Brazilian Society for Biomedical Engineering

Sociedade Brasileira de Engenharia Biomédica
REPORT 2003/2004
http://www.sbeb.org.br

The Brazilian Society for Biomedical Engineering (SBEB) is one of the major biomedical engineering societies in Latin America. It is probably the largest in South America. During the year 2003 it comprised 277 members, distributed as 129 senior, 132 junior and 16 student members. For 2004 these figures, up to now, are 280 members, distributed as 131 senior; 135 junior and 14 student members. The increase in the number of junior members is mainly due to the change of category for some students.

Like many biomedical engineering societies, it comprises a great number of clinical engineers. The evolution of the number of members in the last four-year period is shown in the figure below. The increase in the membership number in 2002 reflects the bi-annual society conference that occurred in this year.

The society publishes regularly a journal every four months, with at least 5 original papers per issue. The Brazilian Journal on Biomedical Engineering (Revista Brasileira de Engenharia Biomédica - RBEB) is published in Portuguese, and each paper includes an extended abstract in English (http://www.peb.ufrj.br/rbeb). Capsum of figures and tables are also published in English. Spanish and English manuscripts are also accepted for publication. In the last three years, nearly 150 reviewers participated in the revision process, and the rejection ratio was 48%. In this period, the RBEB have also published abstracts of 103 Master's and Doctoral theses presented at Brazilian Universities.

In the last three years, the cost of the journal has been mainly supported by the Brazilian Research Council Agency (CNPq). The remainder is met by membership fees. The Journal is distributed freely to the society's members and nearly 550 public institutions, i.e. Universities and Libraries in Brazil, Latin America and other countries whose language are Portuguese and Spanish, such as Portugal, Spain, Angola and Mozambique.

SBEB maintains an active discussion list (SBEB-L@peb.ufrj.br) and a World Wide Web site (www.sbeb.org.br). Through these two channels important announcements for the Bioengineering community in Brazil are relayed. The present site has been re-designed to improve its readability. The Brazilian Journal on Biomedical Engineering (RBEB) is also available online at the Society.s web page.

The society is very active in the academic and scientific arenas. It takes part in many governmental committees, such as those instituted by the Brazilian Ministry of Health. The society also plays a major role in the establishment of science and technology policies through its participation in the advisory committees of governmental agencies. Members of SBEB's board have also participated in the 14th Annual AdCom Meeting of CORAL (Cancun, Mexico) and also in the IFMBE AdCom Meeting held in Sidney (Australia).

The XIX Brazilian Conference on Biomedical Engineering (XIX CBEB - Congresso Brasileiro de Engenharia Biomédica), a joint event with the 3rd Latin American Congress on Biomedical Engineering (CLAEB '2004), will be held from 22 to 25 September 2004, in João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil (http://www.claeb2004.org.br and http://www.sbeb.org.br). This event is also the 3rd Latin American Conference of the International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering and it has been also sponsored by the Latin American Regional Council on Biomedical Engineering (CORAL) and hence by IFMBE and EMBS. This Congress will gather Biomedical Engineering scientists from the Americas and other continents, presenting their latest research results.

In organizing this meeting, we are aiming to repeat the success of the two previous Latin American Congresses on Biomedical Engineering held in Mazatlán (1998) and Havana (2001). Strategically located at the most eastern point of the Americas, João Pessoa benefits from beautiful beaches, with transparent and warm waters, in addition to its rich cultural and historical assets.

In order to promote the 3rd Latin American Congress on Biomedical Engineering, special issues of the Brazilian Journal on Biomedical Engineering (RBEB) dedicated to Latin America have been published in 2003 and 2004. In these issues the best papers will be awarded free registration to the Conferences. Firstly, the call for papers was advertised in the 2002 and 2003 RBEB issues, including the rules and the important dates. In the RBEB issues of 2003 (v.19, n.2 and 3) and 2004 (v.20, n.1) the papers were published.

For the CLAEB '2004 and the XIX CBEB, nearly 650 manuscripts were submitted, 80% of those being full papers. The deadline for paper submission was 22nd May, and the process of acceptance will end at 1st July. The majority of the submitted papers are from South America (Brazil with 72% and Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela and Uruguay with 11%) and from North and Central America (13%, Cuba, Mexico and Panama). Papers from Europe (4%, Spain, Portugal, France, Serbia and Montenegro, England and Poland) and Asia were also submitted. At least, some 750 attendees are expected to participate in this Congress, 270 being students. A Student Competition, the Cândido Pinto de Melo Award, a pioneer of Biomedical Engineering in Brazil, was established. This Award is open for students effectively enrolled in undergraduate or graduate courses. Only full papers submitted by students (first author) will be considered. Around 200 students have entered this competition. For this four-day meeting, with papers distributed in 18 thematic sessions, we expect to have at least 6 key speakers and 4 plenary sessions. Short courses are also being programmed. The speakers are from Brazil and abroad, such as Dr. H. K. Huang (USA), Dr Metin Akay (USA), Dr. Frederic Padilha (France), Dr. Ronney Panerai (England), Dr. William Saad Hossne (Brazil). The president of the IFMBE, Dr. Joachim Nagel (Germany), will be the keynote speaker. We invited these professionals in Biomedical Engineering and Medical Physics to make their contribution to the further development of our discipline in Latin America. Therefore, they will come to share their scientific expertise with us and enjoy our beautiful João Pessoa. During the conference, a fair, including equipment and service companies, will be held. This fair will contribute to a high exposure of the general public to the biomedical engineering field.

A. Fernando C. Infantosi