Meeting at the 8th Symposium on Biological and Medical Systems in Budapest

The 8th IFAC Symposium on Biological and Medical Systems was held in Budapest, Hungary in August 29–31, 2012, organized by the IFAC TC 8.2. Biological and Medical Systems. This year the former name of the symposium – Symposium on Modelling and Control in Biomedical Systems (including Biological Systems) was changed to the simpler Symposium on Biological and Medical Systems making easier the identification of the scope of the conference and also to be consistent with the new name of the TC. Biomedical engineering is one of the fastest growing scientific fields as the demand for more efficient medical diagnostic and treatment methods is rapidly increasing . The Symposium aims to provide a scientific forum for the presentation of new developments in this important interdisciplinary field. 

The number of accepted papers reflected the importance of the area, 109 submissions were received and 95 manuscripts accepted. The relatively high acceptance rate was the result of the high quality of the submissions, partly due to the fact that ~50% of papers were in specially organized invited sessions. 36 conference papers were recommended to IFAC affiliated journals for special editions in the Journal of Clinical Monitoring and Computing,  Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine, and Biomedical Signal Processing & Control.

The total number of participants was 106 from 21 countries. Traditionally, the highest number of attendees came from Europe, however a significant number of researchers were from overseas, where 18% of participants came from New Zealand, Australia, United States, Brazil, Japan and Mexico.

The scientific highlights of the conference were the heavily represented topics including Image-Based Modeling of Biological and Medical Systems, Model Formulation, and Decision Support and Control applied in different physiological fields. For the first time, the Symposium introduced sessions on Human Eye Modeling and Treatment.

 IFAC TC 8.2 Order of Merit Awardees

The social event was organized on a ship so the participants could enjoy the beautiful night lights of Budapest. The social event also hosted the award ceremony for the IFAC TC 8.2 Order of Merit. The IFAC TC 8.2 Order of Merit is awarded to a distinguished control engineer who has made significant contributions to the field of Biomedical and/or Biological Engineering and Medicine relevant to the IFAC TC 8.2 (Biological and Medical Systems). It is given in recognition of internationally recognized accomplishments for either specific contributions and/or a career of consistent contribution to advancing the field and discipline. This accomplishment is recognized by the award of a specially designed medal, and is awarded by nomination and the recommendation of a select committee convened by the TC 8.2 chair. The first two members of the TC 8.2 community to be awarded the TC 8.2 Order of Merit were Prof. Ewart Carson and Prof. Zoltán Benyó. In the picture above are the 2012 IFAC TC 8.2 Order of Merit Awardees  (centre) surrounded by the TC 8.2 chairs, the Symposium organiser and the co-editors who managed all the review processes. The Hungarian Parliament is in the background.