Imperial College London's Institute of Biomedical Engineering Wins Top Prize For Innovation

Now in their fifth year, the Times Higher Education Awards are the leading awards for the higher education sector, created to recognise, celebrate and reward the highest standards of excellence and talent in UK academia. This year the awards attracted over 600 entries from more than 130 higher education institutions.

The Institute of Biomedical Engineering (IBE) was recognised by the panel of specially selected judges for its sheer breadth of innovation in the areas of medical diagnosis and treatment, personalised healthcare, regenerative medicine and biomedical imaging. The panel was impressed by the range of innovation achieved and its transferability into other fields.

The IBE, which opened its state-of-the-art, purpose-built facilities in 2006, combines the strengths of Imperial’s world class research schools in engineering and medicine to drive major advances in biomedical technology, and accelerate the commercial realisation of technologies to improve the lives of people around the world.

Commenting on the award win, Professor Christofer Toumazou, Director and Chief Scientist of the Institute of Biomedical Engineering at Imperial College London said: "We are extremely proud to receive this special honour from the preeminent awards in the higher education sector. Our ambition at the Institute is to deliver breakthrough advances in technology that enable people to lead independent lives despite illness, ageing and disability, and we are thrilled that the innovation and leadership demonstrated by the entire IBE team has been recognised in this way."

Ann Mroz, editor of Times Higher Education, said of the winning entry: "Imperial's contribution to innovation and technology is simply too large to be ignored. The projects from the Institute of Biomedical Engineering are transforming lives in an enormous range of pioneering ways."

For more information about current research at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering, please visit: http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/biomedeng

For the full list of THE Award winners, please visit: http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/theawards

About Imperial College London
Consistently rated amongst the world's best universities, Imperial College London is a science-based institution with a reputation for excellence in teaching and research that attracts 13,000 students and 6,000 staff of the highest international quality.

Innovative research at the College explores the interface between science, medicine, engineering and business, delivering practical solutions that improve quality of life and the environment - underpinned by a dynamic enterprise culture.

Since its foundation in 1907, Imperial's contributions to society have included the discovery of penicillin, the development of holography and the foundations of fibre optics. This commitment to the application of research for the benefit of all continues today, with current focuses including interdisciplinary collaborations to improve health in the UK and globally, tackle climate change and develop clean and sustainable sources of energy.

About the Institute of Biomedical Engineering
The Institute of Biomedical Engineering (IBE) was founded to create an international centre of excellence in biomedical engineering research. Its state-of-the-art, purpose-built facilities opened in 2006.

Combining the strengths of two world class research schools in engineering and medicine, the IBE draws together scientists, medics and engineers to apply their extensive expertise to create revolutionary progress in medical diagnosis and treatment. Through this interdisciplinary approach, the IBE is delivering a world-leading combined research capability to tackle the major challenges in modern healthcare - applying advances in technology to enable people to lead independent and productive lives despite illness, ageing and disability.

The research programme is focused at the intersections between the platform technologies in science and engineering, including systems biology, materials, imaging and nanotechnology, and medical applications, such as bionics, biomechanics and tissue engineering.