Theme 11. Biomedical Engineering Education and Society

Biomedical Engineering Innovation Toolset – Exploration, Evaluation, and impact Generation: Using the HEALTH Purpose Launchpad

Workshop

Michael H. Friebe, OVGU, Magdeburg (Germany) and AGH University of Science and Technology Krakow (Poland)

The translation process from bench to bedside requires not only a viable technical solution, but a solid understanding of the problem obtained through many customer and market experiments. Analysis of future developments and international needs together with market ideas and scaling effects is equally important. We very often design and develop before we actually check the innovation market and validate the needed specifications for a successful future implementation.

This workshop will present a novel innovation framework / methodology (Purpose Launchpad), a set of tools and a visual radar identifying shortfalls and highlighting progress (Purpose Launchpad - see figure) adjusted to the needs of Health Technology developments. Eight segments (from PURPOSE over CUSTOMER to a VIABILITY check and meaningful METRICS) are presented, discussed and evaluated in a scrum like process to improve and develop an idea from an initial DISCOVERY phase to a prototype that can be VALIDATED subsequently leading to a higher likelihood of successful IMPLEMENTATION. The overall methodology as well as the individual tools for every segment are presented, using examples from the organiser’s innovation lab. After the workshop the attendees should be able to apply this public domain methodology to their own projects / ideas.

Scientific Writing and Manuscript Preparation

Special Session

Cristian A. Linte, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester NY USA
Christopher James, University of Warwick, UK

Technical communication is the process of conveying information about a technology to an intended audience in fields as diverse as science, engineering, biotechnology, and medicine, often in the form of publications and technical articles. Writing well is difficult and labour intensive and writing in technical terms and about technical subjects further compounds the difficulties. The main purpose of the communication is to disseminate the intended information in a useful manner, thereby enabling the reader to fully comprehend the content. Our ultimate goal is to tell our story to other experts in the field, convince them of the validity of our results, and receive recognition for our work. If our document fails to communicate the information that we intend the reader to understand, then the communication is meaningless. Moreover, poor writing will erode the reader's confidence in our article. To accomplish our goals, the article must be professional in content, follow a logical development, be written in formal language, and be properly formatted. This session will introduce the skills that are needed to create well-written scientific articles for publication in journals or conference proceedings. Some of the topics addressed include proper structuring of a manuscript, functionality of its various parts, standards of good technical writing, punctuation and grammar, and highlights of common writing mistakes.

Tips on Effective Presentation Design and Delivery

Special Session

Christopher James, University of Warwick, UK
Cristian A. Linte, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester NY USA

For many of us oral presentations can be the prime means for communicating our ideas and our research, not only to our peers, but also to our employers and to potential customers. As students, you are no exception the prospect of an oral presentation can be daunting, the pressure is on to make a good impression with your research. That we are scientists presenting sometimes very complicated scientific ideas and results need not necessarily be a recipe for a sleep inducing "death by PowerPoint" presentation, rather there are simple ways in which we can all try and make our presentations effective and captivating. This session aims to give you some all-round pointers on preparing and delivering an effective presentation that best conveys your ideas smoothly, understandably and, most important, succinctly.