2013 smbe (sa) xmas sho (sa nt) newsletter may 2014.pdf · on#...
TRANSCRIPT
On the 5th of December, a good por4on of the SMBE (SA) membership met at The Duke of Yoke for our Christmas dinner. This is usually the most significant social event on the calendar and this year was true to form.The venue was new to the SMBE but with great value for money, excellent food and very friendly staff we may well go back! The 3-‐course meal was appreciated by all. I can personally vouch for the quality of the ProsciuGo Wrapped Chicken Breast on Roast Mushroom RisoGo served with Brie – it was really good.
The night was organised this year by Lachlan and Vera, 2 people parOcularly keen to make a good show of the night! There were a range of lucky door prizes, desirable items like the coffee machine and a dinner voucher, and even more
desirable items like swimsuit calendars for both the boys and girls! Vera made sure that all interests were covered! She also did an outstanding job making the table centre pieces and decoraOng the tables with plenty of fesOve spirit.
The Christmas dinner could not be offered at such great value for money without the support of the sponsors. I would like to extend our graOtude to each of the sponsors who have again contributed to the success of the night.
• Chris Thomas from Surgical and Medical Supplies – for generous financial support • Michael Scobie from IQ Medical – for generous financial support • Greg and Kerry Smith from Helicon Technologies – for generous financial support. • Frank Cairo from BaLery Special4es – for
providing prizes for the raffle. The drumming bunnies disappeared this year, replaced by boGles of wine!
5th of December happened to be the first day of the 2nd Ashes test, held at the newly redeveloped Adelaide Oval. This meant that there were a number of dinner aGendees who were parOcularly social a[er spending the day at the cricket with a few more days of cricket to come! The party conOnued well into the night!
A good Ome was had by all, many thanks to the organisers and the aGendees for making such a great night.
Dan Fletcherwww.smbe.asn.au ! 1
In this issue: 2013 SMBE SA & NT Xmas Shows 1 2013 ABEC Travel Grant Ar4cles 3 2013 Scholarship Award Ar4cle 6 Paying Our Respects-‐ Rex Dowdell 8 The Medical Room 9 2013 Student Papers Night 9 2013 Outstanding Honors Project 11 2014 SMBE Encouragement Award 12 2014 ABEC Announcement 13 SAHMRI Invita4on 13 2014 Engineers Australia Awards 15
2013 SMBE (SA) Xmas Show
May 2014
Our inaugural Northern Territory Christmas func4on was a success! On 13th December, SMBE NT members gathered at Dolly’s Hotel Dining room bar (The local haunt!) for the first event of its kind in the Top End.
SMBE (SA/NT) with a generous donaOon from Medical Equipment Management (MEM) helped provide tapas plates and limited refreshments.
The evening was aGended by nine Biomeds from Royal Darwin Hospital and MEM, one MEM BME apprenOce (A/Springs), and one BMEng work-‐experience student, along with two member spouses.
Not a bad effort for our first aGempt and at short noOce, with the vast majority of Top End SMBE members and prospecOve members aGending. Unfortunately we did not get a chance to organise a Central Australian funcOon this year but plan to next year. Fortunately MEM’s Alice Springs apprenOce was in town and he got to network with members and show off his latest TAFE project.
SMBE (SA/NT) council member Trevor passed on the commiGee’s best wishes and briefly talked about what the SMBE can offer its members; we hope to see some grant app l i caOons , increased awareness , parOc ipaOon and membership in 2014.
Trever Riessen
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Become aware of happenings including our technical program calendar events and awards as they are developed.
Be sure to like the page and spread the word!........................................................................................................................
2013 SMBE (NT) Xmas Show!! !!
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2013 SMBE (SA/NT) ABEC Travel Grant Articles
SMBE (SA/NT) sponsored joint ABEC Travel Grant winners Sam (Flinders University) and Muhammad (University of Adelaide) to aLend the 2013 Australian Biomedical Engineering Conference in Sydney September 2013. They share their experiences with us.
Sam de GroenThis year the Australian Biomedical Engineering Conference was held in Sydney at the SMC Conference and FuncOon Centre, from Sunday the 13th to Wednesday the 16th of October. This was my first engineering conference, which offered me invaluable experience to see how conferences operate and provided the opportunity to network with other people from hospitals and the industry. The conference discussed challenges that the Australian health sector is currently facing and their soluOons and approaches, while sOll covering innovaOon in biomedical engineering such as new healthcare systems, faciliOes and technologies.
The welcome recepOon on Sunday night was more of the social aspect of the conference and offered everyone the chance to network and meet new contacts. There were displays for various biomedical engineering companies such as Phillips, The Medical Room, Allied Medical and Dräger, to name a few, as trade exhibitors to adverOse and demonstrate their medical equipment or experOse.
The conference was opened by Professor Karen Reynolds, Chair of the Biomedical Engineering College, followed by Will van den Berg with the opening address. Will addressed the moOves of ABEC and the need to be innovaOve and creaOve in uOlising scienOfic principles with applicaOons in biomedical engineering. Professor Poul Nielsen, a keynote speaker from the University of Auckland, presented his research , which is focused around using novel instrumentaOon, detailed computaOonal models and quanOtaOve descripOons of physical processes to gain a beGer understanding of human physiology. The rest of the day included abstract presentaOons from Australian and internaOonal professionals and their respecOve work.
Tuesday started with another keynote speaker, Todd Cooper, from the United States of America, about risk management for IT networks incorporaOng medical devices and the implementaOon of the 80001 standard ensuring safety, effecOveness, data and system security and interoperability. I presented my Honours project about changes in the micro-‐architecture of subchondral bone in knee osteoarthriOs using micro-‐CT. The Medical Room, who held their presentaOon at the same Ome, have commenced trading in Australia, where the ribbon was cut by Professor Karen Reynolds at ABEC. They offer services in recruitment, training and project consultancy with biomedical engineering, which I took a parOcular interest in as I am a final year student looking to go into the industry.
Wednesday morning began with the NPBEER sponsored student presentaOons. Within this stream was a presentaOon from Prasanna Sritharan, from the University of Melbourne, who presented his work about contribuOons by muscles and foot-‐ground interacOon to forces in osteoarthriOc knees, a topic very closely related to my Honours project. The difference is that I am studying osteoarthriOc knees using micro-‐CT on excised bone, while he was focusing on the forces during gait analysis and the effect they can have. The conference wrapped up with another presentaOon from Todd Cooper, about medical device interoperability, before student prizes were presented along with the ABEC conference close.
This conference was a great experience overall, and one suited for people who have never aGended engineering conferences before. I gained a valuable insight into the work and projects
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that are being conducted around Australia and internaOonally through aGending presentaOons, while networking with other professionals in the industry. I am also privileged to have been selected by SMBE for the 2013 travel grant, and would like to thank them for allowing me to parOcipate at ABEC. I hope to experience many more conferences in future.
Sam de Groen
Muhammad HussanThe summary of the trip for aGending the Australian Biomedical Engineering Conference (ABEC 2013) at Sydney, NSW, Australia through the SMBE SA/NT ABEC 2013 Travel Award.
Sydney city (capital city of NSW) is usually known as Sydney Harbour, where the iconic Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge are the outstanding architectural structures. Besides this, naOonal parks, and many bays, rivers, inlets and beaches surround the city area.
The Australian Biomedical Engineering Conference (ABEC) is the major conference for the College of Biomedical Engineers in Australia each year. The conference started on 13th October (Sunday) by a warm welcome recepOon at Banquet hall of the conference venue (SMC Conference and FuncOon Centre, Sydney). However, the main conference program was started on 14th October (Monday) and my presentaOon was on the same day.
The morning started with registraOon and then the chair of college of Biomedical Engineering delivered a welcome talk. Will van den Berg who was a co-‐convenor of this successful ABEC 2013 conference gave a nice opening address. In addiOon, the keynote speaker was Professor Poul Nielsen from the University of Auckland who has divers experOse in the field of bioengineering and biomedical engineering. The Otle of his presentaOon was “IntegraOve Bioengineering InstrumentaOon, ExperimentaOon, and Model Development”, where he discussed a broad range of research in biomedical engineering and their current findings along with some possible future direcOons. The main focus of his presentaOon was how to understand the human body funcOons based on both reducOve discovery of mechanisms and mulO-‐scale integraOon. More specifically, in his presentaOon, the project ‘Cardiac Electromechanics’ dealing with the relaOon of cellular acOvaOon and contracOon mechanics was very exciOng. Apart from this, some other projects were also remarkable such as:
• Biomechanics for Breast Imaging.
• ComputaOonal Fluid Mechanics.
• Vision Engineering.
• Cardiac Electrophysiology.
• Lungs and Respiratory System.
• Cardiac Metabolism.
This presentaOon brought the engineers, mathemaOcians, clinicians and researchers into one plaoorm to work together for the benefit of paOents.
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There were several presentaOons and one poster session throughout the enOre conference in morning and evening sessions. The presentaOons of ABEC 2013 conference cover a wide range of Biomedical Engineering discipline for different applicaOons, such as:
• Biomedical Signal Processing.
• Biomedical Imaging.
• Biomedical OpOcal Fiber Sensing.
• Biomedical Device Uses.
• Biomedical RehabilitaOons Engineering.
• Sleep Aapnea Research.
• Clinical Engineering.
• MathemaOcal Modeling.
Professor Philip de Chazal from University of Western Sydney gave a presentaOon on behalf of Dr Gaetano Gargiulo from the same university, which was on an interesOng topic and directly related to my interest. They proposed a new improved formula based purely on true unipolar limbs leads measured without the use of a Wilson Central Terminal (WCT). The following presentaOon was also given by Professor Philip de Chazal on the topic of detecOng ectopic beat using a single lead ECG. It was very interesOng talk, because, before analysing the ECG signal this is a very common phenomenon of dealing the ectopic beats. However, they applied two methods for detecOng the ectopic beats on surface of ECG signal followed by some comparison based on the results, which will help for future improvements. In my presentaOon, I have received some posiOve feedback, which improves my confidence in my research. In addiOon, some suggesOons were given from the audience in my presentaOon, which may give a great impact on my current and future work. However, few experOse’s on my research field were very interested on my current work and showed keen interest to do collaboraOon that can be a new gate way for me to explore on this field.
Every day a[er the morning sessions and during the lunchOme, it was open to visit a number of commercial booth from different medical device company those sponsored this successful ABEC 2013 conference. In parOcular, Imaging SoluOons Company brought several commercial devices and so[ware built-‐in medical device using sophisOcated imgae processing techniques. Besides, GE Healthcare also displayed their latest Anasthesia delivery products which will play a significant role for clinicians for using it before and a[er surgery. In addiOon, the company Mortara displayed the non-‐invasive ECG diagnosOc devices enabling with remote ECG acquisiOon for telemedicine applicaOons, which was one of the exciOng products in that sessions. I am interested about this product as my future work will incorporate the telemedicine and online signal processing for the benefit of paOents. Further, WelchAllyn Company also demonstrated a range of different products relaOng medical equipments. Another company FLUKE CorporaOon exhibited several biomedical devices and analysers those are necessary to test the medical devices and system. Furthermore, some other medical device manufacturing company and trade exhibitor were also there with latest news and products like GCX monitoring soluOons, Allied Medical, SonoSite and Philips.
Many researchers, academics, PhD students and medical device Supplier Company aGended this ABEC 2013 conference. The lunchOme and break Ome for tea sessions were mainly for networking opportuniOes. Several group discussions were going on during that Ome and I met several researchers, local and internaOonal parOcipants to share the views and ideas in diverse topic of
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Biomedical Engineering. Some local parOcipants were from University of New South Wales (Azadeh Looi, Ahmed Shah Idll), University of Western Sydney (Philip de Chazal, Greg Cohen), and InternaOonal parOcipants were from NaOonal University of Singapore (Changyuan Yu), University of Auckland (Song Xing) whom I was able to talk over during break Ome. Moreover, the award presentaOons were also in the conference program. Specially, I would like to menOon about the Student Prize presentaOon. One of my friends, Khalid Alonazi, from University of New South Wales received the best poster award for modelling the aorOc valve opening and closing events during le[ ventricular support.
By aGending this ABEC 2013 conference, I have benefited a lot as a student and as a researcher, though; several interesOng presentaOons were in the same Ome and limited Ome for looking at all exciOng posters thoroughly. However, upcoming Australian Biomedical Engineering conference may render my enthusiasm to explore more in the field of Biomedical Engineering, which will be held in Canberra from 20-‐22nd August 2014. In addiOon, I am very thankful to SMBE SA/NT secOon for their kind and generous support that made possible for presenOng my research works in such a great event. I wish such a travel support will inspired to the students and researchers for making more contribuOons in various discipline of Biomedical Engineering.
Muhammad Hussan
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2013 SMBE (SA/NT) Scholarship Article
SMBE (SA/NT) sponsored 2013 Scholarship Award winner Michael Smith (Flinders University, and SA BME employee) to aLend his nominated conference – ABEC 2013. Michael presented his PhD research project ‘Theore4cal Limita4ons for Forward-‐Osmosis Dialysate Produc4on Using Standard Reverse-‐Osmosis Membrane Elements’. In addi4on, Michael claimed first prize in the joint EA/SMBE(SA/NT) Student Papers Night in November 2013, and presented his research to the society in February 2014.
The concept of BME prac44oner registra4on was re-‐introduced to many through the presence of The Medical Room, which proved to be one of ABEC 2013 most popular and discussed aLrac4ons. Michael shares an interview with Dani Forster, The Medical Room (Australia).
MS: [Regarding a quesOon at yesterday's (October 14th) session, OPEN FORUM FROM AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND UNIVERSITIES ON BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING TEACHING PROGRAMS]
MS: Yesterday, a speaker from QUT suggested that biomedical engineering graduates should be, "...ready for direct entry into the medical device industry,".
DF: I think that the university courses are training biomedical engineers to go into research and design in the medical technology industry. Unfortunately there isn't a very large medical device technology industry for them to go into. David Grayden from the university of Melbourne added up the number of graduates found that there are about 350 graduates per year coming out of universiOes for an industry where, the maximum number of pracOcing biomedical engineers and technicians is around 3000, so that's around 10 percent of the current industry are being now graduated every year.
MS: I think it's interesOng what Mike Flood said this morning, that even the medical device www.smbe.asn.au ! 6
companies don't really demand biomedical engineers because they really need specialised engineers such as injecOon moulding or process engineers.
DF: The big companies can have a mulOdisciplinary team, so you can have a specific electrical and mechanical engineers and a biomedical engineer can sit on that but they are not going to have all biomedical engineers for medical devices. So there is very limited demand. I would like to think that if we encouraged more innovaOon in Australia, then there would be more posiOons for those graduates, because they are very intelligent people that have fantasOc knowledge and skills-‐ they just need somewhere that they can apply them.
MS: For researchers, I think there is a great advantage to be had by being exposed to real clinical problems by doing bench work, understanding how nurses work, hearing their complaints and seeing where faults come from. In Australia, where we don't have many medical device companies, do you think there is an advantage in perhaps having engineering graduates experience clinical engineering to enhance their research ability?
DF: It's not that there isn't research and development that clinical engineers can get involved in, it's that clinical engineers have not had the Ome to get involved in it because they've been so wrapped up with the medical equipment maintenance and repair services. But I actually think that if we went out there and did start talking to the clinicians about what their problems are and offer the technical services that a biomedical engineer can offer, I think you'd find that there's a lot of innovaOon that's just siyng there, waiOng to be discovered. When I was looking for my PhD project, I put it out there that I was looking for one, and I had about five different research projects within a few days that came up -‐ all really fantasOc projects -‐ one on sleep apnoea, one working with the neonates at the Mercy Hospital, there was the children's hospital that want to do some research with near-‐infra-‐red, and the list goes on. What an engineer technician can do is then take that base level of competency and take it further and use it to problem solve; to innovate; to look at the issues with medical equipment. At the moment, technical staff are too busy doing other things.
MS: Do you think of this as a resourcing problem -‐ a lack of appropriate funding, perhaps?
DF: I think of it as a public relaOons problem! I don't think there's any understanding that there are so many benefits that a biomedical engineer can add, and on the surface you can't actually see how such innovaOon can improve cost-‐effecOveness: there's no sort of monetary value that's aGached to doing this research and design, but actually the improvements in healthcare would far outweigh it. It's difficult for non-‐technical clinical or admin staff to understand that there is so much more that we could be helping them with and in fact I think there would be a cost-‐effecOveness further down the track because you can find innovaOve soluOons to problems that actually makes the healthcare more cost-‐effecOve.
MS: Yes -‐ you might not save money but you could save lives.
DF: Exactly. Actually, if you do save lives, you'll get recogniOon outside of the healthcare environment for doing that. The media love the stories where there's a new innovaOon that will help save lives.
Michael Smith
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Paying Our Respects
Mr Rex Dowdell passed away just before Christmas 2013 aged 83yrs.
Rex was an SMBE-‐SA council member from 1970 to 1975 and possibly a member for other years but unfortunately the SMBE records are not that detailed for that period.
Rex was born in New Zealand and began his career serving in Korea maintaining field radios where he received a commendaOon from his commanding officer. A[er Korea, Rex worked for Qantas servicing and working on radios, direcOon finding, alOmeters and black box technology.
Around 1970, Rex setup a company in Adelaide called ‘Electro Devices’ which sold medical equipment (mostly ultrasound related) to hospitals in South Australia. Not only did Rex deal with ultrasound imaging equipment, Electro Devices sold and serviced the Sonicaid brand foetal monitoring equipment which were in common use in many hospitals in South Australia. At that Ome, Rex was a kind of Guru of foetal monitoring.
It seems as though Electro Devices was iniOally a ‘Telectronics’ agency as Graham Elsegood menOoned that Electro Devices sold & installed the ICU & CCU Telectronics (Australian made) physiological monitoring system for the RAH in 1972.
Rex did some biomedical design and development in the mid 1970’s and co-‐authored three published journal arOcles. A radiotelemetric method for the study of pH and fluoride-‐ion concentraOon in dental plaque and saliva. Clark NG, Dowdell LR. Med Biol Eng. 1973 Mar;11(2):159-‐63. Biofeedback: control of masOcatory muscle spasm. Dowdell LR, Clarke NG, Kardachi BJ. Med Biol Eng. 1976 May;14(3):295-‐8. Capacity of buffers to inhibit acid producOon within dental plaque, Clarke NG, Dowdell LR. J Dent Res. 1976 Sep-‐Oct;55(5):868-‐74. Around 1985 Rex started working in the research and development group at Flinders Medical Centre (FMC) working on a wide range of novel projects. Rex had an excepOonal talent to transform an academic idea into reality (a working device) that was accurate and reliable. Rex enjoyed about fi[een years working on R+D projects at FMC before reOring. Following reOrement Rex conOnued to come into BME at FMC one day a week to work with young Biomedical Engineers and pass on his wealth of knowledge and experience. Rex only stopped these visits in the laGer part of 2013.
Rex also had many interests outside of working hours and no doubt uOlised some of his reOrement Ome pursuing them. No doubt, aspects of Rex live on in the memory of some of us.
SMBE (SA/NT) would like to acknowledge Tony Carlisle, Robin Wooford, and Graham Elsegood for compiling and contribu4ng to this ar4cle.........................................................................................................................
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Mr Rex Dowdell
The Medical Room – Registration and Training for Biomedical Engineers and Associates in the UK
SMBE (SA/NT) with support from the College of Biomedical Engineers (EA) secured keynote presenters The Medical Room for an Adelaide visit in October aier their successful 2013 ABEC appearance. The Medical Room representa4ves Mike Green (UK) and Dani Forster (Australia) offered a well-‐rounded presenta4on, which addressed their origins, and inten4on to recognize competency within the biomedical network.
With a history in recruitment, The Medical Room director Mike Green clearly sensed complexity in the terminology, pre-‐requisites and requirements of being a hospital medical equipment technician in the UK. In coming to terms with the minimum qualificaOons and the experience required to apply for such roles, Mike addressed the need for registraOon and training pathways to ensure the competency and integrity of the clinical engineering profession.
With a clear focus, Mike reviewed the efforts required to implement such a system in the UK before using examples (some unfortunate!) to gather momentum for his cause in Australia through his protégé Dani based in Melbourne.
The Medical Room are well on their way to establishing themselves as leads in biomedical recruitment and training services, focusing on;
• Contract and Permanent Recruitment for the Biomedical Sector• Dedicated Biomedical Technology Training for Engineers & Associates• Biomedical Project Services
For those who missed their 2013 ABEC and Adelaide presentaOon, please visit their website for more informaOon; www.themedicalroom.com
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2013 EA / SMBE (SA/NT) Student Papers Night
Engineers Australia again joined with SMBE (SA/NT) to facilitate the 2013 Student Papers Night hosted by Flinders University 4th December at Flinders University SILC building conference room. The event remains strongly supported by SA Universi4es and students.
The evening provides honors students and above with the opportunity to showcase their final year projects or PhD research. The only criteria to parOcipate as a presenter are that the presentaOon must be related to biomedical research and comply with a 12 minute Ome limitaOon. Presenters
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were also given a three-‐minute opportunity to answer quesOons post presentaOon and are marked on an raOo of delivery technique, presentaOon skills, scienOfic content, and ability to answer quesOons.
The evening was well aGended with six presenters from the three SA UniversiOes, who impressed the judges with a broad range of projects and complexity. Fortunately for the evening, but unfortunately for the judges, the presenters conOnued to offer a high standard of projects and presentaOon skills. A[er much consultaOon, PhD candidate Michael Smith from Flinders University won first prize with his research project ‘TheoreOcal LimitaOons for Forward-‐Osmosis Dialysate ProducOon Using Standard Reverse-‐Osmosis Membrane Elements’. Michael took home $400 care of EA and was presented with a cerOficate to signify his achievement. Taking second place and $150 prize money was Lloyd Fletcher of University of Adelaide for his final year project Otled ‘The Effect of Accumulated FaOgue Damage on the Fracture Resistance of CorOcal Bone’.
SMBE (SA/NT) would like to thank the Ome and efforts of the judging panel; Aaron Mohtar of Flinders University and Clare Jones represenOng University of Adelaide, and importantly David Hobbs (Chair College of Biomedical Engineers, Engineers Australia), who was MC, and coordinated the evening and presenters. We all look forward to gathering again for this year’s Student Papers Night, and welcome everyone to aGend and support the next crop of aspiring Biomedical Engineers.
Lachlan Eberhard
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David Hobbs, Michael Smith and Lachlan Eberhard First Prize Recipient Michael Smith with Runner-‐up Lloyd Fletcher
2013 SMBE (SA/NT) Outstanding Honors Project Award
Since overcoming student shortage in recent years, the latest batch of Flinders University South Australia biomedical engineering students con4nued to reveal excep4onal projects and achievements.
SMBE (SA/NT) representaOves Lachlan Eberhard and Greg Smith were again invited by Flinders University of South Australia (FUSA) as industry specialists to help judge the 2013 FUSA Expo Day on 13th November 2013. The event showcased the most successful projects for honors students and above in all engineering categories. The judging panel which also included Mark Taylor as a FUSA representaOve had the opportunity to be impressed with the achievements of two Biomedical Masters and two Biomedical Honors students. Also included within the ‘Biomedical’ themed project category was a So[ware and Electronics Honors student.
The format of the day offered the judging panel ability to listen and quesOon each student’s project within a conscious Omeframe. Students were required to demonstrate their ability to clearly present their project content, appearance, and the way it was executed.
The SMBE (SA/NT) Outstanding Honors Project Award is intended to recognize the most outstanding achievement for a Biomedical Engineering enrolled student. However, all six students within the Biomedical project themed prize category were eligible to win FUSA recogniOon for the most outstanding Biomedical themed project award, which the judging panel had authority to award.
It was a pleasure to recognize the exemplary efforts of honors student Ryan Sidari with the 2013 SMBE (SA/NT) Outstanding Honors Project Award. Ryan made a difficult decision s l i g h t l y e a s i e r b y impressing the judging p a n e l o f h i s a c h i e v e m e n t s throughout the year with his project Otled ‘Design of a Posture Monitor‘. In summary, Ryan wrote an App for an iPhone or iPod product that communicated with two custom built accelerometer belts using low power Bluetooth. The belts are placed around the upper and lower lumber, and measured angles of Olt and recorded, as well as alerted the severity of posture. His efforts were also rewarded by claiming first prize in the IET South Australia & Northern Territory Local Network IET Rex Johns (SPPAW State Level) Student PresentaIon Prize in October 2013. The Rex Johns prize evening hosts two of the best presenOng students from each of the three SA universiOes.
Ryan accepted $500 cash from SMBE (SA/NT) and one year’s free membership along with a cerOficate presented to him on the day of the expo.www.smbe.asn.au ! 11
2013 Winner Ryan Sidari with SMBE (SA/NT) President Lachlan Eberhard
Winner of the FUSA Outstanding Project award for the prize category of Biomedical Engineering was Meseret Teferra (Masters Eng Biomedical), who impressed the judging panel for his Masters Project ‘An Ophthalmic Response Simulator’. Meseret re-‐designed a previously successful FUSA project to be completely stand-‐alone using a custom-‐made control panel. The simulator previously relied on PC interference.
Thanks go to all FUSA Biomedical prize category students who impressed the judging panel. Everyone present on the day could tesOfy to the high quality, standard and achievements of their final year projects. Credit must be awarded to FUSA, who have had much success through their biomedical engineering students in recent years, and as a society, we will do everything we can to support the success, popularity and interest in the field of Biomedical Engineering.
Lachlan Eberhard........................................................................................................................
2014 SMBE (SA/NT) Encouragement Award
SMBE (SA/NT) is pleased to support the successful nomina4on of Pramod Lamichhane for the 2014 Dräger / SMBE (SA/NT) Encouragement Award.
Pramod, a recent SMBE (SA/NT) member and NT Medical Equipment Management employee received very posiOve support from his colleagues and supervisor.
He is a quietly spoken 34yo Australian ciOzen who originated from Nepal where he gained his Bachelor of Engineering (Electronics & Communication) in 2003 and worked as a Biomedical Engineer. He graduated from Charles Darwin University in 2009 with a Masters of Engineering Management and then worked for the NT Government in a non-‐ Biomedical Engineering field unOl June 2013, when he re-‐entered the Biomedical Engineering profession with Medical Equipment Management at Alice Springs hospital.
He is enthusiasOc about his return to the field and has an insaOable appeOte to learn, contribute and improve since joining us. I see him as a future leader in the field and I will be encouraging him to conOnue to expand his knowledge and to share his Central Australian experiences by presenOng at future SMBE conferences.
His acknowledged aspiraOons and enthusiasm has assured him of the recogniOon, which included funded aGendance to the country SMBE (NSW) Seminar in March 2014. Pramod will be providing a report about his experience, which will be included within our next newsleGer.
SMBE (SA/NT) would like to acknowledge the efforts of Nathan Clements (Dräger Australia) for the conOnuaOon of the Dräger partnership and support in recogniOon of the SMBE (SA/NT) Encouragement Award at short noOce. Dräger Australia have donated a trophy and contributed financially to cover Pramod’s SMBE (NSW) seminar registraOon costs. SMBE (SA/NT) are thankful for industry involvement, which helps the society support the individuals who have the aGributes to contribute, and become leaders within the biomedical profession.
For more informaOon about the Dräger / SMBE (SA/NT) Encouragement Award, please check out our website hGp://www.smbe.asn.au/SMBE_SA/SMBE_SA.htm
Lachlan Eberhard / Trevor Riessen......................................................................................................................................................
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ABEC 2014
The Australian Biomedical Engineering Conference (ABEC) 2014, hosted by Engineers Australia, will be from Wednesday 20 to Friday 22 August 2014 at the NaOonal ConvenOon Centre, Canberra Australia.
Th is year , ABEC wi l l be presented in parallel with, and at the same Ome and venue as the Australian RehabilitaOon & A s s i s O v e T e c h n o l o g y A s s o c i a O o n ( A R A T A ) conference. ARATA provides a forum for exploring issues in AssisOve Technology for people with a disability.
Please visit the official website for more informaOon, including registraOon;hGp://abec2014.iamevents.com.au/
SMBE (SA/NT) is pleased to announce the conOnuaOon of the SMBE (SA/NT) ABEC Travel Grant, which offers one successful student (honors level or above) the opportunity to be funded up to $1,500 in travel, accommodaOon and conference costs to present their research. Official 2014 SMBE (SA/NT) ABEC Travel Grant flyer and applicaOon form aGached.
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Scientific Launch of South Australian Health & Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI)
23 -‐ 26 June, 2014. SAHMRI & The Adelaide ConvenOon Centre, North Terrace, Adelaide
SAHMRI invites you to its inaugural ScienOfic Launch, which includes a public tour of the its new flagship research facility, as well as keynote presentaOons and scienOfic workshops delivered by leading naOonal & internaOonal speakers. Please see brochure below for the program of events.For quesOons regarding this event, please email [email protected]
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www.smbe.asn.au ! 14
David Dewhurst Award and Women in Biomedical Scholarship Nominations Now OpenEngineers Australia’s David Dewhurst Award and the Women in Biomedical Scholarship are both open for nominaOons.
Please refer to the following link for informaOon about the awards:hGp://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/biomedical-‐college/awards
We need your assistance to encourage nominaOons.
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Membership FeesDo you know if your SMBE (SA /NT) membership is current?Would you like to confirm your membership?For all related quesOons, please contact the SMBE (SA/NT) treasurer: [email protected] membership renewal form is available through our website; hGp://www.smbe.asn.au
Membership CertificatesAre you a SMBE (SA/NT) member without a Membership cerOficate?Would you like to update your email or contact details?If so please contact the SMBE (SA/NT) secretary: [email protected] membership cerOficate will be made for you and formally presented at our next technical meeOng.
Newsletter ArticlesWould you like to leave feedback or comments about the SMBE (SA/NT) newsleGer? Maybe you have an interesOng arOcle to share? If so, please contact the SMBE (SA/NT) secretary [email protected] look forward to hearing from you!
SMBE (SA/NT) CommitteePresident Lachlan EberhardVice President Greg SmithImmediate Past President Olivia Lockwood (NewsleGer Editor)Treasurer Daniel FletcherSecretary Vera TownsendCouncil Adrian Richards Maged Shenouda Trevor Reissen (NT)
Robin Woolford (Webmaster)HaOce Kalkan (Membership Officer)
Would you like to like to know more about the commiGee? Please visit our website www.smbe.asn.au
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Society of Medical & Biological Engineering (SA/NT)
2014 SMBE (SA/NT)
ABECScholarship
$1,500 Conference Travel Grant for Students
SMBE (SA/NT) is offering a conference travel grant of up to $1,500 for a student or postgraduate in SA and NT to present either an oral paper (preferred) or poster at the 2014 ABEC conference in Canberra Wednesday 20th to Friday 22nd August 2014.
Students must be SMBE (SA/NT) members to apply so join now.
*****SMBE Student Membership is ONLY $15****
Membership form online – SMBE (SA/NT) website
Completed applications to be received by C.O.B 1st August 2014
All applicants will be notified by email 8th August 2014
Conference details: http://abec2014.iamevents.com.auSMBE Australian website: www.smbe.asn.auSMBE (SA/NT) website: www.smbe.asn.au/SMBE_SA/SMBE_SA.html
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Forward scanned copy to: [email protected]
Applica4on for SMBE (SA/NT)Biomedical Engineering Travel Scholarship
ABEC 2014The SMBE (SA/NT) Biomedical Engineering Travel Scholarship is provided to advance knowledge amongst Biomedical Engineering students in South Australia and Northern Territory. The scholarship is for financial support (up to $1500) for a student or postgraduate to present an oral (preferred) or poster session at the Australian Biomedical Engineering Conference in Canberra 20th-‐22nd August 2014.
APPLICANT DETAILS
Name: Phone:
Student ID: InsOtuOon:
Address:
Email:
-‐ I have aGached a copy of my submiGed abstract -‐ I have received and aGached confirmaOon of my abstract acceptance -‐ I am sOll waiOng for abstract noOficaOonOther funding applied for / received:
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….Completed applicants to be received by 1st August 2014All applicants will be noOfied be email 8th August 2014To be eligible for this scholarship, the applicant must:
1. Be a member of SMBE (SA/NT) – can join immediately to be eligible. Refer to SMBE (SA/NT) website for applicaOon.
2. Accepted to present at the conference (preference given to students accepted for oral presentaOons).
3. Agree to write a report on the event and submit it for publicaOon in the SMBE (SA/NT) newsleGer (no more than two A4 pages).
4. Submit relevant receipts for reimbursement up to the value of $1500
Please aGach any documentaOon that will support your applicaOon including formal conference abstract acceptance and a copy of your submiGed abstract.Note: preference will be given to non-‐commiGee members.
The SMBE (SA/NT) council holds the right to reserve the award.
Signed ………………………………………………………………….. Date …..…./…….…/……….
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