New Layout of Your NewsletterFrom the EditorI am delighted to announce that the Federation Journal Committee has supported a change to the layout of the printable version of the IFMBE News. This is the third time since the News was first published on the Internet that we have updated our newsletter's visual style. The new layout is more in keeping with today's on-line publications, and also more suited to modern desk top colour printers. Starting with this issue, you will now be able to quickly access the information published in the News from the web pages, or print a copy of a pdf version of any newsletter with appropriate figures and photos. I sincerely hope that you will approve of the new layout and would be very greatful for any feedback that you may have. Remember, this is YOUR newsletter. The News will become more structured by grouping sections, so that you can find the articles that interest you, more easily. In addition to the traditional reports from IFMBE officers, affiliated societies and coverage of student awards; as well as continued reporting on future scientific events and news relating to recent conferences, we aim to publish regular book reviews and hope to get extra input from the IFMBE members, book authors and/or editors. Furthermore, you will start to see some brand new sections in the News. In this issue, we have a section on BME Education. The lead authors of the articles are invited speakers from the Special Session on BME Education held in the framework of the 1st European BME Forum in Vienna, in December 2002. The organiser of the Special Session, Prof. Joachim Nagel has agreed to write an introductory article on BME Education. It is hoped that this feature may inspire others working in this area, to provide us with more information on this important topic. A forum for discussing BME education and many other scientific matters will be the World Congress on Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering in Sydney. It is hard to believe that it is now only three months away! The IFMBE has decided to support delegates from developing countries in their efforts to take part in the most important BME scientific event this year. You will find more information on this later in the issue. In spite of the uncertainities that have arisen this year, with both the war in the Middle East and the SARS virus, preparations for the World Congress are going very well. We can only support the decision of the Congress organisers, who have extended the deadline for abstract/paper submissions. Anyone who has ever organised a conference will be able to appreciate just how much stress submission deadlines can cause, not to mention the additional workload that extending them incurs. Also in this issue, we bring you news of the founding meeting of the European Alliance for Medical and Biological Engineering and Science (EAMBES) to be held in Frankfurt during mid June 2003. Prof. Niilo Saranummi and the members of the ProTem Group have spent a lot of time preparing all-inclusive Statutes of this European BMES umbrella organisation, just as the affiliated societies requested in Vienna nearly two years ago and later endorsed several times through their society's representatives. Representatives of national and Trans-European societies, as well as those from academic and research institutions, are invited to the meeting to exchange opinions on the prepared Statutes and Bylaws and to meet face to face with the ProTem Group again. The drafts of those documents are downloadable from the EAMBES website.
Ratko Magjarevic
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