New generation technological designers in Healthcare

Exciting developments are happening within the educational and industrial field of Health. The two youngest medical technological designer programs of 3TU.School for Technological Design, Stan Ackermans Institute, Clinical Informatics and Healthcare Systems Design, will reward a new generation of technological designers with their diploma, a Professional Doctorate in Engineering (PDEng) end of 2013.The Health domain awaits yet another talented type of technological designer.

Clinical Informatics (CI)

The Clinical Informatics program, based at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) and specifically geared towards the design of information systems in healthcare, is organising a special event on 20 September 2013. During this diploma award ceremony the program says goodbye to her second group of graduates who will be granted their diploma. During the event also graduates from other medical programs will receive their diploma and guest speakers, such as Intervention Radiologist Dr. Danyel van den Heuvel from the St. Antonius Hospital in Nieuwegein, are invited to give a lecture about their specialism within the medical field.

“The clinical informatician can beat this whole process from defining the requirements up to implementing and servicing the installed technological system”

‘In October a new group of trainees starts with the program, which brings the total of the group of Clinical Informatics trainees up to 24 this year’, says prof.dr.ir. Ward Cottaar, scientific director of the Clinical Informatics program. ‘We sense a specific demand from the health domain for Clinical Informaticians, designers who can bridge the gap between clinical practice, business processes and information and communication technology. The clinical informatician can beat this whole process from defining the requirements up to implementing and servicing the installed technological system, which makes him of her an allround designer’.

Healthcare Systems Design

Clinical Informatics is not the only program sending out graduates to the Health domain end of this year. Also the Healthcare Systems Design program (track of the Information and Communication Technology program), located at TU/e as well, says goodbye to her very first PDEng graduates in December. Healthcare Systems Design focuses on Health and Wellbeing technology as well as Electrical Engineering and ICT development for the Health domain. Main goal of the program is to introduce a new generation of technological designers who have in-depth understanding of the technical aspects as well as of the user requirements in the Health and Wellbeing domain. ‘We are very proud about this first milestone’, says dr. Marion Matters, program coordinator of the Healthcare Systems Design track. ‘Furthermore, the program is now really getting up to speed as we are expecting 7 new trainees for the next semester, originating from countries such as Italy, Serbia, Peru, China and of course the Netherlands.

“This strong interaction between the company, the program and the research groups at TU/e is a new concept of knowledge valorization.”

‘The engineering projects in these programs offer the cooperating companies a new and innovate approach and make a prototype available at the end of the project. This strong interaction between the company, the program and the research groups at TU/e is a new concept of knowledge valorization. We are constantly looking for industrial partners active in these areas’, Matters indicates.