Past news and events from 2007, 2008, 2009 & 2010 can be accessed here.

News & Events 2010

  • Prof. Raj Singh from Ohio State University visited IBTec to discuss possibilities of research collaboration. During his visit, he also presented a seminar on ‘Mystery of Dynamic Forces at the Mechanical System Interfaces’.
  • Prof. Vivian Lee from the New York Medical Centre visited IBTec to discuss possibilities of research collaboration.
  • Professor Anil Saigal from Tufts University (US) visited IBTec to discuss collaboration in early October. During his visit, he also presented a seminar on ‘Crystallographic Texture Effects on Shape Recovery Strain and Mechanical Properties of Polycrystalline Nitinol’
  • Prof. Cahit Evrensel from University of Nevada (Reno, US) visited IBTec to discuss possibilities of research collaboration in late November. During his visit, he also presented a seminar on ‘Means of enhancing Cough Clearance’
  • Prof. Ahmed Al-Jumaily and Ashis Mookerjee attended the 2010 Summer Bioengineering Conference at Naples, Florida and presented two papers. Ashis Mookerjee received a commendation during the 2010 Summer Bioengineering Conference conference banquet for his paper which was judged as one of the top 5 papers in the field of Biofluid and Biotransport Engineering.  A total of >500 papers were presented at the conference.
  • Dr Gijs Ijpma successfully completed his doctorate and has been appointed as a postdoctoral research fellow.
  • Dr Prisca Mbikou was appointed as a postdoctoral research fellow. She completed her PhD from the Université Victor Segalen Bordeaux 2, France. Dr Mbikou has been working on setting up the animal testing facilities at IBTec and extending the asthma research in vivo.
  • The Institute was visited by Kane Alward from SHEPPARD INDUSTRIES and Bryn McDonagh from ATA Scientific to discuss possibilities of new research collaboration. Bryn McDonough installed a piece of engineering equipment allowing droplets to be measured.
  • Dr David Rapoport from Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine and also a Medical Director at the Sleep Disorders Centre, School of Medicine, New York University visited IBTec to discuss research on nose air conditioning. 
  • Prof. Ahmed Al-Jumaily presented on Biomedical Research at AUT at the Medical Technology Conference held in Hotel Langham. The presentation was well received by the audience, especially by the Dean of Engineering and Medicine at University of Auckland.
  • Prof. Ahmed Al-Jumaily and Mr David White gave a presentation to Fisher and Pakel Healthcare on “Optimized n-CPAP Humidification”. The presentation, held in March, was well received by the company.
  • IBTec hosted a seminar by Mr Chris Whittington from the School of Engineering, AUT in March entitled “Engineering for medical applications”.
  • Prof. Al-Jumaily acted as an external examiner for a PhD candidate from the University of Regina (Canada) and also presented a seminar during his trip.
  • Prof. Al-Jumaily was invited to present a seminar at the James Hogg Research Centre, University of British Columbia on “Non-invasive Diagnosis of Arterial Diseases: Engineering Approach”.
  • IBTec organized a symposium on Respiratory and Cardiovascular therapies and diagnostics at the Medical Sciences, NZ congress held in Queenstown this year. In total, there were 7 attendees and presentations.
  • Prof. Al-Jumaily was chaired the Biomedical and Biotechnology Engineering Conference held in conjunction with International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE 2010, Vancouver, Canada) which is sponsored by the ASME. He was awarded a merit of honour for the chair role in IMECE 2010. Prof. Al-Jumaily will also be chairing the same track in IMECE 2011. Prof. Al-Jumaily also organized a symposium on ‘Vibrations and acoustics in biomedical applications’ within IMECE.
  • The Institute has expanded to now occupy three locations, mainly WD301, WD209 and WN level 4 (the tissue mechanics and respiratory function lab).
  • The institute has 3 new PhD students (Mohammad Alhaddad, Abd Halim Embong and Miguel Jo Avila).

News & Events 2009

  • Professor Al-Jumaily visited Chile and presented three papers at different institutions. The titles of these presentations were:
  1. Respiratory Therapy: Breaking the walls of airway smooth muscles (presented to the School of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile)
  2. Low Risk & cost effective talkative models for medical devices (presented to the Chilean Society of Physiology Science Special Seminar, Universidad del Bio-Bio, Chillán- Faculty of Sciences)
  3. Role of modeling in lung therapy (presented to the Universidad de Concepción- Dept of Biomedical Engineering).
  • Professor Al-Jumaily is organising and chairing the Biomedical and Biotechnology track of the International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE 2009) in Orlando, Florida. IMECE is the annual winter meeting of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
  • IBTec hosts Dr Luis Sobrevia from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Universidad Católica de Chile who gave a presentation on nucleoside transporters in fetal endothelial dysfunction in gestational diabetes.
  • IBTec hosts Dr Hans Crezee, Principal investigator, Hypothermia Research, University of Amsterdam who presented a lecture on the use of heat as a cancer treatement.
  • 6 -10 December 2009: IBTec staff will be presenting 5 posters at the 2009 ComBio conference in Christchuch. More details about this conference can be found here.
  • Professor Ahmed Al-Jumaily was elected as a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers through nomination of the Bioengineering Division. Details here

News & Events 2008

  • Prasika Reddy won the ARGONZ prize for best presentation at the 2008 Medical Sciences Congress in Queenstown, NZ.
  • IBTec hosts Professor Gary Sieck from the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, Minnesota.
  • Professor Abdul Salam Al-Ammri from the University of Bagdad in Iraq has started working with the Cardiovascular System Dynamics and Devices Group. Professor Al-Ammri will be spending a year during his sabbatical with IBTec.
  • IBTec publishes 2 books in collaboration with the Mayo Clinic. Now available!
  • Paper published: “Pressure Waves as a Noninvasive Tool for Artery Stiffness Estimation” in the Journal of Medical Devices.
  • IBTec researchers present 8 papers at the International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE2008) at Boston. The IBTec representatives who attended the conference are Professor Ahmed Al-Jumaily, Ashis Mookerjee, Gjis IJpma and Prasika Reddy.
  • IBTec students deliver 5 presentations at the 2008 Medical Sciences Congress at Queenstown. The IBTec representatives who attended this conference are Professor Ahmed Al-Jumaily, Hai Lan, Prasika Reddy and Xiaoqi Ma.
  • IBTec has been awarded a TBG grant from the Foundation of Research Science and Technology for the development of new respiratory supportive devices.
  • IBTec will host Professor Gary Sieck from the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine form September the 27th until October 1st. Professor Gary Sieck will give an open lecture on Tuesday September 30 at 12:00 in WA 220 on AUT's Wellesley Campus.
  • The institute is currently hosting Professor Joon Shin from the Department of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering at KANGNUNG National University in Korea. Prof Shin is planning to spend his one year sabbatical at IBTec working within the Cardiovascular System Dynamics and Devices Group.
  • Gijs Ipjma, a PhD student from IBTec was awarded New Zealand Postgraduate Study Abroad Award to sponsor his trip to complete part of his PhD research on Asthma at the Mayo College of Medicine next semester. The research component is fully funded by the Clinic.
  • Two books written by IBTec and The Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and published by the ASME are now on sale: “Applications of Vibration and Acoustics for Imaging and Characterization” and “Applications of Vibration and Acoustics in Therapy, Bio-Effects and Modeling”
  • Mr Joe El-Aklouk and Professor Ahmed Al-Jumaily published a new paper entitled “Pressure Waves as a Noninvasive Tool for Artery Stiffness Estimation” in the Journal of Medical Devices. The work was done in collaboration with Pulsecor Ltd.
  • ME student Yu Wang is starting his research on “Artificial Neonatal Airway and Lobe Model” in collaboration with Fisher&Paykel Healthcare. A TIF application for $25,000 has been submitted.
  • PhD students Gijs Ijpma, Joe El-Aklouk, Ashis Mokerjee, Hai Lan and Deena Benjamin were awarded AUT and Cyclone Laptop Scholarship.
  • PhD student John Leek started his research on Developing a Virtual Lung Environment for Live Tissue Testing. John currently holds a position as a senior lecturer at Manukau Institute of Technology (MIT).
  • Avinash Bookwala started his Masters of Engineering Research into Mobile Personalised Geo-Spacial Applications in collaboration with Goldfinger Hightech Ltd. A 25,000 TIF has been granted to support the project. Also the project is fully funded by Goldfinger Hightech Ltd.

News & Events 2007

  • Staff and students under the BioMEC/IBTec published over 20 papers in respected peer reviewed national and international Journals and Conferences.
  • In 2007, Professor Al-Jumaily have given the following public presentations at the Kumoh National Institute of Technology, Korea:
    • March 22 - Asthma and Mechanical Engineering
    • April 12 - Smart Lenses
    • May 10 - Talkative Models-Medical Device Applications
    • May 31 - Non-invasive Techniques for Detecting Artery Hardness
    • June 14 - Engineering Modelling and Industries
    • July 20 - Biomedical Therapy Devices-Needs and Simplicity (delivered to the electronic industries in Gumi, S Korea)
  • Bads and Goods of Vibration “ a Problem in Machine Tools but a Remedy in Health”, Invited speaker at the Korean Society of Machine Tools Engineering, Seoul, S. Korea, May 18, 2007.
  • Engineering Modelling Perspectives from Machine to Biological Systems, Invited speaker at the Korean Society of Precision Engineering, Jeju Island Korea, June 21, 2007.
  • Asthma Relief -Mechanical Engineering Perspectives, Graduate School of Environment and Information Sciences, Yokohama National University, Yokohama, Japan, July 25, 2007.
  • Asthma Relief -Mechanical Engineering Perspectives, Key Note Speaker, Medical Sciences Congress, Queenstown, New Zealand, 27-30, November 2007.
  • Professor Ahmed Al-Jumaily was appointed by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers to be the Chair of the Biomedical and Biotechnology Engineering Conference within The 2008 ASME International Mechanical Congress and Exposition (IMECE), October 31- November 6, 2008 in Boston, MA. USA.
  • Students and Staff from the Institute of Biomedical Technologies presented 6 papers and one invited talk at the Medical Sciences Congress in Queenstown, 24-28 Nov
  • Professor Ahmed Al-Jumaily submitted two books entitled “Applications of Vibration and Acoustics for Imaging and Characterization” and “Applications of Vibration and Acoustics in Therapy, Bio-Effects and Modeling”. Both books are a collaborative effort between the Institute of Biomedical Technologies and the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and are published by the American Society of Mechanical Engineering (ASME) Press
  • Gijs Ijpma (PhD student at IBTec) was awarded New Zealand Postgraduate Study Abroad Award to sponsor his trip to complete part of his PhD research on Asthma at the Mayo College of Medicine next semester. The research component is fully funded by the Clinic.
  • An MPhil student Joe El-Aklouk at BioMEC/IBTec was given an award for being the most successful postgraduate student in engineering in 2007.
  • IBTec was successful in securing two Postgraduate Contestable Research Scholarships for the following projects:
  • Construction and implementation of an in-vitro test-rig for simulating pressure wave propagation in human arteries.
  • Construction and set-up of a novel AUT surfactometer design including dynamic surface tension experiments on lung surfactant.
  • Joe El-Aklouk completed a collaborative project between the Institute of Biomedical Technologies and the Biotechnology Research Institute. The project was funded by the PVC Medical Devices Cluster. It is expected that Joe will present a paper in the International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition conference summarising the research outcomes. It is anticipated that this project will result in more collaboration between the research institutes with the possibility of submitting joined funding proposal
  • Another PVC Medical Devices Cluster collaborative project was completed by the Institute of Biomedical Technologies (Abhishek Bhowmick) and Sport and Recreation Research New Zealand. The project is aimed at establishing links between the two institutes and is believed to result in the generation of joined funding applications.