Ladies and Gentlemen,
It’s a particular pleasure to welcome participants to the forty-eighth annual conference of the German Society for Biomedical Engineering (DGBMT) at the VDE.
Niedersachsen has an exceptionally strong cross-disciplinary research infrastructure. Hannover in particular, this year’s conference venue, offers an excellent medical technology location to stage the DGBMT annual conference at VDE on this year’s principle topic, ‘medical implants’.
Along with an excellence cluster two special research areas with a focus on biomedical technology have settled here in recent years: Since 2003 the special research area of Sustainable Bioresorbable and Permanent Implants of Metallic and Ceramic Materials has been working as an alliance of several higher education facilities, universities and research centres. The second special research area addresses trans-regional and interdisciplinary cooperation with partners in Aachen, Rostock and Ulm under the name Transregio 37 – Micro- and Nanosystems in Medicine – Reconstruction of Biological Functions. Last not least, the excellence cluster From Regenerative Biology to Reconstructive Therapy (REBIRTH) is a further Niedersachsen research project in the field of biomedical technology. The aim of this cluster is to develop innovative therapy approaches for organ regeneration. The scientific strengths are concentrated at the Lower Saxony Centre for Biomedical Engineering, Implant Research and Development (NIFE).
In our efforts to support technology transfer from research to commercial applications, the State of Niedersachsen runs a central contact office for companies who wish to form a network or are looking to cooperate with research facilities, or who simply wish to keep informed about the latest trends and subsidy opportunities: BioRegioN, the Niedersachsen Innovation Network for Life Sciences.
And because of these many and varied opportunities offered by Niedersachsen’s research infrastructure, in recent years a particularly attractive entrepreneurial community with a strong knowledge base has established itself here.
The growth potential in this field is very promising; demographic change, raised awareness of health issues and increasing prosperity all have a stimulating effect on this development, quite independently of the need to intensify and carry forward research in the field of medical implantology. In all our efforts we should constantly bear in mind that the main concern of modern medical implant technology is to help seriously ill and disabled people to play their part in society with a minimum of impairment and pain.
And in this spirit I wish the participants and organisers of this conference every success, many interesting encounters, and lively discussion that creates many new impulses for your important work!
With my best regards
Olaf Lies Minister of Economic Affairs, Labor and Transportation for Lower Saxony |