There is a significant link between engineering and medicine. The international Conference CAETS 2022 was attended by the IAE and the theme of “Breakthrough Technologies for Healthcare” was organized by The National Academy of Technologies of France. It was held on September 26 – 29 2022 in Versailles, near Paris. Videos from the conference may be accessed via the link below.
| Breakthrough Technologies for Healthcare youtube.com |
Of particular note was the development of “digital twins” to significantly accelerate the development of new medicines and patient treatment.
Our own Academy has many experts in many of the field of medicine including medical devices, digital medicine, Biomedical Engineering.
It was a great pleasure for President Seamus McKeague and past President Tom Leahy to be invited to the home of Academy Fellow James (Jimmy) Sheehan to discuss his remarkable career.
Photo L-R: Tom Leahy, immediate past President, Seamus McKeague President, Jimmy Sheehan FIAE
Jimmy graduated in medicine in 1963,practiced as an orthopaedic surgeon and went on to study engineering and was awarded a doctorate in Engineering.
He is well known both as a surgeon and particularly for creating both the Blackrock clinic and the Galway clinic.
Medicine is a very wide field and Jimmy shared with us his expertise in two key areas namely:
- Primary care.
- Hospital care.
We discussed in detail, based on his experience both in hospital development and hospital administration, areas where Engineering could assist in the medical field including:
- Plant and equipment
- Operational efficiencies
- Manpower
- Digitisation
We also discussed a recent on line talk he gave entitled “ If I were Minister for Health”.
This talk gives a very good insight into innovation in medical care and guidance on how patient centred medicine can transform the health care sector.
We are indeed privileged to have such a wealth of experience within our Academy.