Secretary General

Ratko Magjarevic

Ratko Magjarevic is a professor of Biomedical Engineering at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, University of Zagreb, Croatia. He received his Doctorate of Science in Electrical Engineering from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, University of Zagreb, 1994 (Thesis: Optimisation of Transesophageal Pacing). Following appointments in industry, he joined the Electronic Measurement and Biomedical Engineering Group at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, University of Zagreb. He is currently teaching and leading projects in bioelectric signal processing and analysis, bioimpedance measurements, therapeutic applications, pacing and electrical stimulation. He also lectures at the Postgraduate Studies of Clinical Engineering at the University of Trieste, Italy. He has published more than 80 papers, book chapters and has edited several conference proceedings. He is the Editor of the Federations electronic Newsletters.

Ratko Magjarevic is an active member of the Croatian BME Society and has served as the secretary general of the Croatian national BME society since 1992. He is an active member of several IFMBE committees (Federation’s journal committee, Secretaries Committee and Publication & Publicity Committee), and was a member of the Pro-Tem group, appointed to establish the European Alliance for Medical and Biological Engineering and Sciences. Presently he is serving as a Academic Division Council member of EAMBES. He organised several scientific and professional events, including the IFMBE sponsored IX Mediterranean MBE conference MEDICON 2001 held in Pula, Croatia.

As the IFMBE Secretary General, my primary program will be to increase the activities and the visibility of the Federation and of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences in general. In order to fully support the needs of the IFMBE Officers and the Administrative Council I intend to organise a modern secretariat, using the possibilities of today’s information and communication technologies. Due to my previous engagement for the IFMBE (editor of the IFMBE News, member of several committees: Secretaries, Publication, Journal and of the working group for BME education and accreditation) I have the appropriate experience of the IFMBE business which will help me in performing the duties of the Secretary General.

I will use my regional, national and international connections to promote the aims of the Federation. Additionally, I believe that the scientific and professional strength of an organisation is based on the intensive exchange of relevant information. The exchange of information among the council members and committee members shall be organised through the Internet pages of the Federation. I intend to intensify the communication links with the secretaries committee and enable the activities of affiliated societies to be publicised through the Internet pages and the Federation’s Newsletters. As the editor of the newsletters, I have already introduced a new section on BME education. The matter of education and more specifically, harmonisation of education programs in our profession, is not only one of the most important topics of discussion and action at this time, but also a matter for the future of our profession. Therefore, we have to support young scientists in the field of BME with the full power of the Federation's relevance and international prestige. In the IFMBE News, I have started a section with regular reports on young scientists’ achievements and awards. In future, I will do my best to provide foundations for the support of young scientists and give them as much exposure (via the Federation’s publicity sources) as possible.

A lot of the Federation's scientific and professional activities are based on projects and ideas of distinguished and experienced members of the BME community. I will support these activities offering a proactive help of the secretariat. I will also continue in building up the impact of Federation's publications, both the Journal and the Proceedings Series started recently with the first volume published in 2001, for the purpose of the IX Mediterranean BME Conference I was chairing.

Another question I have to answer to the members of the IFMBE is:
How do I intend to manage all those activities and responsibilities?
Since the office of the secretary general of the IFMBE is one of the central points in most of Federations activities, I hope that the increased flow of information will enable me to improve the editorial function in the Newsletters. This position will allow me to better co-ordinate the work of those committees I still hold the membership of.

The institution in which I work looks favourably at my activities as the Federation's secretary general.