Group photo at the opening ceremony of the ICMMB 2018

The 21st International Conference on Mechanics in Medicine and Biology (ICMMB) was held on 22–24 of November, 2018. This three-day event was cohosted by the Taiwanese Society of Biomechanics and the Global Research & Industry Alliance (GLORIA) of the National Yang-Ming University (NYMU) at NYMU. The current Chairperson of the ICMMB, Yos Morsi; the President of the NYMU and the Honorary Chairperson of the ICMMB, Kuo Hsu-Sung; the former Political Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), Dr. Su Fong-Chin; the Head of Research and Development of NYMU and the Chairperson from the organizer, Lin Chun-Li; and the Director General of the Department of Life Sciences at the MOST, Chuang Woei-Jer were invited to give opening speeches. Scholars from all over the world were invited to give talks. This international exchange inspired new thinking in various technologies of mechanics in medicine and biology in Taiwan.

Left to right: Dr. Su Fong-Chin, Honorary Chairperson of the conference; President Kuo Hsu-Sung, Honorary Chairperson of the conference; Director General Chuang Woei-Jer of the Department of Life Sciences at the MOST


Left: Lin Chun-Li, the Chairperson of the conference and the Head of R&D of NYMU. Right: Yos Morsi, the current Chairperson of the ICMMB


This conference started with a talk by the Head of R&D of the NYMU, the Chairperson from the organizer of this conference, Mr. Lin. He started a brand-new dialogue between Taiwanese manufacturers of medical equipment and academic researchers and developers. He stated that the realm of biomechanics includes orthopedics, rehabilitation, motion analysis, and dentistry, which were considered distinct specialties at an earlier time, and that biomechanics has expanded to incorporate emerging realms such as cardiovascular technologies, sports, biomedical materials, cell technologies, and geriatrics. He demonstrated the criticality of the close connection between biomechanical R&D and the medical industry. President Kuo, the Honorary Chairperson of the conference, explained that through this conference, foreign scholars could come to Taiwan to exchange experiences. This exchange promoted the connection of Taiwan to worldwide industrial trends and brought positive benefits to NYMU, such as internationalizing its academic research and promoting international cooperation. Director General Chuang of the the Department of Life Sciences at the MOST provided further affirmation. He asserted that this conference demonstrated the integration of academic research and applications on biomechanics and the medical equipment industry; this integration responds to MOST policies for promoting the development of high-level medical equipment industries domestically and internationally. Dr. Su, the Honorary Chairperson of the conference, remarked that 15 years had passed since Taiwan had last hosted the ICMMB, and concluded that this year’s ICMMB had historical significance.
The 300 participants at the opening ceremony were from industry, government, medical community, and academia; the participants of the conferences came from various countries including the United States, China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, India, Australia, Italy, and Malaysia. Despite the fact that this conference lasted for only 3 days, an unprecedented 2,000 people attended.


Brilliant speeches at the opening ceremony aroused sympathetic and zealous feedback from the audience

During the three-day conference, 16 presentations on mechanics in medicine and biology were offered. We were honored to invite 13 international scholars such as Eddie Ng Yin-Kwee and Yos Morsi to give a talk on critical topics such as “Bio-printing and Bio-fabrication” and “Aging and AI.” This conference attracted 182 paper submissions worldwide, among which 31 outstanding papers were awarded in the paper competition. The awardees can have their papers published in the Journal of Mechanics in Medicine and Biology, which is an international journal indexed in the Science Citation Index.


Bey Shian-Jy, Executive director of the GLORIA at NYMU (middle) introducing GLORIA at NYMU to Prof. Yos Moris (left) and Prof. Romano Zonnoli (right)
 

This conference ended well. Through this conference, GLORIA at NYMU hoped to trigger cooperation among industry, government, academia, and the medical community, and to achieve benefits including the development of the academic applications of medical industries and academic internationalization. Furthermore, this conference facilitated the development of diverse aspects of mechanics in medicine and biology in Taiwan, and was expected to open up new possibilities for international cooperation with Taiwan.