Celebrating scientific collaboration through the ages

The Academy of Sciences Malaysia (ASM) was established in 1994 by an act of Parliament. The Academy strives to be the ‘Think Tank’ of the nation for all matters related to science, engineering, technology and innovation. In 2020, we reflect on the past two decades of international development and achievements of science as ASM celebrates 25 years of pursuing excellence in fields of science, engineering and technology for the benefit of all. “We started off with a very small number of fellows,” says Syafiq Shafiee, Public Relations Officer at ASM. “Now, we are over 300 fellows.”

In the coming years, ASM President, Professor Dr Datuk Asma Ismail, hopes to further develop the Malaysia Open Science Platform with programmes such as I-Connect. These programmes aim to make science and technology a vital component of nation building via the 10-10 Strategic Science, Technology, Innovation, and Economic (STIE) Development Plan for Malaysia. Another notable programme of ASM’s is ArtScience™, an initiative that recognises outstanding creations in the nation’s fields that showcase the fusion of art and science.

“The future is about the sharing of data,” she said. “For artificial intelligence to now be able to connect and collate all the data around the world, you can do really good science with original solutions because what you think is novel may no longer be novel. I look forward to that future; hopefully it happens during my lifetime.”

Though ASM has been forced to postpone 2020 anniversary celebrations due to the COVID19 outbreak, their goal is to expand their network beyond local communities and research councils in Asia. “We want to go beyond, and collaborate more with our international partners,” says Syafiq. We look forward to seeing the next 25 years of scientific collaboration and development with ASM.

The International Union for Physical and Engineering Sciences in Medicine (IUPESM) is celebrating their 40th anniversary in 2020. A joint organization of the International Organization for Medical Physics (IOMP) and the International Federation of Medical and Biological Engineering (IFMBE).

The principal objective of IUPESM is to contribute to the advancement of physical and engineering sciences in medicine for the benefit and well-being of humanity. As such, the expertise of our colleagues has been called upon to help address the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, in terms of developing new diagnostics, treatment and prevention strategies

says Prof. James Goh, IUPESM President.

IUPESM represents the effort of more than 25,000 medical physicists and 120,000 biomedical engineers working on the physical and engineering science of medicine worldwide.

To acknowledge this important milestone in its history, the union has planned several events and initiatives on a global scale to reach out to its members and partners and to acknowledge the contribution of everyone contributing to the development of the physical and engineering sciences in medicine. These initiatives include:

• The inauguration of an IUPESM Fellowship award;
• A special issue of the IUPESM official journal Health and Technology dedicated to the history, present and future of IUPESM;
• A series of IUPESM workshops and webinars as part of the IUPESM Medical Engineering and Physics initiative, focused on experience sharing, networking and collaboration between Biomedical Engineers and Medical Physicists.

The IUPESM World Congress on Biomedical Engineering and Medical Physics will be held in Singapore from 12 – 17 June 2022 in Singapore providing a platform to address pressing issues related to human health and wellness, including COVID-19.

Find below a short press release on the occasion of an online event to introduce the IUPESM Fellowship in recognition of the contribution of the most prominent IUPESM leaders during the passed 40 years.

IUPESM, the Union of IOMP and IFMBE, was formed in 1980 and celebrates this year its 40th anniversary. In this period IUPESM achieved recognition of the professions of medical physicists and biomedical engineers through a Full membership to the International Science Council (ISC), and also achieved their inclusion in the International Standard Classification of Occupations  (ISCO 08).

To celebrate its Anniversary IUPESM introduced a Fellowship (FIUPESM) to be awarded to the most prominent leaders of the Union during these 40 years.  The virtual ceremony, celebrating the Anniversary and awarding the Fellowships took place on November 20, 2020.

The current IUPESM leads express their gratitude to all colleagues, who contributed to the various IUPESM Committees and were part of the many successful IUPESM activities aimed at the advancement of physical and engineering sciences in medicine for the benefit and well-being of humanity.

Formed in 1960, The Scientific Committee on Frequency Allocations for Radio Astronomy and Space Science (IUCAF) is celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2020. IUCAF is an international committee (set up in 1960 by URSI, IAU, and COSPAR) that works in the field of spectrum management on behalf of the passive radio sciences such as radio astronomy, remote sensing, space research, and meteorological remote sensing. The IUCAF initiative aims to study and coordinate the requirements of radio frequency spectrum allocations for passive radio sciences – radio astronomy, space research and remote sensing – and to make these requirements known to the national and international bodies that regulate the use of the radio spectrum. IUCAF operates as an Inter-Disciplinary Body under the auspices of the International Science Council (ISC, formerly ISSC and ICSU). IUCAF is a Sector Member of the International Telecommunication Union’s Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) with observer status at the Space Frequency Coordination Group (SFCG).  IUCAF is celebrating the 60^th anniversary of its founding during 2020.

The International Science Council acknowledges and celebrates the contributions of these Academies and Unions, as we continue to pursue excellence in fields of science for the benefit and wellbeing of society and humanity.

We will continue this series as the year progresses, to celebrate milestone birthdays of members including:

• National Academy of Sciences of Bolivia, founded in 1960
• Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), founded in 1920
• Scientific Research Council of Jamaica founded in 1960
• The Chancellerie des Universités du Togo, founded in 1970
• International Mathematical Union (IMU), founded in 1920
• International Union of Toxicology (IUTOX), founded in 1980