After a quick recap of the year's activities, review of the branch finances and election of the branch officers and committee, we listened to a fascinating talk on Biomedical Engineering presented by Professor Nic Smith, Dean of Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering, Auckland University, themed:
Can a clinician learn anything from
an engineering based computer model?
Nic's presentation gave us an insight into the application of advanced high performance clinical imaging techniques to aid diagnosis and clinical planning, and outlined the current state of the art in this area using examples from engineering and cardiology including coronary artery disease and heart failure, showing us how this engineering based approach is changing medical research and practice.
Nic went on to show us the progress of converting the old Lion Brewery site in Newmarket into the new home of Auckland University's Engineering School, especially for the heavy engineering labs. As Nic commented,
"For years students have been trying to turn the university into a brewery, now a brewery is being turned into a university!"
Nic concluded his talk with an update on the state of degree level engineering education in NZ which has seen a huge growth in enrolment numbers at all of NZ's universities in recent years, placing great strain on existing facilities.
Click here for a copy of the slides from Nic's presentation [3.2MB PDF].
