PROFESSOR VO VAN TOI RECEIVED HONORARY LIFE MEMBER AWARD FROM THE INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION FOR MEDICAL AND BIOLOGICAL ENGINEERING (IFMBE)
Professor Vo Van Toi is teaching at the School of Biomedical Engineering, International University (VNU-HCM).
Recently, Professor Vo Van Toi from School of Biomedical Engineering (IU – VNU) received IFMBE Honorary Life Member Award 2022.
The International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering (IFMBE) is primarily a federation of national and transnational societies. The IFMBE is also a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) for the United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO), where it is uniquely positioned to influence the delivery of health care to the world through Biomedical and Clinical Engineering. Every three years, at the Global Congress, IFMBE conducts awards to honor individuals and their contributions to the world of Biomedical Engineering. In particular, the Honorary Life Member Award is an award to recognize individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the Federation.
Last June in Singapore, Prof. Vo Van Toi, Assistant Rector for Health Sciences Development and Lecturer at the School of Biomedical Engineering of International University (VNU-HCM), received this prestigious award for his tirelessly contributions in connecting science, engineering, medicine and policy to establish and develop the industry of Biomedical Engineering and the Biomedical Engineering Association in Vietnam since 2009.
IFMBE Honorary Life Member Award 2022
In 2009, when the field of Biomedical Engineering was fairly unknown in Vietnam, Prof. Vo Van Toi, returning from the US after many years of work and study, established the Department of Biomedical Engineering at IU – VNU, and gradually initiated educational and research programs based on Vietnamese ecology and Western approaches. With the desire to promote the close relationship between Education, Research and Entrepreneurship, during his tenure, Prof. Vo Van Toi has recruited and mentored many doctoral graduates who then received degrees from prestigious universities all over the world. In particular, he did not only focus on the diversity of disciplines but also cared about gender equality when 50% of the lecturers in the Department were female. Under the guidance and support of Prof. Vo Van Toi, many students along with faculties and departments were able to maximize their potential, winning prestigious domestic and international scholarships and awards such as World Talented Young Scientist, L’Oreal-UNESCO International Rising Talents or ASEAN-US Award for Science and Technology, etc.
The activities of the School of Biomedical Engineering in the early days were extended in four directions: Medical Instrumentation, Biomedical Signal and Image Processing, Pharmaceutical Engineering and Regenerative Medicine with Prof. Vo Van Toi holding the position of Head of Biomedical Engineering Department. Since then, there have been many biomedical engineering programs in Vietnamese universities and almost all of them are modeled after the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the International University. With the leadership ability and relentless efforts of Prof. Toi and all faculty members of the Department, the School of Biomedical Engineering was established in 2019 with 2 main departments: Regenerative Medicine and Medical Instrumentation. Currently, GS. Vo Van Toi is expanding the 5th orientation for the School, which is Entrepreneurship in Biomedical Engineering. It focuses on the development of clinical engineering and practice of effective methods to bring into the market medical devices newly developed in academic laboratories, to build a medical device industry appropriate for Vietnam and developing countries, and to manage healthcare settings. A few tech start-ups can also be established from this Entrepreneurship.
Since 2005, Prof. Vo Van Toi initiated the biennial International Conference on the Development of Biomedical Engineering in Vietnam under the auspices of IFMBE, to promote and support the transfer of Biomedical Engineering technology from advanced countries to low and middle income countries (LMICs). Prof. Toi was also credited to bringing the Vietnam Association of Biomedical Engineering to become a member of IFMBE in 2017. The progress of this conference series was published by Springer in the IFMBE Proceedings Series. Through the meetings at this conference series, a strong international community of highly interdisciplinary engineers and scientists has been established, becoming the driving force to change the face of the healthcare technology industry in Vietnam.
Professor Vo Van Toi – who laid a solid foundation for training in Biomedical Engineering in Vietnam
Currently, International University is the first university in the country that offers the accredited degree of Engineer in Biomedical Engineering and Master of Biomedical Engineering. In December 2015, the Engineer degree in Biomedical Engineering program was evaluated by ASEAN University Network – Quality Assurance (AUN-QA) and achieved the highest score in all the programs they have rated in Vietnam and the second highest score in Southeast Asia. In August 2019, International University was announced by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) to have two successfully accredited training programs, one of which was Biomedical Engineering training program. Among many organizations that perform external and independent accreditation, ABET is considered one of the world’s most prestigious accrediting bodies for engineering and technology programs.