the University of Strathclyde, Bioengineering Unit, as senior lecturer and is currently Professor and Head of Department. His research interests include the function, physical properties composition and structure of the natural body tissues and the influence of applied forces. This work ranges from basic mathematical modelling to direct clinical applications. He has been active in the development of bioengineering as a professional career and has been Chairman of the professional committee and Chairman of the Biological Engineering Society. He is currently a member of the Council of IPEM and is active in the European science in postgraduate education and its structure. Issues for IFMBE "The most important issue for the IFMBE is the basic one of defining our function and purpose. The function of the IFMBE has never been defined explicitly but it has regularly evolved to address the issues of relevance to its member organisations and the important and expanding area of medical and biological engineering. I believe that there are signs that we are losing contact with the interests of our member organisations e.g. lack of responses to the consultation document on IUPESM and the omission of important members organisations involved with the European Working Group. Discussion of the function of IFMBE must have input from the constituent members." Ordinary Member of the Administrative Council Prof. Helmut Hutten Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Technical University, A - 8010 Graz, Austria Tel: +43 316 873 7390, fax: +43 316 465 348 E-mail:hutten@ibmt.tu-graz.ac.at, schmied@ibmt.tu-graz.ac.at Biography Helmut Hutten was born in 1936 in Backnang (Germany). He has been married since 1965 and has three children. His favourite leisure activities are mountain walking, reading, listening to classical music and have discussions with his friends. Subsequent to his education in electrical engineering in Karlsruhe, Germany he spent several years working for a company. After joining the University of Mainz he continued with his dissertation (Dr.-Ing.) and education in medicine. Before becoming Chair Professor for biomedical engineering in Graz (Austria) in 1991, he was a Professor at the medical faculty. His research activities include the analysis, modelling and simulation of physiological systems, medical electronics, with special regard to biotelemetry, telemedicine and pacemaker technology, signal processing and intelligent instrumentation, and health care technology assessment. He is author or coauthor of more than 250 published papers, and editor of several books. For about 20 years he was Editor-in-Chief of the international journal 'Medical Progress through Technology' (till 1995). For many years he has been an advisor for research funding organisations in Germany and Austria and for German ministries. He was President of the German Society of Biomedical Engineering (1991 - 1993), vice-president and member of the administrative board, and currently a life-time honorary member of that society. He is a member of the IFMBE Administrative Council since 1994, chairman of the working group for European Activities and co-chairman of the IUPESM Developing Countries Committee. Issues for the IFMBE "It is my impression that IFMBE has to undertake strong efforts in order to justify the request to represent the whole field of medical and biological engineering worldwide. The most urgent activities shall be focused on:
Ordinary Member of the Administrative Council Prof. Antonio Fernando Catelli Infantosi COPPE / Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Biomedical Engineering Program, PO Box 68510, Rio de Janeiro - CEP 21945-970, Brazil. Tel: 55-21-560 5108 (\280 7098), fax: 55-21-290 6626 (\280 7098) E-mail: afci@peb.ufrj.br Biography A.F.C. Infantosi was born in 1947 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, graduated in electrical engineering from the Escola de Engenharia Mauá (1971), and obtained his MSc (1975) in biomedical engineering from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). He received his PhD from the Imperial College of Science, Technology & Medicine, University of London, UK, in 1986. He is Professor of Biomedical Signal Processing in the Biomedical Engineering Program at UFRJ, where he has also been Head of Department. He is a former Director of the Post-Graduate Engineering Institution (COPPE/UFRJ). He is one of the founders of the Brazilian Biomedical Engineering Society (SBEB) and was its first treasurer (1975-79). Later, he became President of SBEB on two different opportunities,1979-81 and 1994-96. He is currently the Vice-President. He was also a member of the Editorial Board of the Brazilian Journal of Biomedical Engineering (1987-91) and the chairperson of the Finance Committee of the World Congress on Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering - Rio'94. He is a member of various Brazilian governmental boards of the Ministries of Education, Science & Technology, and Health. His main research interests include biological signal processing, particularly those related to brain functions. Issues for IFMBE "To improve the co-operation and communication among national societies and trans-national medical and biological engineering organisations, thus promoting the development of the field regionally and globally, in both advanced and third world countries. Specific actions that the IFMBE Administrative Council can take towards this goal are:
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