<p> Director's Report for 1997</p><p>The Centre for Biomedical Engineering, University of Adelaide was established on 9th November 1990 with the following objectives:</p><p> To create an environment for interdisciplinary research, learning and other scholarly work in the field of biomedical engineering within the University  To promote interaction between persons with expertise relevant to biomedical engineering  To provide special facilities and support needed for studies in biomedical engineering  To promote biomedical engineering in the academic and general community </p><p>The centre is administratively responsible to the Dean, Faculty of Engineering, although it has vested interests with the Faculties of Medicine, Dentistry, Science and Mathematics and Computer Science. The centre is managed by a Management Committee consisting of a Director, a Deputy Director, Honorary Secretary and seven committee members drawn from various departments of the university, allowing a wide interdisciplinary involvement in the centre. </p><p>Activities of the Centre </p><p>Over the past years, the centre has held committee meetings almost every two months to discuss general business as well as future activities of the centre. These meetings generally have been well attended and there have been many ideas generated for future activities of the centre. </p><p>One example of these ideas was to begin a series of lectures where visiting academics and specialists gave presentations on various topics associated with interests of the centre, e.g. Tissue growth and repair, three dimensional reconstruction of human face for craniofacial studies, and the application of lasers in medicine. </p><p>As well as these lectures, there have been two interesting evenings, namely a Showcase of Biomedical Engineering on 27th November, 1997, when a discussion of current and potential biomedical engineering projects, with an emphasis on the development of joint department grant proposals, and a series of talks arranged by the Colgate Australian Clinical Dental Research Centre on 30th April, 1998. The evenings have been well attended and the discussions generated have been useful and interesting. </p><p>Resources of the Centre </p><p>The Centre has a wealth of knowledge in its members, and at present there are established groups working on a number of areas of research. Specific targeted areas of research in the centre include: Biomedical Signal Processing, orthopaedic Biomechanics, Cardiovascular Engineering, Neutral Networks and its application to biomedical problems. Currently, there are approximately 12 Ph.D. students working in these areas. The centre also has a database of collaborators which is now nearly 100 members. This database provides an excellent reference for seeking the expertise of its members in a vast range of ideas. </p><p>The centre is currently listed in the following: </p><p>The Australian Research and Development Director, SCITECH Technology Directory, The Postgraduate Research and Study, Faculties of Engineering and Mathematical and Computer Science of the University of Asdelaide, CRNet at http://www.crnet.com.au, and the Eli Lilly Directory for Medical Research. </p><p>Future Initiatives </p><p>The Committee for the centre has a number of proposals for activities that it would like to see in the future; </p><p> To establish a Home Page on the World Wide Web of the internet listing the members of the centre and their areas of interest, and to spell out their existing strengths and expand on these. Already research progress has been done in this directio with the help of Ben Raymond, a graduate student in Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department  To publicise the activities of the centre to draw attention to prospective overseas full paying students  To continue to act as a coordinating body to disseminate information and instigate and support submissions to research grant agencies, Government Departments, Industry and the Community  To organise short courses and workshops, and provide counsulting services to various interested groups </p><p>In conclusion, I like to express my sincere thanks for the help and co-operation that I received during my tenure of Directorship for the last 4 years. I also take this opportunity to thank Luminis Pty Ltd, University of Adelaide for the financial support in order to sponsor this AGM. </p><p>21st May, 1998 </p><p>J Mazumdar </p>