IMechE Biomedical Division celebrates 60 years of life-changing engineering

This year sees the 60th anniversary of the formation of what would become the Biomedical Engineering Division (BmED) of IMechE. The BmED is one of eight divisions in the Institution and represents a growing community of engineers working in healthcare, medical technology and health-associated industries.

With over 3,000 members of the Institution identifying as working in healthcare and biomedical engineering, it is one of the largest groups of chartered engineers in the sector, second only to our sister institution, the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine (IPEM).

In early 1965, a small working party of engineers met to discuss their interests in medical engineering and, by autumn of that year, they had engaged with colleagues at the Royal College of Surgeons to identify collaboration opportunities and host a number of lectures on topics including orthopaedics and cryogenics.

Even though their request to form a new division within IMechE was declined in November of 1965, the founding members continued to meet regularly, bringing together experts from across engineering and medicine. They even gained a sum of money from the James Clayton Prize committee for a Medical Engineering Fellowship to support engineers working in the sector. Their dedication paid off and the working party became a full division in 1976 – something we will celebrate next year.

Today, our members work in fields ranging from bioinformatics and robotics to tissue engineering and rehabilitation, from medical imaging to disease diagnostics. There are now more than 45 UK universities offering degrees in biomedical engineering and related fields, and a thriving industry turning over £30bn a year through a 150,000-strong workforce. We are thankful to those pioneers in IMechE, who recognised the importance of engineering in medicine and inspired others to go on to develop life-changing technologies.