1st Annual BioMatASA Symposium 2006: “Biomaterials Science and Applications in South Africa”

On all accounts the 1st symposium was a great success. More than 75 delegates attended, representing industry, academia, government and the science councils, and 35 high quality mini presentations were made. Once again thank you to all those who took the time to be part of this new initiative. We are currently preparing for the 2nd Annual BioMatASA Symposium to be held later this year around September/October. A follow up meeting was held shortly after the 1st symposium for feedback and forward planning in order to place the association on a more formal footing. We thought it might be worthwhile reviewing the speed symposium held on September 4th 2006, at the University of the Witwatersrand Medical School. This is presented below in a “pictures with really long captions” format:

• The idea for this ‘national snapshot’ event came about in a workshop held back in May at the University of the Witwatersrand, hosted by Prof Bozzoli and Prof Nabarro. An organising committee was elected and after several months of symposium marketing, cold calling, warm calling, email ping-pong and the like, the day finally arrived:

• Over 80 delegates attended the event, representing academia, industry, science councils and the National Research Foundation. Each delegate received a symposium proceedings CD and a courtesy nametag (DIY of course!). Humble beginnings indeed, but perhaps at the next event we can arrange free iPods for the delegate welcome pack – anyone have family at Apple?!

• Prof Bozzoli welcomed the delegates and officially opened the event, pledging the full support of the Wits community behind this initiative:

• Prof Nabarro sadly passed away a few months before the event. He had been the scientific driving force getting us all together in the first place, so the event was appropriately dedicated to his memory. Contributing enormously to the scientific spirit of the day, Prof Every of the Wits Physics department kindly agreed to give a biographical overview of Prof Nabarro’s work:

• Then it was the delegates turn. In all we heard 35 mini-presentations of impressive quality and range, with a healthy student contingent confirming the great potential for growth in this field. Here our very own Yahya & Wim lay down the law:

• We were then treated to a sumptuous spread in the foyer. Research collaborations were considered, business cards were exchanged, cocktail sausages were dropped:

• The afternoon session was given over to an open discussion regarding the formation of BioMatASA, and Prof Comins from the Wits Physics department kindly gave a very comprehensive review of his experiences in establishing a DST Centre of Excellence – a long term goal of the association.
• Then it was time for the group photograph, and our 1st key mistake came to light – for improved statistics, always take the group photograph before the free lunch! Anyway, here it is for posterity:
• All in all it was a very successful first event and a great way to launch our new association. We’ve received positive feedback, and also some great suggestions for improving the event in the future.

Back Top