BY KATHY KOWALENKO
Editor, The Institute

Dr. Metin Akay, EMBS Summer School chair, with Dr. Rita Colwell, NSF director.

Biocomplexity, bioscaling and biosignal interpretation. This is not the usual light reading that college students fill their summer breaks with after a grueling spring semester. But these topics did attract 46 bioengineering, molecular biology, computer science and mathematics students from around the world to the 1st International IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society Summer School on Biocomplexity, Bioscaling and Biosignal Interpretation. It was held 24 June - 1 July at the Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College, Hanover, N.H., USA.

"Because these people are the best, based on their career paths, curriculum vitaes and recommendations, they are going to be the leaders of tomorrow," said IEEE senior member Dr. Metin Akay, the chair of the summer school and also an associate professor of engineering at Thayer.

The seven-day program started in 1995 in Sienna, Italy, with topics on biomedical signal processing. The school is held every two years and alternates between Italy and the United States. This is the first time that the summer school in the United States has focused on a specific subject. The classes were taught in an informal setting by nine professors from the United States and Europe who are experts in their fields.

"The emphasis was to train and recruit students on the emerging technologies such as biocomplexity and explain how to solve these major problems in biology, medicine and engineering using computational tools, mathematical tools and techniques," explained Akay. "Many scientists with different backgrounds must work together and must collaborate. The research focus in the world right now is going in the direction of multidisciplinary."

Diversity mandated
Undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral students attended the international gathering, supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, and Dartmouth's Thayer School of Engineering. Principally through its Directorate for Biological Sciences, the NSF supported 21 fellowships for underrepresented groups from a pool of nearly 250 applicants.

A strong promoter of the worldwide enhancement of the engineering opportunities for women and minorities, Akay's proposal to the NSF specifically targeted the fellowships for under-represented groups. In addition, he sent e-mail messages to applicants alerting them about the fellowships. Because of his work, more than half the attendees were women, Hispanics and African Americans.

"I was determined to increase the involvement of women in engineering at the summer school," Akay explained. "We must train them because this is a moral and ethical responsibility for all of us."

So strongly did the NSF support the program that its director, Dr. Rita Colwell, gave the keynote address at the opening ceremony and attended for two days.

"Biocomplexity issues will be at the cutting edge of decisions made in science and technology in this, the 21st century," she said. "How we handle the interface between the natural world and the man-made world will very much determine the long-term viability of life on the planet. This web of connections will continue to link science and engineering research."

Sophie Desbiens of Brown University, the student representive, said, "We learned much more than we expected, both scientifically and personally. This is mainly the result of the high quality of the lectures, the diversity of the participants and the incredible organization of this event."

In her evaluation, student Natalie Aronson from the University of Kentucky, said the "summer school has positively influenced my perspective in regards to the opportunities available in the biomedical and biotechnology fields as well as my personal goals. The diversity of the lectures and the participants both contributed to the enriching experience."

For more information, visit http://www.eng.unsw.edu.au/embs/ss2001.html or contact Dr. Akay at m.akay@ieee.org.