About

Every year, for the last 9 years, NEB-FEUP/ICBAS, the Bioengineering Students Association, has organized the Symposium on Bioengineering, an event whose main purpose is the most traditional, yet the most innovative goal: to present to our academic community the most recent and innovative projects with biomedical and biological applications on issues of our modern society. The Symposium on Bioengineering slogan is Solving Tomorrow, Today, and we intend to accomplish that mission once again this year. As usual, both national and international speakers of exceptional quality, not only from the Academia but also from the Entrepreneurial world, will be present at this Symposium - the largest student-organised Bioengineering event in Portugal, taking into account previous editions attendance and success. By encouraging communication and knowledge sharing among students, academics, industry and start-ups in an event which comprises Biological/Biomedical Engineering and Molecular Biotechnology, we aim to better portray the current state of Bioengineering, particularly in the Portuguese scientific scenery. This year, we focus not only on specific issues for each area, but also on the convergence between all three major branches of Bioengineering. In keeping with the great diversity which is associated with Bioengineering, this programme includes one panel specific to each one of the three branches of the course: Biomedical Engineering, Biological Engineering and Molecular Biotechnology. In addition, three other panels were designed to be as transversal as possible, so as to portray the interdisciplinarity of several areas to which Bioengineering has yet to contribute significantly.

Focusing on Biological Engineering, the program will include sustainability, and how the industry is moving towards a greener future.

Concerning Molecular Biotechnology, it will be discussed new approaches to senescence and age-related diseases, that are said to be the most common cause of death in the modern world.

Regarding Biomedical Engineering, innovative medical devices and technologies for patients’ diagnosis, monitoring and rehabilitation will be explored.
True to the plurality of Bioengineering, the event also counts with five multidisciplinary panels where the three aforementioned areas intersect. Firstly, we will have a panel focusing on Nature-inspired Bioengineering, discussing the role that nature is playing as an example for solving the current issues. Then, we take a look at bioprocesses and how modifying organisms can change the industry. In addition, we will discuss the exercise-applied bioengineering, from studying the biomechanics of sports to the therapeutic effects of exercising. A panel on Bioentrepreneurship is included in order to show the testimonies of entrepreneurs and understand the evolution of idea-to-company in each case. Lastly, Made in MIB/MEB™ aims to show the work developed by students who recently finished their Master's Degree on Bioengineering or Biomedical Engineering, in FEUP/ICBAS. Contributing in the creation of this rich panel of speakers is our Scientific Committee, whose members have a profoundly distinct academic background, in such a way that their contributions most certainly provide for the interdisciplinarity desired for this event. Relying on the conjunction of researchers and professors with different experiences and personalities, no other outcome ought to be expected except a strongly cohesive, dynamic and inclusive programme.

The work of researchers from different countries will contribute to this 10th edition of the Symposium in accomplishing a solid and up-to-date event, broadening the horizons and spiking the curiosity of future Bioengineers. This is, after all, the apogee of our vision, Solving Tomorrow, Today.

If Bioengineering is a field of unlimited and yet-to-be-imagined applications, then Portugal has the talented and hard-working people to, once again, 500 years later, set sail from the safe harbor and venture further afield in this world of discoveries. Communication and partnership with different countries, projects and mindsets are key for a new chapter in the convergence of Life Sciences and Technology. Above all, one must know more to further idealize and concretize. And the 10th Symposium on Bioengineering is just the right event to do it - save the date!