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Alliance for Engineering in Medicine and Biology Records

 Collection
Identifier: MS C 605

Abstract

Correspondence, financial records, and publications document the day-to-day administration of the Alliance for Engineering in Medicine and Biology and its annual conferences.

Dates

  • Creation: 1960-1992

Extent

7.5 Linear Feet (6 boxes)

Creator

Physical Location

Materials stored onsite. History of Medicine Division. National Library of Medicine

Language of Materials

Collection materials primarily in English

Access Restrictions

No restrictions on access.

Copyright and Re-use Information

Donor's copyrights were transferred to the public domain. Archival collections often contain mixed copyrights; while NLM is the owner of the physical items, permission to examine collection materials is not an authorization to publish. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. It is the user's responsibility to research and understand any applicable copyright and re-publication rights not allowed by fair use. NLM does not grant permissions to publish.

Privacy Information

Archives and manuscript collections may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in any collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications for which the National Library of Medicine assumes no responsibility.

Historical Note

The Alliance for Engineering in Medicine and Biology (AEMB) was part of the ongoing evolution of organizations devoted to the coordination of developing scientific research with advances in technology. Formed in 1969, the AEMB's purpose was to continue the work of the Joint Committee on Engineering in Medicine and Biology (JCEMB) on a larger scale. By 1968 the JCEMB, conducted jointly by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Instrument Society of America (ISA), American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AICE), had hosted the Joint Conference on Engineering in Medicine and Biology annually since 1948.

The four-member JCEMB, to keep pace with the rapidly expanding field of knowledge, formed the AEMB in 1969 which comprised 20 member societies, 10 representing engineering and 10 medical. The AEMB assumed coordination of the continuing annual conferences, changing the title to Annual Conference for Engineering in Medicine and Biology. The group also participated in international workshops, research and development, and facility design, among other activities.

By the early 1990s the National Science Foundation (NSF) determined that the ever-expanding sources of biomedical engineering of the previous two decades had resulted in a panoply of bioengineering specialties whose activities were uncoordinated with the AEMB. In response to this, and to address the need to advocate publicly for biomedical engineering and to influence government agency and legislative policies, in 1992 the AEMB transformed into the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE). The last Annual Conference for Engineering in Medicine and Biology was held in 1991 and is continued by the AIMBE's annual events series.

Collection Summary

Correspondence, reports, grants, meeting agendas and minutes, conference schedules and programs, and publications mostly created by the Alliance for Engineering in Medicine and Biology (AEMB) during its existence from 1969 through 1991. Some records created by the Joint Committee for Engineering in Medicine and Biology (JCEMB), AEMB's direct predecessor, as well as conference programs and publications from affiliated organizations comprise smaller portions of the collection.

Series 1, Joint Committee on Engineering in Medicine and Biology (JCEMB) Administration (1965-1969), and Series 2, JCEMB Conferences (1966-1968) total only eight folders. They contain a bare quantity of information about the JCEMB's administration and conferences.

Series 3, Alliance for Engineers in Medicine and Biology (AEMB) Administration (1969-1992) is the largest portion of the collection. Committee correspondence is complemented by reading files, which approximate what are normally identified as chronological files. Of the few topically segregated correspondence groupings, the most illuminating are the "history files" (1967-1976), which were evidently accumulated to document the AEMB's origin. Nineteen National Science Foundation grant projects awarded to the AEMB (1972-1988) include proposals and progress reports among the correspondence. The AEMB Council (1969-1988) is the most completely represented of the sporadically collected administrative agendas and minutes.

Series 4, AEMB Conference and Workshops, provides an almost complete picture of the AEMB's annual conference through programs and final reports (1967-1990). Three AEMB workshops (1972-1990) illustrate efforts to integrate technological development with medical practice. Similarly, the Other Conference, Workshops, and Reports which make up Series 5 (1973-1986) are medical technology-driven. They were produced by AEMB affiliate organizations such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the American Society for Artificial Internal Organs, and the International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering.

Completing the collection are the Publications in Series 6 (1960-1978). Booklets and directories put out by AEMB are mostly concerned with assessing the state of biomedical engineering in the United States and identifying sources for further education. The American Institute of Biological Sciences' BioInstrumentation Advisory Council (BIAC) produced the bulk of material not produced by AEMB.

Abstract

Correspondence, financial records, and publications document the day-to-day administration of the Alliance for Engineering in Medicine and Biology and its annual conferences.

Physical Location

Materials stored onsite. History of Medicine Division. National Library of Medicine

Provenance

Gift, Patricia Horner, December 18, 1992. Accession #787.

General

Processed by
Jim Labosier
Processing Completed
March, 2014
Encoded by
Jim Labosier
Title
Finding Aid to the Alliance for Engineering in Medicine and Biology Records, 1960-1992
Status
Unverified Partial Draft
Author
Jim Labosier
Date
March, 2014
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
Finding aid is written in English
Edition statement
1.0

Collecting Area Details

Part of the Archives and Modern Manuscripts Collections Collecting Area

Contact:
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