On Friday 30^th September, the School of Engineering at the University of Warwick hosted a launch event honouring the opening of several new laboratories and the official commencement of the Warwick Engineering in Biomedicine research theme, under the leadership of Dr Mike Chappell and Dr James Covington.

Invited guests included representatives from key medical facilities, universities and funding providers across the West Midlands, as well as personnel from across the University of Warwick with an interest in the remit. The event took the form of a networking lunch, ollowed by presentations from the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Prof. Mark Smith, the acting Head of School, Prof. Nigel Stocks, and the heads of the new laboratories.

The keynote speech was given by Prof. David Delpy (pictured), Chief Executive of EPSRC, who gave great insight into the future of the theme in a presentation entitled "The past, present and future impact of engineering and physical sciences in healthcare". The afternoon ended with tours of the new facilities and demonstrations by PhD students.

The School of Engineering is well-equipped for continued biomedical research, following the opening of the new labs. The Gait Laboratory (motion analysis), lead by Dr. Mike Chappell, features state-of-the-art equipment to produce musculoskeletal models of human motion, used for a wide-variety of projects. The Trace Metals in Medicine Laboratory is lead by Dr. Joanna Collingwood, and has a primary research focus on degenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s Disease, with particular focus on biomarkers. Dr James Covington heads up the Biomedical Sensors Laboratory, which brings together expertise from across the University to form strong collaborative activity. The main research focus is on identifying and monitoring diseases through the detection of bio-markers in gases & vapours from biological output. The newest lab, lead by Dr Isaac Liu, is the Nanobioengineering Laboratory. The work here focuses on nanomanipulation of soft biological materials using advanced techniques including optical tweezers and the atomic force microscope.

Speaking after the launch, Nigel Stocks said: “It was a highly successful event, which helped to raise the profile of the biomedical research within the School; showcasing the diversity and quality of the work. The School has invested significantly in facilities and staff to build critical mass, and the launch event signifies the outcome of three years effort in this area.”

For more information on the biomedical work at the School of Engineering and to download a launch brochure, please visit go.warwick.ac.uk/bioeng.