14 December 2023
Department of Biomedical Engineering Winter Symposium 2023 Wrap Up
The Department of Biomedical Engineering welcomed 10 speakers from different medical focal areas of the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG). The setting was in the comfortable venue of the Coenderborg just south of the city of Groningen, providing a hospitable atmosphere for the presentations, lunch, dinner, drinks, and an afterparty with bingo and prizes. The speakers were separated into 4 sessions to provide the audience with time to rejuvenate between sessions. The talks were diverse in topic, but always engaging, and questions from the audience were not in short supply.
The focus on many questions focused on the potential collaborations between the speakers and the researchers within the audience. Additionally, a talk given by Dr. Janniko Georgiadis introduced the topic of Gamification of Teaching/Learning in the Classroom. Discussions sparked interest as to when it would be appropriate to implement these tools into teaching in the Biomedical Engineering educational program. Thus, this symposium added benefits for both the research and academic aspects for the Department of Biomedical Engineering.
At the end of the Symposium, the Head of the Department, Prof. dr. Hélder Santos formally announced a change in the department name to Biomaterials and Biomedical Technology (BBT), marking this the last symposium of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the UMCG. A contest was held for an internal logo design for the new department, and the winning design was revealed, and the designer was given a small reward. Drinks and dinner were excellent, and the exchange of tables during the dinner provided new opportunities to engage discussion with other team members within the department.
After all that nice science, it was time for some social activities. The entire theme of the symposium was connecting with people so after exchanging knowledge and potential collaborations with the clinical side, we moved on to connecting with each other. We had some nice drinks, followed by a very nice dinner. In between each course, we changed places among the tables by means of random selection, making it the perfect setting to socialize with the department members, integrating the newcomers and reconnect with the current colleagues. An ideal informal setting to meet each other and foster teamwork!
Finally, it was time for our activity, the Christmas Bingo! With some nice Christmas music in the background, bingo cards were drawn from Santa's hat. Everyone enjoyed the bingo and we saw some real bonding as everyone joined the singing, when a false bingo was shouted. In the end, everyone went home with a nice gift brought to the bingo by their colleagues!
We thank all the Departmental members for the participation and for the making this event a great success.
Happy holidays to everyone and a very prosperous 2024!
