Biomedical Engineering SocietyTaipei, China2003 was a very successful and fruitful year for the Biomedical Engineering Society, Taipei, China. Regardless of the impact of SARS, in that year we organized and coorganized seven conferences and five training courses, with a total of over 1500 attendees. The conferences and workshops enabled academic researchers/students, physicians, and bioengineers from hospitals and industries to get together and to exchange their knowledge as well as information. The main events are listed as the following: 1. Continuous education and promotion of bioengineers working in hospitals or medical centers Besides the continuous education offering, the society endeavoured to promote the mission and position of bioengineers in hospitals by organizing a series of courses in special topics of medical instruments safety and working out the evaluation standard and program for the biomedical departments in hospitals. We certified 52 Clinical Engineers and 47 Medical Device Service Technicians in 2003. In 2004, we have even more achievements so far. Six major conferences and six training courses have been organised. Over 80 Clinical Engineers and 50 Medical Device Service Technicians renewed their licenses. The society also offers licensing for Biomedical Engineers this year. 2. Promoting multi-field, interuniversity cooperation and knowledge exchange to bring in and study the new bioengineering technology In order to attract outstanding human resources from the areas of science, engineering, and medicine and to enforce the advanced biomedical research progress as well as technology exchange with worldwide well-established institutes, on June 23 and 24, the society helped to organize the Biomedical Engineering Symposium with well-known Chinese scientists from the U.S.A: Dr. Shu Chien (Professor of Bioengineering and Medicine, University of California, San Diego), Dr. Savio L.Y. Woo (Professor and Director of Musculoskeletal Res. Center, University of Pittsburgh), Dr. Kai-Nan An (Professor and Director, Biomechanics Laboratory, Mayo Clinic), Dr. Zhi-Pei Liang (Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Univ. of Illinois, Urbana), Dr. K. Kirk Shung (Professor of Biomedical Engineering, University of Southern California), Dr. Michael R. Yen (Professor of Biomedical Engineering, University of Memphis), Dr. Kam W. Leong (Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine) and Dr. Ching-Chang Ko (Professor of Oral Science, University of Minnesota) were invited to give presentations on their newest research progress and outcomes. Over 300 university professors, students, and bioengineers attended this meeting. A roundtable of Talk to the Mentors was arranged for the speakers and local scientists and students to share their experience of success and to discuss their future research cooperation. This meeting was very successful and got excellent feedback. The annual symposium of Biomedical Engineering Society is to be held on 18th to 19th of December 2004, over 600 participants are expected 3. Innovation stimulation and linking to the Bio-tech industry The society established an "Innovation Contest in Biomedical Engineering" for the university students to stimulate the students in medical knowledge application and also to provide an exchange platform for university researchers, students, and industry. This ongoing contest will have the final competition on 17th and 18th of December. Fifty thousand new Taiwan dollars will be awarded as the best innovation prize, thirty thousand NT dollars for the runner-up, and ten thousand NT dollars each for two successful candidates. 4. Commendation of outstanding bioengineer and Journal promotion To commend the outstanding achievement and service of biomedical engineers, in 2003 the society founded the Paul Han Biomedical Engineering Service Award in memory of Dr. Paul Han who was the first president of the society, and it was presented to Dr. Chun-Jean Lee. The Society of Biomedical Engineering in Taiwan has more than 1550 members. The research is in the areas of Biomechanics, Biomaterials, Bioelectronics, Optoelectronics, and Medical Imaging. To provide education and academic research exchange, the society is promoting the official publication "Journal of Medical and Biological Engineering" into the Engineering Index and Science Citation Index.
Saiwei Yang
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