EMBS Career Achievement Award 2003

Ante Santic

The EMBS Career Achievement Award is presented annually to an individual who has made significant contributions through a distinguished career of twenty years or more in the field of Biomedical Engineering, as an educator, researcher, developer or administrator. These contributions must represent meritorious achievement and exemplary technical, educational, or administrative accomplishment in the field. Any past or present member of the IEEE and EMBS who has not been a voting member of AdCom in the past two years is eligible. Before 1980, the award was designated as the William J. Morlock Memorial Award.

The 2003 EMBS Career Achievement Award is presented to Ante Santic for:

"For fundamental and pioneering contributions to the development and construction of EEG, EMG and ENG Instrumentation and for his leadership in creating biomedical engineering courses in Europe"

Ante Santic received the Dipl. Eng. degree in 1953 and the D.Sc. degree in 1966 both in electrical engineering from University of Zagreb, Faculty of Electrical Engineering. From 1954 to 1970 he worked: first as a research engineer and then from 1959 as the head of Electronics Laboratory at the Institute of Electrical Engineering in Zagreb. Initially he worked on the research and development of special electronic instrumentation. As the head of Electronics Laboratory he started with his associate's development of medical electronic instrumentation, particularly electroencephalographs (EEG), in which he developed the entire electronic part and continued leading the series manufacture of EEGs in Central Europe. He obtained two patents and developed electrical and optical stimulators, respiration and heart rate measuring instrumentation and an oscilloscope for biological signals measurement. He also holds a secondary appointment at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering University of Zagreb; he held a teaching assistant position from 1956 and was an assistant professor from 1964. In 1970 he joined the Faculty of University of Zagreb on a full time basis. In 1969 he became associate professor and in 1975 full professor. At that time he introduced two new subjects (Electronic Instrumentation and Biomedical Electronics). He also founded the Biomedical Electronics Laboratory. His research activities were in the field of special measurement instrumentation and biomedical electronics and recently in infrared biotelemetry, signal processing of bioelectrical signals, non-invasive measurements (blood pressure measurement in fingers), gait analysis, pulse plethysmography and instrumentation for force measurement during cardiopulmonary resuscitation. He has written two books: "Electronic instrumentation" (3 editions) and "Biomedical Electronics" (1995) edited by Skolska knjiga. The last book was awarded, by the Croatian Academy of Science and Art, the title of the most successful book in the engineering field in 1995. He spent one year (1975/76) as a Fulbright Post-Doctoral Fellow at Case Western Reserve University, Ohio, USA, and afterwards was invited as the visiting professor from 1982 to 1984 at the same university. He was also vice-dean from 1976 to 1978, and the dean from 1978 to 1980 on the Electrical Engineering Faculty. He was awarded the Republic Award "Nikola Tesla" in 1980 for his contribution in the field of biomedical engineering and recently in 1997 with the State Award "Danica of Croatia with image of R. Boskovic" for his contribution to science. He is the recipient of an award from the Croatian Academy of Science and Art for his distinctive contribution to the field of engineering sciences in 1997. In 2000 he was nominated Professor Emeritus. In the same year he received the State Award for Career Achievement in Engineering Sciences from the Government of Croatia. He was president of the Croatian Medical and Biological Society from 1977 to 2000, when he became honorary president. He is a Senior Member of IEEE and a member of the IEEE EMBS, IEEE IMS, IMEKO TC-13 Committee, the IFMBE group for European Activities, the International Society on Biotelemetry and three national societies.