BIOENGINEERING Term Instructional Faculty Candidate SEMINAR When: April 21, 2015 @ 11:00 -12:00 PM Location: ENGR 3507 Speaker: Siamak Najarian, Ph.D., Professor, Dept. of Bioengineering, University of British Columbia Title: Application of Tactical Sensing in Determining the Characteristics of Biological Tissues Abstract: Tactile sensation is the process of determining physical properties of an object by making contact with that object. The goals of artificial tactile sensing systems vary from determining simple status of contact to obtaining a complete map of the state of touch. Currently, there are many new engineering designs and medical procedures in which tactile sensing is likely to play a key role. Among these novel fields are: medical procedures (especially surgery); rehabilitation and service robotics; and even agriculture and food processing. In this regard, one of the most challenging bioengineering issues is to accurately determine the physical properties of various soft tissues using different tactile sensors. Biography: Prof. Siamak Najarian received his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Oxford University, England and had a Postdoctoral Position at the same university for one year. While at Oxford University, he was also involved in co-supervising and teaching Biomedical Engineering courses at this university. He served as a Full-Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Amirkabir University of Technology and worked for a number of years as a professor at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. After retiring, he was invited to teach various Biomedical Engineering courses at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. He is currently working at UBC. During his academic career, Prof. Najarian has taught more than 20 different courses on various subjects of Bioengineering and Biomedical Engineering. He has received several awards for his teaching and research efforts. One of his books on Biomedical Engineering, which was published by McGraw Hill in USA, received a prestigious book award by the Association of American Publishers 2009 PROSE for the second best engineering book of the year. His research interests are the applications of engineering concepts in the design of biomedical devices. He has authored more than 30 books in the field of bioengineering. Additionally, Prof. Najarian has published more than 130 papers in peer-reviewed international journals and published more than 100 conference papers. Claudia Borke Academic Program Coordinator Volgenau School of Engineering, Department of Bioengineering 3800 Nguyen Engineering Building, 1G5 4400 University Drive Fairfax, VA 22030 Phone: (703) 993-4190 Fax: (703) 993-2077