The 2nd Annual Symposium of the Biomaterials Association of South Africa On:
"Biomaterials Research and Development in South Africa"

26th November 2007, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg

The Marie Curie Lecture Theatre was the venue selected for the BioMatASA Symposium 2007

BioMatASA was conceived in October 2006 to represent members in the biomaterials sector in South Africa and expands over various themes related to all facets of biomaterials. BioMatASA and its potential influence continue to grow and create strong links with key stakeholders in the field. An aim of this years Symposium was to create an environment of networking between various institutions and companies that are directly or related to scientific areas of biomaterials research in South Africa. This was shown by this year by the high attendance of delegates from the biomaterials field.

Delegates from all parts of South Africa, including academia, science councils and industry attended this years Symposium

Around 60 delegates from all parts of South Africa, including academia, science councils and industry were welcomed to the Symposium by the Chairman of BioMatASA, Prof. Viness Pillay. Prof. Pillay commended the participation by all speakers and delegates in making the Symposium a success and provided an update on the Association which is gaining significant momentum and now boasts over 70 officially registered members. A total of 23 high quality presentations were made on the day. Prof. Pillay also conveyed the launched of the BioMatASA website and urged all delegates to visit the site and join the interactive e-forum discussion group. He also advised that for those involved in biomaterials research and as members of key stakeholders in biomaterials research, development and education, it is time to deepen our understanding of the ties between the various themes in the biomaterials field and to take action in collaboration and strongly hoped that all participants will take the many opportunities to speak out actively on the role of BioMatASA. Prof. Pillay closed his words of greeting, by emphasizing that making the Symposium a success depended on the active involvement of each participant and that he was looking forward to the invigorating exchange of opinions among all participants on the day.

The first scientific session was opened by Professor Ugo Ripamonti from the University of the Witwatersrand. His talk on "Biomimetism, biomimetic matrices and the induction of bone formation” clearly conveyed a fraction of the cutting-edge biomaterials research efforts currently taking place in South Africa.

The networking lunch was extended to allow adequate time for consuming, at leisure, an excellent finger-meal, and for enjoying the opportunity of the networking occasion which was an integral part of the Symposium.

The afternoon session started with a presentation by Mr. Kersch Naidoo on “An emulsion preparation for novel micro-porous polymeric hemi-shells” from the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). The concluding session was presented by Ms. Avashnee Chetty from the CSIR that followed a comprehensive discussion by all delegates on the potential establishment of a Department of Science and Technology (DST) Center of Competence in Biomaterials.

Presentations from the afternoon session

A highly enjoyable and stimulating meeting was drawn to a close by Dr. Sean Moolman from the CSIR who commented on the fascinating biomaterials research activities which had been presented by the speakers throughout the day. The high quality of work and standard of presentations were also acknowledged. Finally the Executive Committee of BioMatASA wishes to thank, the CSIR, Lasec (Pty) Ltd., Amka Products (Pty) Ltd and PA Cuthbert (Pty) Ltd. for their generous sponsorship which helped to ensure the high quality and success of the this years Symposium.

The Symposium was sponsored by the following instutions and companies: